Chapter 365 - Cross questioning

"Frederick, your son, Jared has accepted to have been your partner in all your crimes. And now, he is being held in custody just like you. Tch, tch, tch. How pitiful the father and son duo are." Preston faked a pitiful look although he was staring at the man scornfully.

"What?" Frederick rushed towards Preston to hold him. However, he stopped when he noticed the change in the expressions on the young man's face. He did not want to add more to his long list of crimes but attacking Preston or anybody else. He already had a lot on his plate. "How can this be? There is no way Jared would accept this when he was not involved with this in any way. You are only bluffing." Frederick tried to analyze the things calmly, trying to put up a courageous front. Only he knew how worried he was and what state his already muddled brain was in.​​

"Why would we lie to you? I can show you the video footage of our interrogation. You can check it yourself." Valarie then held the laptop for Frederick to see. There was no audio to it, but he could still see how agitated his son looked and from the looks of it, he had a hunch that his son had actually confessed to his crimes.

"This cannot happen. No. We cannot lose this way." Frederick muttered dropping to his knees. "How did things got his way? Son, why didn't you stay strong for long? Why did you confess everything?" Frederick looked shattered seeing the way he was crying for his son's life. But the next second something snapped in him. 'How is it possible for them to arrest Jared when there is no solid proof against him? These people are only trying to manipulate me into believing things. I am sure that Jared would not have done so, he is a smart man.'

Frederick's gaze changed suddenly and he stood up, with a small smirk on his face. Valarie noticed the sudden shift and she raised her eyebrows wondering what the man was up to now. Even Preston and Ryder waited for the man to start his act. 

"Do you think you can fool me? There is no proof against my son. So, how can you hold him responsible for all the crimes I have committed."

"So, you are claiming that your son is actually guilty and since I do not have proofs against him, I cannot do anything to him." Valarie folded her hands, her eyes serious and angry.

Frederick immediately realized the loophole in his words. He had given away his son himself without thinking. "That is not what I meant. It was I who planned all those attacks. There is no way you can implicate him in this."

"Oh is it?"

"What if I tell you that I have proofs? Will that make Jared guilty?" Valarie said and smiled mockingly at the man.

"What proofs?"

"Jared himself confessed that it was he who contacted David Peters and gave him the mission to release the virus, which unfortunately failed. We tracked the bank transaction details and it leads to one of Jared's men's alternate accounts." Valarie said and observed the change in Frederick's emotions. They were as clear as bay. It was true that it was Jared who had contacted David. But he still did not believe Valarie's words.

"You are lying. It was I who ordered the man to do the transaction. Jared has no hand in it." Frederick stated trying to appear as bold as ever, only to fail miserably.

"Okay. What about the fact that he is the leader of the most notorious gang, the Vipers? I am sure that this is not cooked up by me." Valarie said and this time, the man's face paled in horror. She was correct. Frederick had not revealed himself that he was the one who led the gang and it was impossible for anyone to find out until someone from the gang revealed himself.

"You are lying again. Jared has no relationship with the Vipers. I am the one who controls them."

"I see. We have got the gang's hideout. We will find out eventually if your words are true or not. Also, I have something else to tell you. Jared confessed that his Godfather was coming to meet him today at this hideout of yours. Don't you think it will be fun catching the man red-hand?" 

Valarie's words made Frederick to lose his calm completely. There was no way anybody would speak about the devil of a man other than his son and if what Valarie was saying was the truth, then it meant that his son had succ_u_mbed to the pressure. He held his head in his hands. "Over, everything is over. Jared, what did you do? Why did you confess to everything?"

Valarie exchanged a secretive glance with her friends before her eyes went back to Frederick. "Yes, everything is over. Your son has confessed to everything. We are going to arrest your backer and I am sure with the number of crimes you have committed, you will be executed soon." 

"You scoundrels. How dare you try to harm innocent people and use them for your advantage. People like you must be stripped n_a_k_e_d and handed over to the citizens so that they can avenge themselves. You are nothing but pests." Valarie shouted, her voice harsh and domineering. She had put so much mental pressure on him that the man broke down completely. 

"Yes, I am a monster. My son is a monster. So what? We did bad things for our gains. Doesn't everybody do it? Everybody in this world is selfish and everybody wants power. We are one of them too. We killed innocent people, we released the poison, we colluded with our enemy country so that we could destroy this nation. Unfortunately, we did not succeed. You caught us before we could achieve our goal. But don't worry. The Godfather you are talking about is not easy to catch. He will avenge us and he kill you mercilessly."

Frederick gritted his teeth, banging the table like a maniac. He had no idea what he had done until he saw the smile of victory on Valarie's face. Confusion took over him and he wondered what had happened to her.

"Frederick Clarke, thank you so much for cooperating with us. We had no proof against your son as you had guessed correctly in the beginning. We just tricked you into speaking up. However, we are shocked to hear that you colluded with our enemy country to wage a war against us. How disgusting!!" Preston could not stop himself and punched Frederick black and blue until the man was covered with bloody wounds.

"Preston stop it. He will get his retribution soon." Valarie and Ryder separated the duo when things turned ugly. If this continued, they were sure that Preston would surely kill the bastard and that was far from what they intended to do with him right now.

"Thank you, Frederick. You revealed your son's deeds yourself and we will get an arrest warrant against him soon." Valarie declared and pulled Preston with him.

"Wait for a few hours. Your son will join you to keep you company." Ryder added and left the room.

Frederick could only gape at the door in horror. He had no idea that his moment of weakness and Valarie's amazing cross-questioning had pushed him and his son towards their death. When realization hit him, he could not control himself and yelled in despair. "What did I do?"