Chapter 15: What Caleb Remembered
Maya pulled Hale to safety and placed him under arrest.
Laura Bennett was rushed downstairs for treatment.
Adrian returned to the penthouse with Hannah and Caleb.
“The ledger isn’t a book,” Hannah said. “William would never hide something that obvious.”
Caleb sat at the kitchen table, staring at the faded photograph.
“Dr. Hale said I have it.”
“Did your grandfather ever give you anything?” Adrian asked.
“I never met him.”
Hannah hesitated.
“That isn’t completely true.”
When Caleb was a baby, William visited them once.
He came alone and asked Hannah to protect the child.
“He held Caleb for nearly an hour,” she said. “Before he left, he gave him a stuffed bear.”
Caleb looked up.
“The bear with one blue eye?”
Hannah nodded.
“It disappeared when our apartment was searched.”
Caleb shook his head.
“No. I hid it.”
“Where?”
“At school.”
Caleb explained that he had taken the bear to class for a family history project. When Hannah began acting afraid, he left it inside his classroom cubby.
Maya sent two officers to secure the school.
They arrived too late.
The classroom had been broken into.
The stuffed bear was gone.
Security footage showed a woman entering with legitimate school credentials.
Evelyn.
She had arranged the break-in before coming to Adrian’s penthouse.
Adrian questioned Evelyn at the private detention facility, but she refused to speak.
“You have the bear,” he said.
“I had the bear.”
“What does that mean?”
She smiled.
“I opened it.”
“What was inside?”
“A drive containing every account, payment, bribe, and name connected to your family.”
“Where is it now?”
“With Grant.”
Adrian stared at her.
Grant had disappeared after helping stop the debt transfer.
His phone was off. His vehicles remained at the penthouse.
Evelyn leaned toward the glass.
“Grant finally chose a side.”
“Mine?”
“No.”
She looked almost proud.
“His own.”
At that moment, Maya received an alert.
Someone had accessed the Cole Industries emergency broadcast system.
Every screen in the company’s headquarters turned on.
Grant appeared before thousands of employees.
“I am Grant Cole,” he began, “and everything you have been told about my family is a lie.”
May you like
Then a red countdown appeared behind him.
Ten minutes.
