But I've worked for him long enough to understand what he means."
Nathan kept his face still.
"He wanted you to—"
"He wanted the problem to disappear," Pruitt said.
"I told him I would handle it.
Then I called you."
"You could be lying," Nathan said.
"This could be a move to get inside our case."
"Yes," Pruitt said.
"It could be.
You'll have to decide." He pushed the USB drive an inch closer.
"But I'll tell you what's on that drive.
There are eleven recordings.
Three of them are conversations between Hartwell and your father from the year before your father died.
Your father was trying to get out of the agreement.
He told Hartwell he'd made a mistake.
He said he wanted to find Grace and tell you the truth." Pruitt paused.
"Hartwell told him that if he did, he would release information that would destroy the Cole Group's stock value within forty-eight hours.
He had fabricated financial records.
Your father believed him."
Nathan stared at the drive.
"My father tried to undo it," he said.
"He tried for eight months.
Hartwell blocked every move." Pruitt's voice was flat, factual.
"The letter your father left you — the one in the envelope — he wrote it because he knew he was running out of time.
He was ill.
He didn't think he had another year." He paused.
"He was right."
---
Nathan picked up the drive.
"I'm taking this to Detective Reyes," he said.
"If it's what you say it is, you'll be treated as a cooperating witness.
If it's not—"
"I know," Pruitt said.
"I'm prepared for either."
Nathan stood.
Then he stopped.
"The letter Grace received five years ago," he said.
"The one in my name.
Did you write it?"
Pruitt looked up.
"Hartwell dictated it.
I typed it.
I signed your name." He held Nathan's gaze.
"I have thought about that letter every day since.
I want you to know that."
"Thinking about it didn't help Grace," Nathan said.
"Or Lily."
He walked out without looking back.
---
Detective Reyes had the drive analyzed by two o'clock.
The audio files were intact, unedited, and timestamped.
The three conversations between Richard Cole and Edward Hartwell were exactly as Pruitt had described.
Nathan listened to the second recording in Reyes's office with Grace sitting beside him.
His father's voice came through the speaker tired and strained, nothing like the man Nathan remembered.
*"Edward, I'm asking you to let this go.
The boy deserves to know."*
*"Richard.
We've been through this.
The agreement is binding.
If you move against it, I move against you.
It's very simple."*
*"She has a child.
My grandchild."*
*"She has a complication.
That's all she is.
Don't make this harder than it needs to be."*
Nathan reached over and stopped the recording.
The room was quiet.
Grace had her hand pressed flat against the table, fingers spread, the way you brace yourself when the ground moves.
"He tried," she said.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"He actually tried."
"Not hard enough," Nathan said.
"Not soon enough."
"No," Grace said.
"But he tried."
She looked at Lily, who was drawing on a notepad in the corner, completely absorbed, her small tongue pressed to her lip in concentration.
"I don't know what to do with that," Grace said.
"Neither do I," Nathan said.
"Not yet."
Reyes came back in.
"Pruitt has agreed to full cooperation.
He's being formally interviewed now.
Hartwell's attorney called twenty minutes ago demanding to know why Pruitt missed a scheduled check-in." She paused.
"Hartwell knows something is wrong.
He'll move tonight."
"What will he do?" Nathan asked.
"He'll try to get ahead of it," Reyes said.
"A press statement.
Possibly a counter-filing.
Possibly something worse." She looked at Nathan directly.
"Is there anything in the Cole Group's financials that he could use against you?
Anything that looks irregular even if it isn't?"
Nathan thought for three seconds.
"The Pacific division restructuring.
It was legitimate, but the timing looks unusual on paper."
"Then he'll use it," Reyes said.
"Get your financial team ready.
Tonight."
Nathan was already reaching for his phone when it buzzed with a text from a number he didn't recognize.
*This is Victoria.
Not from my regular phone.
I need to tell you something my father doesn't know I know.
Meet me alone.
Please.
One hour.*
He showed the screen to Reyes.
She read it.
Looked up.
"Your call."
Nathan typed back: *Where?*
----------------------------------------
Chapter 8: What Victoria Knew
----------------------------------------
The address Victoria sent was a hotel bar twelve blocks from the Cole Group offices — neutral ground, public enough that nothing could be hidden, private enough that no one would overhear.
Nathan arrived first.
He chose a table near the wall with a clear sightline to the entrance and ordered water.
Reyes knew where he was.
Daniel knew where he was.
Grace had his location on her phone.