Chapter 5 - WHAT NATHAN LEFT BEHIND
They examined the ring until three in the morning.
Nothing.
No compartment.
No markings.
No obvious clue.
Claire sat at the kitchen counter staring at it.
“He said people would come looking for the ring.”
Gabriel poured coffee.
“Maybe because they thought it held something.”
“Then what does it point to?”
Claire turned the ring beneath the light.
Nathan’s initials were engraved inside.
N.K.
Below them were three tiny numbers.
Claire frowned.
“Was April seventeenth important?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Locker number?”
“Could be.”
“Bank box?”
“Possible.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Think like Nathan.
Then she remembered.
“Wait.”
Gabriel looked up.
“The Reynolds project.”
“What about it?”
“Nathan once asked me how long our archive system keeps closed vendor records.”
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
Claire’s pulse quickened.
“Archive room. Section four. Shelf seventeen.”
Gabriel grabbed his coat.
“No.”
Claire stood.
“I’m coming.”
“You were kidnapped twelve hours ago.”
“And I know the accounting system.”
“I have people.”
“Your people keep getting compromised.”
Gabriel had no answer for that.
Forty minutes later they entered Kane Holdings headquarters through an underground service entrance.
The building was dark.
Mason remained outside with security.
Claire led Gabriel into the basement archive.
Section four.
Shelf seventeen.
Rows of gray boxes.
Claire searched.
“2019… 2020…”
Then she found it.
REYNOLDS INDUSTRIAL — CLOSED VENDOR FILES.
Gabriel opened the box.
Invoices.
Receipts.
Nothing unusual.
Claire removed the bottom stack.
Her fingers stopped.
A small envelope had been taped beneath the cardboard liner.
On it, Nathan’s handwriting.
CLAIRE — IF I’M DEAD, I WAS RIGHT.
Gabriel went silent.
Claire opened the envelope.
Inside was a flash drive.
And a letter.
Gabriel read over her shoulder.
Claire,
If you’re reading this, I probably didn’t get the chance to explain.
I’m sorry.
Someone inside the family has been selling our routes, laundering money, and paying Cross’s competitors to create a war Gabriel will be forced to fight.
The goal isn’t money.
It’s control.
Gabriel will blame himself when people die.
That’s what they’re counting on.
Don’t let him.
Claire stopped.
Gabriel looked away.
She continued.
I don’t know who I can trust yet.
I know only one thing.
The man responsible has access to Gabriel’s private authorizations.
And if I’m right about the car records, Sarah and I are already targets.
Claire’s hands began trembling.
Gabriel took the letter.
There was one final sentence.
Claire is the only person outside the family who knows enough to prove it.
Protect her.
Gabriel stared at Nathan’s handwriting.
Then Claire inserted the flash drive into an offline laptop.
A list of payments appeared.
Millions of dollars.
Fake shipping contracts.
Cash transfers.
Bribes.
One name repeated as approving officer.
V. KANE.
Claire whispered, “Vincent.”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
Another file sat at the bottom.
A video.
Nathan appeared on screen.
He looked exhausted.
“If you’re watching this, I didn’t survive long enough to finish what I started.”
Nathan leaned closer to the camera.
“And Gabriel… if Claire is beside you, listen to her before you do something stupid.”
Claire almost laughed through her tears.
Nathan continued.
“Uncle Vincent is involved.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“But he isn’t working alone.”
Gabriel opened them.
May you like
Nathan’s next words changed everything.
“The person helping him sleeps under your roof.”
