Ron Donaldo: Rise Of The Apex Don

Chapter 44

The cold metal bench was hard against Marcus Thorne’s back. 

He sat in the corner of a tiny, gray holding cell inside the FBI Headquarters of Oakhaven. His hands were locked together in heavy, thick steel handcuffs. The metal cut into his soft wrists. 

Marcus looked down at his clothes. He was not wearing his custom-made, expensive gray Italian suit anymore. The FBI had taken his clothes for evidence. Now, he was wearing a bright orange prison jumpsuit. The fabric was cheap, rough, and itchy. 

It was the exact same orange jumpsuit Ron Donaldo had worn for five years. 

Marcus began to shake. He pulled his knees up to his chest. He felt completely naked. He felt small. The bright, harsh white lights on the ceiling buzzed loudly. There were no windows. There was no comfortable leather chair. There was only the cold concrete floor and the heavy steel door. 

For five years, Marcus had been a king. He had laughed at Ron. He had thrown a fifty-thousand-dollar check into a mud puddle and told Ron to die quietly. 

Now, Marcus was the rat in the cage. 

Clank. Clack.

The heavy steel door unlocked and swung open. 

Two large FBI agents walked into the cell. They did not look at Marcus with respect. They looked at him like he was garbage. 

"Get up, Thorne," the first agent ordered loudly. 

Marcus slowly stood up. His legs were shaking so badly he almost fell. "I want my lawyer," Marcus whispered. His voice was weak. "I have the right to a phone call. I want to call the best lawyers in the city."

The FBI agent laughed a short, cold laugh. "Your lawyers quit, Marcus. The SEC completely froze your bank accounts. You have zero dollars. The best lawyers in the city do not work for free. You belong to us now. Walk."

The agents grabbed Marcus by the arms and dragged him out of the cell. They walked him down a long, white hallway. The building was full of loud noises. Telephones were ringing everywhere. Other agents were running down the halls holding thick files. The entire FBI was working on the massive Sterling Tech case. 

They pushed Marcus into an interrogation room. 

It was a small room. There was a gray metal table in the center, bolted firmly to the floor. There were three uncomfortable metal chairs. On the wall was a large, dark mirror. Marcus knew it was a two-way mirror. People were watching him from the other side. 

In the corner of the ceiling, a small camera with a red light pointed directly at the table. 

"Sit down," the agent commanded, pushing Marcus into a chair. 

The door closed. Marcus was alone for a few minutes. He stared at his shaking, handcuffed hands. He thought about his secret money. He thought about the Cayman Islands. It was all gone. Ron had taken everything. 

Suddenly, the door opened again. 

A woman was pushed violently into the room. 

She fell onto the hard floor, hitting her knees. She groaned in pain. 

Marcus looked at her. His eyes went incredibly wide. 

It was Theresa Sterling. 

But she did not look like a beautiful, rich queen anymore. Her expensive silk dress was completely ruined. It was torn at the shoulders and covered in thick, wet mud. Her knees were bleeding. Her perfect hair was a wild, tangled mess, full of dead leaves and dirt. She was missing one of her high heel shoes. 

"Theresa?" Marcus whispered. 

Theresa slowly looked up from the floor. Her face was covered in dark streaks of ruined makeup. Her eyes were wide, wild, and full of pure panic. She looked like a cornered, terrified animal. 

An FBI agent grabbed Theresa by her arm and pulled her up into a chair across the table from Marcus. They locked her handcuffs to a heavy metal ring on the table. 

"The National Guard found her crawling through the mud in the Blackwood Forest," the FBI agent said to the room. "The man she was with pushed her out of a moving car and drove away."

Vane had abandoned her. The Fixer had realized Theresa was just useless baggage. He threw her to the wolves to save himself. 

The FBI agent walked out of the room and closed the heavy door. 

Marcus and Theresa were alone. 

They stared at each other across the cold metal table. For five years, they had been a team. They had smiled for the cameras. They had drank champagne and kissed on the covers of rich magazines. They had built their entire marriage on stolen money and dark secrets. 

Now, the money was gone. And only the dark secrets were left. 

"Look at you," Marcus whispered. His voice was full of absolute disgust. "You look like a piece of trash."

Theresa’s eyes narrowed. The fear in her face slowly changed into hot, burning anger. "Shut up, Marcus. Look at yourself. You are wearing an orange jumpsuit. You are a prisoner."

"This is your fault!" Marcus suddenly yelled. He pulled at his handcuffs. The metal chains rattled loudly. "Ron came back because of you! You were supposed to manage him! You were his wife!"

"Manage him?!" Theresa screamed back. Her voice echoed off the small walls. "I put him in a cage for five years! I gave you a multi-billion dollar company! I handed you the blueprints for the Sterling Core! All you had to do was run the business, and you failed! You are a weak, stupid accountant!"

"I am the CEO!" Marcus roared. Spittle flew from his lips. His face turned bright purple. "I made the deals with The Director! I made us rich! And you ruined it! You could not even invent your own engine! You had to steal it from a real genius!"

Theresa laughed a harsh, crazy laugh. "Ron was a genius! You are nothing! The Director always knew you were weak. That is why he sent his men to kill you today! You could not even protect your own office!"

The cracks in their fake marriage were breaking completely open. They were two cornered rats trapped in a tiny box. When rats are cornered, they do not help each other. They eat each other to survive. 

The heavy metal door opened. 

A tall, sharp-looking woman walked into the room. She wore a dark blue FBI jacket. She carried two thick file folders. She set them down on the metal table with a loud thwack. 

"Good evening," the woman said. "I am Special Agent Reed. I am in charge of this investigation."

Marcus and Theresa both started talking at the exact same time. 

"I want a deal!" Marcus yelled. "She forced me to do it! Theresa forged the blueprints! She faked the dates on the patents! I have proof!"

"Do not listen to him!" Theresa screamed, pointing her dirty, shaking finger at Marcus. "He is a liar! Marcus paid the judge! I have the secret audio recordings! He paid the Mayor two million dollars! He was laundering the money through shell companies!"

Agent Reed simply smiled. She pulled out a chair and sat down. She did not yell. She just let them destroy each other. 

"This is very interesting," Agent Reed said calmly. She opened her notebook and took out a pen. "Please, continue. Who paid the Police Chief?"