Chapter 923:
Lynda exchanged a look with a colleague, and then nodded. “Alright.”
She led everyone into a quiet room. She gave a brief account of the hit-and-run and added, “The night before your divorce, a brutal incident occurred. The victim survived, but he remained in a coma until recently and just today managed to speak.”
An hour earlier, she explained, the victim’s wife had called to say her husband had finally regained his voice. Lynda had gone to the hospital to hear his story. “What happened?” she asked him.
Jon Hall, the survivor, wiped at his damp eyes. His voice came halting and rough from extended silence. “Someone captured several of us,” he said, “locked us in the mountains, and demanded the recordings. When the man got distracted making a phone call, we ran. He chased us in his car…”
“…and struck us down.” Jon’s wife clasped his hand, tears streaking her cheeks.
“What recordings?” Lynda asked gently.
Jon drew a steadying breath. “It was captured by the device we planted in the staff passage at the Heavenly Melody live venue—Vivian was threatening Serena. My boss planned to use it to squeeze money from Vivian. In our line of work, that’s actually common—paparazzi catch something, someone pays to bury it. We thought it harmless. Vivian was Brandon’s woman, and money would mean nothing to Brandon. Then…”
His voice broke again. “Then she agreed to the deal and someone came to drop the money. While we counted the cash, we were ambushed.”
Jon wept openly. All the others had died. He alone survived, but at a heavy cost. The memory chilled the room. He had come too close to death, and even now, he wasn’t sure he’d ever fully recover.
Lynda’s brows knit as she pieced the story together. “So you’re saying this leads back to Vivian?”
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 @ ⲅⲁⳑ𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⍿ⅽ𝗈𝗺
Jon nodded. “He tortured us for that tape.”
It fit. Only the paparazzi and Vivian had known of the tape. There had been money, a deal, and then the attempted murder. The driver who struck Millie resembled this hit-and-run suspect, and now Jon’s account tied the events directly to Vivian.
“Did you see his face?” Lynda pressed.
The culprit who attacked Millie wore a mask. They had investigated with multiple people, but the case was too huge, too many people were involved to pin one person down.
Jon hesitated. “At first, no. He wore a mask.” He paused, remembering. “But when we escaped and he chased after us, he didn’t have time to put it back on. I looked back—and I saw him.”
“Do you recognize him? Who is he?” Lynda asked quickly, her heart racing at the possibility.
The perpetrator was far too hyper-vigilant. Given his skills, they suspected he was a professional. A facial identification would greatly aid the case.
Jon’s face showed complete bewilderment as he shook his head. “I’ve never seen that person before.”
Lynda’s shoulders sank with disappointment, but she didn’t waste time. She quickly called her team, instructing them to come over with a sketch artist and photos of potential suspects. If Jon remembered his attacker’s face, perhaps he could point him out. One way or another, she was determined to track the culprit down.
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