Her smile faded.
“You always did ask the wrong question.”
“Then give me the right one.”
She studied him.
“The right question is why Daniel disappeared instead of exposing Meridian.”
Marcus stepped from behind us.
“Because your father controlled the investigation.”
Carmen laughed.
“My father controlled many things.”
“But not Daniel.”
“No.”
For the first time, genuine emotion crossed her face.
“He controlled me.”
The confession surprised us.
She continued.
“My father built Meridian. Thomas Jr. and I inherited his mistakes.”
Alexander said, “You chose to continue them.”
“At first.”
“And later?”
“I tried to dismantle them.”
Marcus scoffed.
“By threatening Sofia?”
Carmen’s gaze turned cold.
“I was trying to retrieve the archive before someone worse did.”
Sofia whispered through my earpiece, “She’s lying.”
I agreed.
But then Carmen said something unexpected.
“The women in the hotel were not mine.”
Alexander froze.
“What?”
“I sent one woman to obtain Sofia’s signature.”
