Chapter 364: Rest in peace

"I told you I have no idea what that old man of mine did the last few years. I have not been in contact with him at all," Jared argued, raising his voice a little. However, neither Preston nor Valarie flinched seeing his furious state. They were all too familiar with this type of behavior as they had come across a lot of similar people in their work. And it was people like Jared, who claimed to be innocent were the ones, who committed all sorts of crimes.

"Reduce your voice, Mr. Augustus. This is not your home." Valarie warned, her gaze cold and indifferent. She knew how wicked the man before her was as she had solid proof against him. The day she had caught Frederick, she had asked Maggie to find out more about him so that she could use those details against him. Who knew that she would find a lot more than she had expected?

The man she had assumed to be Frederick Clarke turned out to be Hubert Augustus and moreover, he was Jared's father. She also got to know from Maggie that Jared was the leader of the most notorious gang in the country, the Vipers. If she added all the dots together, it was easy for her to deduce that the father and the son duo worked together while performing these deadly crimes.

Although Valarie had proof against Jared, they were not strong enough to arrest him. Also, revealing him about these proofs would only make matters worse for Maggie who right now was still in the man's horrible gang. She did not want to put her friend at risk. So, Valarie could only wait patiently until Maggie came back. However, that would not be happening any time soon as they still had some more information to collect. Also, even if Valarie insisted on her return, the girl herself had made a vow to destroy Jared and his gang before she came back.

"Look, you have got the wrong person. I am not involved in anything that old man of mine is guilty of." Jared calmed down when he realized that his anger would only make things worse for him. The two people before him were not even flinching seeing his venomous gaze. So, he decided to deal with them differently.

"I see." Valarie did not say anything for a long time making Jared fidget in his seat. Though the man was a devil in front of his gang members, right now he was not sure how effective he was at intimidating his opponents. Neither Valarie nor Preston seemed intimidated by him, especially with the way they were giving him a bored look. "You claimed that you had not been in contact with your father for a long time. But your call records say otherwise." 

"What?" 

"Have a look yourself." Valarie handed him a sheet and Jared saw that his father had called him two weeks ago, though he had not returned it. "What do you want to say about it?"

"Miss, it is evident from here that it was a missed call and I have not called him back. How do you conclude from this that we have joined hands in doing something I have no hand in at all?" Valarie nodded. The man was quite smart and she knew even before the interrogation that she would get nothing out of him. Though it seemed like a formality, there was a plan behind calling Jared here.

"Your reasoning is quite valid, but we'll have to search your houses. I hope you will cooperate with us."

"Definitely. When I have nothing to fear, why should I stop you from doing your work?" Jared replied confidently. He was sure that even if they searched all his properties and mansions, they would find out nothing. He had made sure to keep his meeting place safe and nobody could find it that easily. All his registered properties were legal and it was only the illegal ones that held proofs and evidences against him.

Valarie did not have any more questions. So, she allowed him to go. They did not miss the small smile that had taken over his face as soon as he was allowed to go. And once the man left, it was the two friends' turn to smile. "Ryder's going to get a search warrant soon."

"Yes, send our men to keep an eye on him. He is bound to make mistakes now, even though he knows that we will be looking out for him." Valarie stood up from her seat. "Let's give Frederick a pleasant visit. I am sure that the man is anticipating our arrival."

As they had expected, Frederick was getting jittery as time passed by and was looking towards the cell door. It was as though he was waiting for some hopeful news that would save him from the predicament he was in. Ryder could only chuckle seeing the man's horrible state. Frederick looked nothing like the Chief he had been before. Right now, his haggard look made him seem like a beggar on the streets. 

Ryder had been in charge of searching Frederick's house while Valarie and Preston had taken it upon themselves to interrogate his son. Unexpectedly, he had found out a lot of interesting things in his luxurious apartment. Although they were not significant enough to find out everything about Jared or this man called Godfather, it was enough to implicate Frederick's crimes.

Ryder had returned early and at that moment, Valarie and Preston were still with Jared. So, he had decided to keep a look on the criminal who had been his Chief once. And what he saw was nothing less than amusing. For the first time since he started working at the Intelligence, he was seeing the old man this anxious.

"Ryder, we are going in. You coming?" Preston called out to him when he noticed the man's eyes glued to the computer screen while they were walking by. 

"Definitely. How can I miss the opportunity to take a jab at the criminal who ruined many innocent people's lives?" Ryder then saw Valarie standing behind Preston and he nodded at her curtly. Things had become between awkward them since the day he had found out about Maggie. Ryder knew that Valaire was more or less helpless in the situation and it was Maggie who had asked her to keep her whereabouts a secret. However, he still could not get over the fact that his friend had allowed the girl he liked to go to such a dangerous place.

Valarie too did not know how to salvage the situation. So, she gave up on it completely and left it for things to become normal on their own. The three people went to the cell where Frederick was staying. "Look who is waiting for our arrival. I am honored that our once Chief is giving us this much respect by waiting for us patiently." Ryder sassed making Valarie to stifle a laugh. 

'This man sure knows how to anger someone to death.' She thought and waited for Ryder to continue. She wanted to see what more he was going to do. 'This seems fun.'

"Why do I feel like a superstar who is being waited upon by someone over here?"

"You.." Frederick's anger rose as soon as Ryder let out the sarcastic words.

"I know it's me. You do not have to keep saying it. It will only make me more narcissistic and with the way you are looking at me, it will make me believe that you have a crush on me. But let me clarify something beforehand. I am not into men." Ryder held his hand in front of Frederick and this time Valarie lost it. She started to laugh until tears formed in her eyes.

Frederick could see that the three people were having fun by teasing him and this made him all the more furious. "Just you wait and watch how I'll get back at you for humiliating me." He seethed.

"I wonder how." This time it was Preston's turn to mock him. He did not want to stay behind in this and wanted to have his share of entertainment. "By asking your son to avenge you?"

Frederick remained silent as any word he spoke could be used against his son. He had already lost hope for his survival. He did not want to drag his son into the mess he had created himself.

Ryder chortled seeing Frederick's flustered face. "In that case, I can only ask you to rest in peace. Your son, Jared Augustus has accepted his involvement in all your crimes and we have arrested him too."