"What happened inside? I heard so many gunshots. I was really worried about you." She paused, hearing a flood of sirens. "Are people dead?"
"Viktor is deceased. He wasn't going down any other way. Henry is injured, but he'll live. There are some other injuries, not sure if any others will be fatal, but we stopped the launch of the algorithm. Derek was able to minimize the damage. It's over, Haley. It's finally over."
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Three hours later, at a little past midnight, Matt came into the breakroom of his office, where he'd put Haley under the watchful eye of another agent this time. He'd been in and out to check on her every twenty minutes, not willing to let her out of his sight for very long, but there had been a lot to do. He knew she was probably exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and go to sleep, but he'd had to make sure they had everyone in custody before letting her go anywhere else.
She gave him a weary smile. "Are you done?"
"Just about. You can go," he told the other agent. "Thanks."
"What's happened?" Haley asked when they were alone.
He sat down on the couch next to her. "Henry Adler is in the hospital, undergoing surgery. He's expected to survive. His father, Graham Adler, has hired the best defense attorney in town for his son."
"I'm sure," she said cynically. "Those fathers are going to protect their sons, just like they did before."
"Not all of them. Kent Sanderson was stunned to realize that his son, Drew, was plotting his downfall. The early moves that we were unable to stop hit Kent's holdings hard. He lost a lot of money even before the algorithm launched. He's not offering to pay for Drew's defense. In fact, he's disavowing all knowledge of anything."
"He turns on his own. Those families are sick," she said.
"Speaking of families…we picked up Jill Adler. She was eager to make a deal. She's rolling on everyone, giving us all the details, all the players, including the moles in the FBI: Shari and Director Markham. Because of the complicity of those agents and the LA field office, we're handling all the interrogations here, but we'll be getting some help from agents in our San Diego office. They just arrived a short time ago."
"What about Charles Adler?"
"Jill said her father knew about the algorithm and was positioned to make money when it launched. She also stated that Trent had nothing to do with it and wanted no part of it. She claimed she had no idea things were going to get so violent, that Brooke would be hurt, almost killed. She also started to panic then, but it was too late to get out."
"I don't feel sorry for her."
"I don't, either," he agreed.
"And Kyle Vance? Did he know his girlfriend was on the hit list?"
"No. He was terrified to talk after what happened to Brooke, but once we told him Viktor was dead, he opened up. Drew and Henry were the leaders. Viktor was the muscle and was in charge of hiring mercenaries on the dark web, the gunman who shot Sabrina Lin, and the men who attacked Brooke Mercer and Justin Harrington. We arrested Viktor's men at the warehouse, and some of them are giving us information on Viktor's operation as well. We will take down every last one of his cohorts, but he's dead, so he's done."
"Do you think you have everyone that matters now?"
"We have everyone connected to the algorithm, but, no, we don't have everyone from the Westbridge alumni system, who have been buying and selling favors with judges, politicians, FBI agents…" He saw the disheartened look in her eyes. "But we have a lot to go on. And people like this are always looking to sell someone else out to save themselves."
"I hate the idea of any of them getting a deal."
"I know. But we want to arrest as many people as possible, and sometimes that information is worth a deal."
She let out a sigh. "I can't believe this is over, Matt. I wasn't sure we'd ever get to them. That we'd ever get justice for Landon."
"You're a big reason why we did," he said, meeting her gaze. "I haven't forgotten your brother in all of this, Haley."
She gave him an emotional smile. "I know, and I appreciate that, Matt."
"I don't know if we'll ever find out more than what we already know about the night he died, but I'll do everything I can to get the complete story and to make sure they all pay."
Her chest rose as she drew in a deep breath. "I'm sure you will. You've been amazing through all of this."
"So have you. Why don't we call it a night? This investigation is going to take weeks, not days. We need to pace ourselves."
"Okay," she said as he helped her to her feet. "But I don't want to go home. My place is still a mess from the break-in."
"How about my apartment? You have some clothes there."
