Chapter 4 - What Lucian Never Told Her
Rey couldn't speak.
Viktor watched her carefully.
“You're lying.”
“Ask Lucian.”
“My father died in a highway accident.”
“That was the story.”
Belle stood trembling nearby.
Caldwell wouldn't meet Rey's eyes.
That frightened her.
“You knew?” Rey asked him.
Caldwell whispered, “Some of it.”
Viktor explained.
Rey's father, Daniel Dunore, had been a forensic accountant.
Brilliant.
Quiet.
Obsessed with patterns.
He had discovered financial irregularities inside companies connected to Lucian's business empire years earlier.
Then he died.
“Lucian silenced him,” Viktor said.
Rey's eyes burned.
“No.”
“You barely know Lucian.”
“I know you're manipulating me.”
“Good. Skepticism suits Daniel's daughter.”
Viktor placed a drive on the table.
“See for yourself.”
Before Rey could touch it, headlights swept across the windows.
Viktor's expression changed.
Lucian.
Within moments, the atmosphere fractured.
No gunfire.
No dramatic fight.
Just doors opening, men appearing, Viktor retreating through another exit.
Lucian entered.
His eyes found Rey immediately.
“You left.”
“You lied.”
His expression changed.
So Viktor had told the truth about something.
Rey held up the drive.
“My father worked for you.”
“Yes.”
The word hurt.
“Did you have something to do with his death?”
“No.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Lucian looked toward Belle and Caldwell.
“Not here.”
“Here.”
He stared at her.
Then nodded.
Daniel Dunore had indeed worked for Lucian.
But not as an ordinary accountant.
He had discovered someone siphoning money from several businesses.
That person was Viktor.
Daniel intended to expose him.
Viktor discovered the investigation first.
Lucian tried to move Daniel and his family somewhere safe.
Daniel refused.
Two days later, Daniel died in what authorities called an accident.
Lucian had spent years believing Viktor died shortly afterward.
“Why didn't my mother tell me?”
“Because she asked me to keep you outside this world.”
Rey shook her head.
“You knew who I was at the bar.”
“No.”
“When did you realize?”
“The next morning.”
“How?”
“Your surname. Your employment record. Then your photograph.”
She felt sick.
“So the cufflink?”
Lucian looked down.
“Your father gave me the first one.”
Rey stared.
“1597?”
“He liked mathematical patterns.”
Suddenly, everything changed.
Her father.
The cufflink.
Her instant recognition.
The strange sequence in Caldwell's books.
Viktor wasn't merely stealing.
He was recreating Daniel's signature.
“He wanted you to notice me,” Rey whispered.
Lucian nodded slowly.
“The dare wasn't planned,” Rey said.
“No.”
“But after I touched your cufflink…”
“He realized something unexpected had happened.”
Rey looked at Belle.
Belle went pale.
“Belle?”
“I swear I didn't know.”
“Why did you choose Lucian?”
Belle hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
“Belle.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“A guy paid me.”
Silence.
Rey felt the floor disappear beneath her.
“What?”
“At the bar. Earlier. He gave me two hundred dollars to dare you.”
Lucian became completely still.
Belle cried.
“I thought it was some stupid joke. He said he'd seen us there before and wanted to embarrass his friend. I didn't know who Lucian was.”
“Describe him,” Lucian said.
Belle did.
Caldwell sat down heavily.
“I know him.”
Everyone turned.
“Who?”
Caldwell swallowed.
“My financial controller.”
Rey knew the man.
Elias Trent.
Quiet.
Polite.
Worked three offices away from her.
Had access to employee credentials.
Including Rey's.
Lucian immediately made a call.
Minutes later, the answer came.
Elias was gone.
His apartment had been emptied.
His company laptop wiped.
But he'd made one mistake.
A backup server contained a spreadsheet.
Rey opened it.
Rows of numbers.
Dates.
Companies.
Names.
At the bottom:
DUNORE / ZARKA — PHASE TWO
Rey's blood chilled.
“What is phase two?”
Lucian didn't answer.
Because beneath those words was a scheduled transfer.
Tomorrow.
$84 million.
And the authorization field contained two digital signatures.
One belonged to Rey.
The other belonged to Lucian.
If the transfer succeeded, both would appear responsible for one of the largest financial crimes in Vancouver history.
But Rey noticed something else.
A tiny note hidden in the spreadsheet metadata.
Three words.
May you like
Daniel is alive.
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