Chapter 574: Playing with minds - Part 1

"How are you doing, Mr. Augustus?" Valerie rolled up her sleeves as she took the chair opposite Jared. She stared at the now haggard man. From his looks alone, she deduced him not to have slept even an ounce the whole night. His eyes were bloodshot and dark circles were quite evident on his face.

In just one night, he had fallen from his grace, making him the criminal he was, and Valerie did not pity him whatsoever. Jared deserved the misery he was going through, maybe even more. And that would happen quite soon. After meeting Aria and Ivy and from their mysterious words, she had more or less guessed how innocent Jared was and what kind of a man he was in actuality.

"You have the wrong person, Deputy. You are going to regret arresting me ever." After staying in the Intelligence for almost one full day, Jared was nowhere near being cool. His patience had snapped long ago and he was too irked to even think rationally. All he wanted was to kill the people who had brought him to this state.

"Ah, ah, ah," Valerie stopped him immediately. "Threats will not work here, Mr. Augutus. It will only add more to your crimes." 

"I am not a criminal." Jared almost shouted, unable to conceal his fury anymore.

"That is for us to decide, Mr. Augustus. But as of yet, everything, everything damn thing I have at hand proves that you are guilty. How will you explain it?" Valerie leaned forward on the table and clasped her fingers, her eyes narrowing slightly. And for the first time, Jared felt fear course through him and it was all because of a woman.

The only person he had ever feared was his Godfather. Just his mere presence was enough to keep him alert at all times. Valerie was the first woman to instill terror in him, and he had no idea why. Even Maggie, the girl he loved dearly, had been unable to frighten him when she had escaped from his clutches with all evidence she could collect from his own den.

There was something in the way Valerie was looking at him that made Jared apprehensive. It was as though she had found a secret about him that might end him for sure, and just this thought was enough to make him clench his fists in worry. He could not brush off the feeling even if he wanted to. 

Unable to meet Valerie's intimidating eyes anymore, he stared at the two men behind her. But unlike her, there were no expressions of any sort on their faces. It was impossible to read them. All they did was pressure him more, making him fidget on his chair in uneasiness.

Valerie smiled on seeing the man's distress. But she did nothing to ease him of it. She wanted him anxious, worried and at the edge of his seat on pins and needles as that it would then be easy for her to extract information from him.

"Anyway, I have some explosive news for you. Do you want to hear it?" Her eyes gleamed in delight as she spoke softly. At first glance, it seemed as though she wanted to convey a piece of joyous news to him. But Jared knew otherwise. Any happy news from Valerie was never a piece of happy news for him. 

Jared stayed silent, wondering what Valerie had in mind. Though he was desperate to find out what she had found out now, he stayed calm, not giving away his predicament to the three people. Showing his weakness and his troubled state would only give more power to his opponents, and that was the one thing he did not intend to do.

"Looks like Mr. Augutus is not in the mood. In that case, should I reveal to him or not?" Valerie turned behind to see her friends, who just smirked at her in return.

While Preston gave her a knowing look, all Ryder could do was stare at her in confusion. He had no idea what was happening and why Valerie was so excited all of the sudden. But whatever it was, Ryder realized was not good news for Jared. Just like the criminal in front of him, Ryder too was desperate to find out what had happened but all for a different reason compared to him.

"Now, I am suddenly not in the mood to speak about Charles." She uttered and stood up immediately, her eyes not leaving Jared's face. And just as she had anticipated, Jared's composed expression cracked. He was visibly stunned and his face paled immediately. 

'How did Valerie find out about Godfather? Did he wake up? Is he alright? I hope he is.' All sorts of questions entered Jared's mind, and he could not sit still even if he wanted to. Giving away his disposition was also not possible for that would only add more to his troubles. How would he then answer to how he knew Charles and what their relationship was?

Jared was at his wit's ends and he did not know what to do. From Valerie's expression, he was sure that she more or less had an inkling about who Charles was to. 'I should not reveal the truth myself at all costs. This might all be a trap laid out for me. I need to be careful. What if it is all just her assumptions and she is waiting for me to take the bait? But I need to find out how she knows Charles too.'

Jared let out a deep sigh, deciding to take the risk this time. "Who is Charles?" He masked his shock as much as possible, making it seem like he had no idea who Valerie was speaking about.

Ryder too did not know who Charles was and he gave Preston a questioning look, only to meet the man smiling widely at him. All he did was nod at him to be patient, and Ryder gave up even looking at him for answers. He realized that Preston was having fun and he too decided to join in. He would eventually find out the truth anyway.

"Are you sure you do not know who Charles Miller is, Mr. Augutus?" Valerie folded her hands.

"No. Is it someone I should know?" Jared continued to feign ignorance, even though his palms had turned clammy and his heart was beating at a rate he could not even comprehend. He was just short of losing himself completely to fear.

His Godfather was his only hope of him getting out of this place, and he did not wish for Valerie and her team to find out about him. The old man had to stay out it, away from the eyes of the Intelligence if he were to leave from the place unscathed. Jared had pinned all his hopes on his Godfather to save him.

'I should not disclose anything about Godfather at any cost.' He thought as he waited for Valerie to speak up.

"I assume so. Don't you and Charles have a good relationship, Mr. Augustus?" Valerie kept the mystery in the air, not allowing Jared to even deduce what all she knew about him.

"I am not sure, Deputy. Maybe he is a business partner of mine that I have forgotten. You see I deal with a lot of people. I cannot remember all of them, can I?" He put on a poker face. But Valerie had seen through his act.

"It's funny to hear that you do not recollect the man who is none other than your Godfather, the man who controls your gang and is equally as responsible as you are in your list of crimes."