Chapter 10 - THE MISTAKE THAT COST A LIFE
We returned to Chicago before sunrise.
Adrian didn't try to excuse himself.
He told me everything.
Oliver Grant had requested a private meeting six weeks earlier.
He claimed Raymond was diverting millions through shell companies and preparing to transfer valuable properties to Northbridge.
Adrian believed Oliver was exaggerating.
Raymond had been with the Vale family for decades.
Oliver had been employed for only eight months.
Adrian trusted the wrong man.
"I told Raymond about the allegations," he admitted.
I stared at him.
"You told the suspect?"
"I thought he deserved a chance to explain."
"And Oliver disappeared."
"Eleven days later."
My throat tightened.
"Did you ever tell the police?"
"Yes. After he vanished."
"Did you tell them everything?"
Adrian looked at me.
"Not at first."
I stepped away.
That was the answer I feared.
"You protected yourself."
"Yes."
"While Oliver's wife waited for him to come home."
Adrian lowered his eyes.
"I know."
I wanted to hate him.
It would have been simpler.
But the man standing in front of me wasn't pretending to be innocent.
He was admitting something ugly without asking for forgiveness.
"Why tell me now?" I asked.
"Because Nathan knows. And because you deserve to know who you're working with."
I picked up my bag.
"Then I need some time."
Adrian nodded.
"I understand."
He didn't follow me.
That hurt more than I expected.
For three days, I worked from my apartment.
Naomi helped me arrange a formal interview.
I turned over the lake house recordings and the financial evidence we had collected.
Adrian separately gave investigators his complete account of Oliver's warning, including his own delayed disclosure.
I didn't know whether that would destroy his business.
I only knew it was necessary.
On the fourth day, Naomi called.
"We found something."
"What?"
"Oliver Grant may still be alive."
I stood so quickly my chair fell backward.
"Where?"
"A private medical facility in Indiana."
"How?"
"An insurance claim. Someone paid for treatment under a false identity."
"Is it him?"
"We're verifying."
I pressed a hand against my mouth.
"Does Adrian know?"
"Not yet."
I closed my eyes.
Then I said, "Tell him."
Naomi hesitated.
"You're sure?"
"Whatever his mistakes, he deserves the chance to help fix them."
That evening, Adrian called me.
His voice sounded different.
Hopeful.
Terrified.
"Claire."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet."
A pause.
"Can I see you?"
I looked at the rain moving down my window.
"Not tonight."
"All right."
"Adrian?"
"Yes?"
"If Oliver is alive, everything changes."
His voice softened.
"I know."
But I was wrong.
Everything had already changed.
Because twenty minutes later, someone slipped an envelope beneath my apartment door.
Inside was a photograph of Oliver Grant lying in a hospital bed.
May you like
And a handwritten message.
HE IS ALIVE BECAUSE RAYMOND STILL NEEDS HIM.
