Chapter 3
Adrian died six years ago.
A riding accident at this club.
Leo was nine.
I remembered carrying him from the stable because he refused to leave without his father’s helmet.
I remembered Marcus standing beside me.
Grant too.
Both telling me the accident happened too fast for anyone to prevent.
Now my dead brother’s name was inside Marcus’s surveillance archive.
Leo stared at the tablet.
“What’s A17?”
Marcus said nothing.
I looked at Rafe.
“Play the oldest file.”
Static filled the medical room.
Then Adrian’s voice.
Clear.
Angry.
“I found the duplicate account.”
Leo stopped breathing.
Another voice answered.
Grant.
“You’re seeing things that aren’t yours.”
My nephew turned toward him.
Grant looked sick.
The recording continued.
Adrian said:
“Tell Marcus I’m not covering for him.”
Then Grant:
“He says stop digging.”
Adrian laughed.
“You people always call theft loyalty once family benefits.”
The audio ended.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Marcus.
“What account?”
He shrugged.
“Old club expenses.”
Wrong tone.
Too casual.
Rafe opened another file.
This one recorded two days later.
Adrian again.
“I know where the money goes.”
Then Marcus.
Finally.
My cousin’s voice came through the speaker.
“You know enough to become inconvenient.”
Leo stepped forward.
I caught his shoulder.
Not to protect Marcus.
To protect a fifteen-year-old boy from doing something with his grief that would own him afterward.
The file continued.
Adrian told Marcus he was taking everything to me.
Marcus answered:
“Dante still believes family means loyalty.”
My brother laughed.
“Then he’s about to learn.”
That was the final recording before the day Adrian died.
Leo looked at me.
“You never knew?”
“No.”
His eyes filled.
“You said Dad lost control of the horse.”
“That’s what I was told.”
Marcus finally spoke.
“It was an accident.”
I turned.
He had not been asked whether it was.
That was the mistake.
May you like
I walked toward him slowly.
“What happened to my brother?”
