“Tell you what?”
Alexander stood tall, widening his stance. “Did you not think I’d look into your background? I found out about your father. I get it. You don’t like me because you think it’s my fault he was shot. So… What? You use all the training you’ve received on the CARD team and working cybercrimes to take my daughter, then be the first on scene to steer me in the wrong direction? You made me accuse my right-hand man, all the while standing by, knowing he wasn’t the one to blame! Why?”
“Alex…” A hand grabbed his arm. He glanced at the short, graying blonde woman standing to his left, a questioning look on her face.
“Your brother doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Moretti said defensively to Carol, then faced Alexander. “I understand how stressful this situation can be, but throwing baseless accusations around will not bring your daughter back.”
“Baseless?” Alexander retorted. “You had the motive and means to carry this out! So tell me, Vincent Moretti. Where were you this morning around 12:30?”
He shook his head, avoiding Alexander’s eyes, his face growing flush. “I don’t have to answer that,” he hissed through clenched teeth, then turned around, walking away.
“Why? You think you’re above the law?”
“I am the law!” Moretti shouted, spinning back toward him, leaning his hands on the table as he took a defensive stance. “And it’s something I’m damn proud of! I’ve had to work for everything. Everything!” He slammed his fist on the table. “I didn’t have the luxury of simply being handed a multi-billion dollar company! And you think I’d jeopardize my career over my distaste for you?” He narrowed his eyes at Alexander, the animosity he had toward him painted in every crevice on his face. “I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction,” he sneered. “I’m going to find your daughter, regardless of my feelings toward you. My reputation is worth more to me than that.”
Alexander stared at him for several long moments, absorbing his words. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he had a feeling he wasn’t getting the whole story.
“Alex, listen to him,” Carol begged, tugging on his arm and bringing him out of his thoughts. He met her green eyes. “Remember what’s at stake here. You need to focus on doing everything you can to help find Melanie. Okay? Starting a fight with the lead on her case isn’t the way to do that. Stow that famous Burnham temper of yours for a minute and learn to work with him.”
Glaring at Moretti, Alexander nodded reluctantly. “Fine.”
He allowed Carol to lead him and Olivia toward a corner where his mother, brother, and Dave were assembled. He shook his head. Unable to bite back what he wanted to say, he spun back around.
“I’m sorry he died, but I didn’t pull the trigger.” He pointed to his chest, then at Moretti. “You of all people should understand that.”
“You think I blame you for his death?” Moretti glowered at him. “I’m not that na?ve,” he scoffed.
“Then why all this hostility toward me?” Alexander asked, baffled. “I haven’t done anything—”
“Bullshit,” Moretti roared, standing tall once more. “Bullshit, Mr. Burnham. You pretend to care about your employees, but all you see are dollar signs. My mom left my dad because he was always working…for your father. She gave him an ultimatum — his family or his career. I guess it’s not a big surprise which he chose. At least he was still making good money and had no trouble paying those alimony and child support payments. Until he died, that is. And you…,” he sneered, a disgusted smile crossing his face as he scowled at Alexander with venom in his eyes, “with your flashy cars and designer suits… You denied my mother any death benefits because they were no longer married at the time. You didn’t care that she could barely make ends meet without those alimony and child support payments. So, to answer your question, that’s why I don’t like you. Ever since my mother was forced to sell the house she raised me in and move us to a one-bedroom apartment, I was determined to do everything in my power to make a better life for myself and for her.”
Alexander was dumbfounded. The man Moretti described sounded like a horrible person, not like the man Alexander thought he was. He prided himself on caring about his employees, paying them what he believed to be a very generous salary. Was he really as self-centered as Moretti made him out to be? He couldn’t remember making a decision to deny death benefits to the family of one of his employees. He never got involved with those types of things. That was what his lawyers were for.
“Agent Moretti, I’m—”
“Stop,” he declared, holding his hand up. “I don’t want to hear your apologies. You might feel bad for a minute, but it won’t change what we had to go through. I had to watch my mom struggle to work three jobs just to make ends meet and put me through college. I’m a better person because of it. Honestly, I’m the FBI agent I am today because of what you put us through. Yes, I’ll do everything I can to bring your daughter back home safely, but that’s only because I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to a child, no matter who her father is. Got it?”
“Got it,” Alexander murmured, speechless. He wondered how many other people he had screwed over. How many other families had been torn apart because of his failure to take an interest? The more he looked at himself from an outsider’s perspective, the more he believed he had turned into his father. A man who put his own needs first. A man who worked so much, he barely spent any time with his family. A man who didn’t offer any apologies until it was too late. He didn’t want to think that was what he had become, but how could he not when all the signs were there?
“Hey.” A tall man, bearing a striking resemblance to Alexander, approached him, dragging him away from Moretti.
“Tyler… Hey,” Alexander replied, his head still in a fog.
“How ya holding up?” he asked, giving Alexander a longer than usual hug. Despite the nine year age difference between the two men, Alexander felt closer to his younger brother than most people, and not just because they ran the security company together. They had been through so much over the years, Alexander couldn’t help but feel as if he had a role in the man Tyler had become, and vice versa.
“Good,” Alexander answered.
Tyler pulled back and muttered, “Liar.”