Chapter 11 - THE HUNT FOR CONRAD SHAW
Conrad Shaw vanished with nearly twelve million dollars.
Federal agents joined the investigation.
His passport had not been used.
His private plane remained in its hangar.
His accounts were frozen.
He had prepared another escape route.
Nathan understood why.
Conrad had designed the legal architecture of the Vale fortune for thirty years.
He knew how to hide assets.
He also knew Nathan.
That made him dangerous.
The investigation found shell companies connected to Vanessa.
Payments stretched back six years.
Some went to Dr. Pierce.
Some to Gavin.
Some to a pharmaceutical consulting firm that no longer existed.
Claire’s name appeared nowhere.
But dates mattered.
The first payment was made three weeks before Claire’s treatment complications began.
Brooks refused to speculate.
Nathan appreciated that.
He needed facts.
Not revenge disguised as certainty.
Dr. Pierce was arrested at an airport attempting to board a flight to Lisbon.
He requested immunity.
Prosecutors refused.
Then he began talking.
He admitted supplying Oliver’s stored blood.
He admitted falsifying medical notes suggesting Oliver had emotional instability before the lake.
He admitted giving Vanessa sedatives.
But when asked about Claire, Pierce became terrified.
“I wasn’t involved.”
Brooks leaned forward.
“Involved in what?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said you weren’t involved.”
Pierce realized his mistake.
He asked for his lawyer.
That was enough for investigators to dig deeper.
Meanwhile Oliver began therapy.
He hated closed doors.
He refused elevators.
He panicked when lights went out unexpectedly.
Nathan rearranged his life around those fears without complaint.
Board meetings happened remotely.
Executives came to Margaret’s house.
Nothing mattered more than teaching Oliver one thing.
He was not alone anymore.
One afternoon Oliver asked a question Nathan had been avoiding.
“Are you going to kill Vanessa?”
Nathan stared at him.
“No.”
Oliver studied his face.
“You’re angry.”
“I am.”
“She hurt me.”
“I know.”
“Why not hurt her?”
Nathan sat beside him.
“Because then she gets to decide who we become.”
Oliver looked uncertain.
Nathan continued.
“I want her caught.”
“I want her tried.”
“I want every truth exposed.”
“But I won’t become her.”
Oliver thought about that.
Then nodded.
Nathan hoped he believed his own words.
That evening Brooks called.
Conrad had made a mistake.
He used an old satellite phone once owned by Nathan’s father.
The signal lasted fourteen seconds.
Long enough to locate a rural property in Vermont.
Agents surrounded it.
Conrad was gone.
But they found papers burning in a fireplace.
One document survived partially.
Project Heir.
Phase One: C.
Phase Two: O.
Phase Three: N.
Nathan stared at the initials.
Claire.
Oliver.
Nathan.
Three phases.
Three people to remove.
Beneath them was a fourth line.
Phase Four: Recognition of J.L.
Julian Langford.
The heir.
Then came a fifth phase.
Something no one expected.
Phase Five: V.L.
Vanessa Langford.
Next to her initials was one word.
Disposition.
Brooks looked at Nathan.
“Conrad planned to eliminate Vanessa too.”
Nathan stared at the page.
Vanessa had believed she was building an empire.
In reality, she was another piece on Conrad’s board.
Nathan should have felt satisfaction.
He did not.
May you like
Because it meant Conrad’s plan extended beyond Vanessa.
And the man was still free.
