Chapter 12 - The Dead Man’s Password
Richard Vale had been Charles Cole’s closest business partner for almost twenty-five years.
His obituary said he died in Switzerland.
Heart failure.
Private funeral.
No public viewing.
Nathan remembered sending flowers.
Ethan remembered attending a memorial service.
Margaret looked shaken.
“I saw the death certificate.”
Ethan answered,
“Have you seen a body?”
Margaret said nothing.
Nathan turned toward the computer.
“Where did the login happen?”
“My office.”
They returned to Cole Meridian headquarters shortly after midnight.
Security sealed the building.
Nathan and Ethan entered the executive floor with two guards.
Nathan’s office door was open.
The room looked untouched.
His computer was on.
A single file had been copied.
C17_LEDGER_INDEX.
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Whoever did this knew exactly what they wanted.”
Nathan checked the camera system.
At 11:19 p.m., a maintenance worker entered the floor.
Cap low.
Face partially hidden.
The man moved with a slight limp.
Margaret leaned closer.
Her hand rose to her mouth.
“That’s Richard.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You can tell from that?”
“He broke his left hip skiing when he was fifty-three.”
The man disappeared into Nathan’s office.
Fourteen minutes later, he left.
Vanessa stared at the footage.
“Adrian never mentioned him.”
Ethan glanced at her.
“Maybe because you were never really part of the plan.”
Nathan looked at Margaret.
“If Vale is alive, why fake his death?”
Margaret stared at the paused image.
“Because three years ago, federal auditors began asking questions about offshore accounts connected to Charles.”
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
“What accounts?”
Margaret looked at him.
“The same accounts listed in the ledger.”
The situation had changed again.
This was no longer merely about Vanessa’s fake pregnancy.
It was no longer merely about Adrian’s claim to be Charles Cole’s son.
Someone had hidden millions.
Someone had staged a death.
Someone had been waiting years for access to records that could expose everything.
Nathan looked at Ethan.
“We need the original box before they destroy it.”
Vanessa suddenly spoke.
“I might know where Adrian would go.”
Everyone turned.
She looked at Nathan.
“Six months ago, he took me to a property outside the city.”
“What property?”
“An abandoned maternity clinic.”
Ethan stared at her.
“That’s not suspicious at all.”
“I thought he was showing me where his mother gave birth.”
Margaret’s face changed.
“Where?”
Vanessa gave the address.
Margaret whispered,
“That clinic belonged to Charles.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What?”
“Not officially.”
She looked horrified.
“Charles purchased it through a trust in 1989.”
Nathan felt another secret opening beneath the first.
Vanessa looked at Margaret.
May you like
“Why would Nathan’s father own the hospital where Adrian was born?”
Margaret had no answer.
