Chapter 5 - WHAT JAMES DISCOVERED
Adrian remembered burying Malcolm Pierce.
Or believing he had.
There had been a memorial.
Closed casket.
A story about a boating accident in Maine.
Richard had handled the paperwork.
Of course he had.
“Everything leads back to Vale,” Marcus said.
“Too neatly,” Adrian replied.
That bothered him.
Richard might be guilty.
But James had been meticulous.
If Richard alone had killed him, why hide references behind initials?
Why warn Grace against the entire family?
Adrian reopened the files.
At 2:17 in the morning, he found something.
A video.
James appeared on-screen.
Exhausted.
Scared.
“If Adrian sees this, I need you to understand something.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“Richard isn't the architect. He’s the cleaner.”
Grace entered quietly behind him.
James continued.
“The person behind this has been inside our family longer than Richard.”
Then static swallowed several seconds.
The video returned.
“Malcolm knows.”
Another interruption.
“And if anything happens to Grace or our baby—”
The file ended.
Grace covered her mouth.
Adrian stared at the black screen.
“Our baby.”
It was the first time she had heard James say those words.
Adrian turned away, giving her space.
Grace cried silently.
Not dramatically.
Not loudly.
Four years of grief simply escaped.
Adrian eventually placed a hand on her shoulder.
“He loved you.”
“I know.”
“He loved Nora.”
“I know.”
“Then we finish what he started.”
The next morning, Adrian did something nobody expected.
He went to work.
Publicly.
Cameras photographed him entering Cole Meridian headquarters in Manhattan.
Richard called within minutes.
“You're holding the board meeting?”
“Yes.”
“After yesterday?”
“Especially after yesterday.”
Adrian wanted whoever was watching to believe he had returned to routine.
Meanwhile Marcus traced Malcolm.
A private medical clinic.
A false identity.
Cash purchases.
Then an address.
A farmhouse in Vermont.
Adrian and Grace drove there under security escort.
They found Malcolm alone.
He opened the door and looked at Grace.
Then at Nora’s photograph in her hand.
His face collapsed.
“James had a daughter.”
Grace stiffened.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Why did you fake your death?”
“Because Richard tried to kill me.”
“Why?”
“Because I helped James.”
Malcolm invited them inside.
His hands shook.
Then Adrian noticed the habit.
Thumb rubbing twice against his index finger.
“Why do you do that?”
Malcolm looked confused.
“Do what?”
Adrian demonstrated.
The old man stared.
Then laughed sadly.
“Your father did it.”
Adrian froze.
“My father?”
“All the time when we were young.”
“But James did it.”
Malcolm nodded.
“So did you. Until boarding school trained half your nervous habits out of you.”
Suddenly Nora’s habit was no longer merely James’s.
It belonged to generations of Cole men.
That tiny gesture had pointed them toward Malcolm.
But Malcolm had another secret.
“James discovered that someone had been using your father’s private investment accounts for decades.”
“Richard?”
“No.”
Malcolm looked directly at Adrian.
“Your mother.”
Adrian stood.
“My mother died twelve years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then how—”
“She discovered the theft.”
“Whose theft?”
Malcolm’s eyes filled with fear.
“Your father’s.”
The room seemed to contract.
Malcolm explained.
Charles Cole had built the family empire partly through legitimate manufacturing and partly through illegal contracts arranged by a hidden partner.
When Charles tried to end the arrangement, the partner threatened the family.
James found the old records.
“He thought the scheme was still operating.”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
“Who was the partner?”
Malcolm reached for a drawer.
A red dot appeared on his chest.
Adrian saw it first.
“DOWN!”
The window exploded.
Malcolm fell.
Grace screamed.
Marcus dragged her behind a wall.
Adrian crawled toward Malcolm.
Blood spread across the old man's shirt.
“Who?” Adrian demanded. “Who was the partner?”
Malcolm struggled to breathe.
He grabbed Adrian’s wrist.
“Not... Richard.”
“I know.”
“Richard is afraid of him too.”
“Who?”
Malcolm whispered a name.
Adrian went completely still.
“That’s impossible.”
Malcolm's grip weakened.
“Ask... Holloway.”
Then his hand fell.
Grace stared.
“Mrs. Holloway?”
Adrian’s phone rang.
The mansion.
He answered.
A security officer shouted through chaos.
“Mr. Cole, we have a breach!”
Adrian stood.
“Where’s Nora?”
Silence.
“WHERE IS NORA?”
May you like
The answer came like a bullet.
“She’s gone.”
