Chapter 6 - What Logan Found
Grant spent the next hour destroying every illusion he had about his business empire.
Charles Voss had entered his investment network three years earlier.
Quietly.
Legally.
Profitably.
That was how predators entered respectable places.
Not by breaking windows.
By signing contracts.
Grant had introduced Voss to developers, bankers, attorneys, and local officials.
He had never questioned the man's history because the returns were good.
"I didn't know," Grant repeated.
I believed him.
That didn't erase the consequences.
Mercer asked Adrian Cole why he had come.
"Because Hale wants Claire angry."
"Why?"
"Angry people become predictable."
I almost smiled.
"You don't know me very well."
Cole looked at me.
"I know enough."
"No. You know who I was twelve years ago."
That silenced him.
Then Logan entered.
He shouldn't have.
Grant snapped, "Go upstairs."
"No."
"Logan."
"I found something."
He held his laptop.
"I was going through Dad's old videos."
Grant frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you film everything."
For once, Grant's habit might help us.
Logan opened a video from a charity golf event six months earlier.
Grant was speaking with several investors.
Charles Voss stood behind him.
Victor Hale.
Alive.
Then another man entered the frame.
Adrian Cole.
Every person in the room looked at him.
Cole didn't move.
Mercer stepped forward.
"You said you're working against Hale."
"I am."
"Then why are you meeting him?"
"Because that's how I stay close."
"Or that's how you stay useful."
Cole's expression hardened.
"Believe whatever you want."
Logan scrubbed through the footage.
"Wait."
He zoomed.
Hale was handing something to Cole.
A coin.
Kestrel.
Mercer ordered Cole detained.
As soldiers moved toward him, Cole didn't resist.
Instead, he looked at me.
"You're making a mistake."
"Wouldn't be my first."
"Hale wants you to distrust everyone."
"He's doing well."
Cole was escorted away.
Logan remained.
"Colonel?"
"Claire."
He looked surprised.
"Claire."
"Yes?"
"About the fight."
I waited.
"I was an idiot."
"Yes."
He blinked.
Apparently he expected reassurance.
I gave him none.
Then I smiled slightly.
"But you don't have to remain one."
He laughed.
For the first time, it wasn't arrogant.
"I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted."
He looked toward Noah.
"Can I show him some basic self-defense?"
"Basic."
"Very basic."
"No cages."
"Deal."
"Logan."
"Yeah?"
"If he comes home talking about becoming an influencer, the deal is over."
Noah laughed from across the room.
For several hours, the house almost felt normal.
Then Mercer received a call.
Adrian Cole had escaped custody.
Not because he overpowered anyone.
Someone with valid credentials had ordered his transfer.
The authorization appeared legitimate.
Until investigators checked the name.
The officer who supposedly approved it had died eight months earlier.
Victor Hale wasn't merely watching us.
May you like
He was inside the system.
And that meant I could no longer trust the uniform alone.
