The Becoming: Can you become the villain of your own story?

By Joaquin Carey

In the first installment of his three-book series The Hero and Villain, Joaquin Carey asks if we can become the villain of our own story.

In the bustling town of Richmond Heights, Paul Richmond and his best friend Blake Goodwin investiga

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books and Coffee Publishing
• Release date: Oct 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088263686

Book preview

Prologue

Tom Richmond didn’t know what to believe or how to feel. He leaned forward, his face in his hands behind his perfectly organized cedar desk in his home office. He had been looking at a massive security breach that implicated his best friend Ian Cowell in committing wire fraud through the company they had founded together. But he also didn’t want it to be true. He knew Ian, but the evidence was stacked up against him. Tom knew that it would be a scandal if he was seen covering it up, and he would be an accessory himself to the crime; he had no choice but to take it to the FBI.

Tom’s lawyer, Gregg Livingston, asked, Are you sure it was Ian who committed the wire fraud? Because we have to be sure before going to the FBI, he added.

Sighing deeply, Tom said, The financial transcripts here show it was Ian, although I don’t know where the money might have gone to.

Gregg, who was sitting on the other side of the desk, said, OK, I'll call Susan and let her know.

1

Wire Fraud

Do you think we should tell them that we suspect Vanessa and Christina are behind it? Paul Richmond asked, taking a slice of pizza.

Not without any hard evidence, his best friend Blake Goodwin said while taking a bite of pizza himself. I mean, right now it's our word against Vanessa and Christina, Blake said, sitting down and taking a sip of root beer.

Paul and Blake suspected their high school classmates Vanessa Cowell and Christina Dunn were behind the six-hundred-million-dollar wire fraud from the construction company owned by Tom Richmond and Ian Cowell but couldn’t prove it just yet. Ian, Vanessa’s dad, was in the county jail awaiting trial, but Paul and Blake had a hunch that Vanessa had convinced Christina to frame her father for the wire fraud. And they suspected that Christina had used Ian’s key card to gain access to the company's computer network, steal the investors’ contact information, and pitch a bogus investment opportunity in the form of a loan.

Christina had started working part time at the construction company as an intern at only sixteen. Christina had lucked out when she started working for Ian, who was the chief engineer for the company’s data network. Ian never suspected exactly how good Christina was with programming software because her job was just to update the investors' contact information on his office computer. He didn’t realize that in middle school Paul had taught Christina to use programming code to hack into anything.

Hey, is that Fred? Blake said, looking outside the main window in the living room. Wait. He's going across the street to Vanessa’s house.

What? Paul said as he was getting another slice of pizza. He walked over the window eating it.

Fred Livingston, the audio engineer for the film study class at the high school, was quietly crouching on his haunches under Vanessa's bedroom window. Paul and Blake saw him taking out his digital recorder.

Paul and Blake briskly walked over to Vanessa's house. Blake grabbed Fred, clasped his hand over Fred’s mouth, and with Paul’s help partially dragged him to Paul's house. They brought him through the basement door so Tom, Paul’s dad, wouldn’t notice. When Blake took his hand off Fred's mouth, Fred said, Man, what the hell!

What were you doing at Vanessa’s house? Blake asked Fred.

I wanted to record Vanessa and Christina together, Fred replied.

Why? Paul asked.

I’m directing a film on the students of Richmond Heights High, Fred responded.

And you thought committing a felony would look good on your director’s highlight reel? Blake asked.

Yeah, I’ve heard of the director's commitment, but a felony? Really? Paul asked.

I tried asking, but you know Vanessa and Christina. They’re way wrapped up in themselves, he said.

What did you get from them anyway? Blake asked.

Something about Ian Cowell and a frame job, whatever that means. I’ll know more after I clean up the audio, Fred said.

How long does that take? Blake asked.

I’ll get back to you on that, Fred replied. Why? he added curiously.

After Fred left, Paul and Blake were even more curious: could this be something of a smoking gun? Blake left to go home, while Paul went straight to bed.

The next day, Paul woke up and got ready for school, but before leaving he checked the previous night's security footage on his iPad to see if the cameras had caught anything after Fred had left his house.

On the tablet, Paul saw Christina and Vanessa looking out from the bedroom window watching him and Blake dragging Fred away.

Paul called Blake and told him to come over right away. When Blake got to the house, he bounded up the stairs to Paul’s bedroom. Paul showed him last night’s footage.

Oh, this is not good, Blake said, concerned.

We need to go to school and let Fred know, Paul said.

As they were driving, they talked about this situation and how they were going to handle it. When they got to school and parked, Blake said, I'm going to warn Fred about Christina and Vanessa. I’ll meet up with you at breakfast.

All right, Paul said as he went into the building.

Paul, Blake and four other students were advanced honor students who had gourmet breakfasts before classes. Not to say that Paul got any special treatment just for being Tom Richmond's son. Paul, like the other students, had earned the privilege through stellar grades, perfect attendance since freshman year, and volunteer work outside school.

While Erin, the private chef, prepared Paul and Blake’s favorite entrees, Blake looked for Fred to tell him what Christina and Vanessa knew about last night. But when he found Fred, he was already talking to Christina. Blake ducked behind a hedge and listened.

What were you doing at Vanessa's house last night? he heard Christina ask, sounding irritated.

I was working on a film project, Fred said, not losing eye contact with Christina.

Is that it? Christina said, with a little icy tone to her voice. "Because I also saw