Chapter 8 - The Brother Who Stole His Face
Connor allowed Nathan into the detached garage but not the house.
Amy remained inside with Frederick and Elena while the guards searched him.
Nathan looked thinner than Connor remembered. His expensive clothes were dirty, and one side of his face was swollen.
“You stole my car,” Connor said.
“I borrowed it.”
“You impersonated me.”
Nathan lowered his eyes.
Connor slammed the forged security authorization onto the workbench.
“You changed access to my house.”
“I was paid to enter the office.”
“By Mom?”
“By Dylan.”
Connor studied him.
“Who paid Dylan?”
Nathan looked toward the garage windows.
“I don’t know.”
“That is not good enough.”
Nathan laughed bitterly. “Nothing has ever been good enough for you.”
Connor stepped closer.
“This is not about our childhood. Someone tampered with my son’s medicine.”
Nathan’s expression changed.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Nathan reached into his shirt and removed a small flash drive.
“This is why they attacked me.”
Connor did not take it immediately.
“What’s on it?”
“Recordings. Transfers. Names.”
“Whose names?”
“Mom’s. Dylan’s. Voss’s. Mine.”
“And the person above them?”
Nathan hesitated.
Connor seized the front of his shirt.
“Who?”
“I never met him.”
Connor pushed him back.
Nathan coughed and steadied himself against the workbench.
“The instructions came through Dylan. We were told the property had to transfer before the end of the month.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe you risked prison without asking why?”
“They offered me $600,000.”
Connor stared at him.
Nathan looked ashamed for less than a second.
Then his defensiveness returned.
“You have everything. The house, the company, the family name.”
“So you sold my home?”
“I was only supposed to copy documents and pass identification checks.”
“You forged my signature.”
“They already had it.”
“You wore my clothes.”
“Dylan said no one would be hurt.”
Connor’s voice dropped. “My son was used as pressure.”
Nathan looked toward the house.
“I swear I knew nothing about Frederick.”
Connor wanted to believe him.
That made him angrier.
Nathan handed him the flash drive.
“After the party, Dylan ordered me to destroy the original deed and disappear. I refused. Two men found me at the motel.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“Because this drive proves I committed fraud.”
Connor took it.
“You did commit fraud.”
“I know.”
The honesty surprised him.
Nathan sat on a wooden crate.
“Mom thinks the men killed me. I left my phone and blood in the motel room.”
Connor said nothing.
Nathan looked at him.
“She will panic. When she panics, she will contact whoever is above Dylan.”
Connor understood the proposal.
Use Teresa as bait.
He inserted the flash drive into an offline laptop.
Folders appeared.
Payments.
Audio files.
Scanned documents.
Photographs of Connor’s office.
A spreadsheet listed dates beside coded actions.
Medical declaration.
Security control.
Policy activation.
Medication adjustment.
Final acquisition.
Beside “Final acquisition” was a date.
Two days from now.
A second column contained the word ceremony.
Connor thought of the pink cake.
To the new owner.
The birthday party had not merely been a celebration or distraction.
It had been a deadline.
A symbolic transfer before something final occurred.
Connor opened the last audio file.
Teresa’s voice filled the garage.
“What if Connor refuses to sign?”
Dylan answered.
“He won’t need to sign.”
May you like
Then an unfamiliar man spoke.
“By Monday, Connor Hale will no longer be capable of objecting.”
