“So, Murray was no longer your target,” Andrew said.
“Nothing changed at first. But as time went on, we saw Arlen more and more, and it was clear that they were working together on something. So, when Murray proposed to me, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to cement myself in his life and gain more information on both men.”
“So, you were playing the long game,” Corduroy said.
I nodded. “It was never about going in and destroying someone’s life. It was about finding out how to get compensation for the lives they destroyed.”
“And Callum was with you on all of this,” Robert asked. “What did he have to gain from this?”
“Callum’s family was from the same town. He was able to get out before the mine shut down. He had a scholarship to college, but unfortunately, both of his parents died before he could find a job earning enough money to help them.”
“How did they die?” Andrew asked.
“His father died in a car accident driving back home after being away for three months. And his mother died soon after from an aneurysm. Nobody should have to commute hours away just for work. Had Arlen’s company not taken away the mine for selfish reasons, people would have been able to survive. They could have at least given some warning, given people a chance to make arrangements.”
“How do you know his reasons were selfish?” Jack asked.
“I was surprising Murray at his office one night. I was going to bring him takeout after he called and told me that he had to work late, but when I got to his office, I heard yelling. Arlen was there, had flown in for an emergency meeting with Murray. I stood outside and listened as Murray told Arlen that he couldn’t stand for how the company had put thousands of people out of work. How they had shut down several mines in the area, all for money. Knowing that I was from that area and what it had done to the families out there, Murray was not happy with what had happened. He told Arlen he was going public with what he knew. They argued some more, threats were made, but eventually, Arlen headed home.”
“Did he say why they shut the mines down?” Robert asked, his curiosity growing by the second. In fact, as I looked around, everyone was staring at me with rapt attention. I had forgotten the rest of them were in the room.
“Yes. The mines in the area were largely coal mines, but after a few environmental studies, it was found that lithium was also in those mines, and they were getting closer and closer to digging it up. The United States currently has one working lithium mine. Most of the lithium in the world is mined from South America. And recently, the U.S. Interior Department listed lithium as a critical mineral.”
“Why would they shut down the mine then?” Andrew asked. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to mine it?”
“No,” Jack said, his gaze shrewd. “It’s better to hold onto it, buy up what you can and have the last remaining lithium in the world. The cost of it would skyrocket, and the U.S. would reap the benefits.”
I nodded. “Murray found out that someone from the Natural Resources Reserves met with Arlen and paid him a lot of money to shut down the mines, with the promise of reopening at the appropriate moment. So, after their argument, the next day Murray and I were driving down the road and I confronted him about what I overheard. We argued about how to handle it, and that was when his car started jerking all over the road. The car was about to go into the ditch and he jerked the wheel, but he slammed his head into the driver’s side window and he was out of it. I grabbed the wheel and tried to control the car, but it was impossible. The roads were slick and I couldn’t reach the pedals to stop the car. We crashed into a tree, and his head snapped forward or something.”
I could still see his lifeless eyes staring at me, just like my father’s had. It haunted my dreams, always making me wonder if I was cursed to have all the men in my life die.
“Why did you run?” Andrew asked. “Why didn’t you wait for the police to show up?”
“There’s no way the accident was a coincidence. If you had overheard that conversation between Arlen and Murray, would you have thought it was an accident?”
Nobody answered me, but I could tell they all were thinking the same thing I did that day. Arlen had killed Murray, and if I was caught at the scene of the crime, he could come after me next.
“I ran and went to Callum with what I knew. We formulated a plan to both keep me safe and take down Arlen.”
“Do you have proof of what he did?” Jack asked.
“I made a recording of Arlen and Murray’s conversation. When I went to Callum, we made copies and had them sent to different lawyers for safe keeping. In the event of my death, they would have evidence against Arlen.”
Andrew
I was having a really hard fucking time wrapping my head around everything she was telling me. Talk about conspiracy theories; this one took the cake. But as I watched both Jack and Corduroy’s reactions, they seemed to believe her. Hell, I believed her, I just couldn’t believe that she was wrapped up in this shit.
“Why didn’t you just leave?” I asked. “You could have just started over, started a new life without Arlen. You had a job, a new home…”
Her eyes turned hard and tears filled her eyes, but they weren’t tears of sadness.
