Chapter 12 - THE BROTHER BEHIND THE SCREEN
Daniel knew Caldwell Group better than almost anyone.
Before Nathan became chief executive, the brothers had worked beside each other.
Daniel designed several early internal systems.
Most had been replaced.
One had not.
A dormant remote access channel remained connected to an archival server.
Daniel used it.
By the time technicians stopped the breach, thousands of files had been corrupted.
But backups survived.
More importantly, the attack revealed Daniel’s location.
He had routed the connection through several networks.
Not enough.
Federal cyber investigators traced part of the route to a rental property eighty miles north.
Police arrived after midnight.
Daniel was gone.
Vanessa was gone.
But the house contained enough evidence to confirm the entire conspiracy.
Silicone pregnancy forms.
Blank medical records.
Forged identification.
Copies of Nathan’s signature.
Trust documents.
Hospital wristbands.
And a locked refrigerator.
Inside were several biological sample kits.
Nathan stared at the evidence photographs.
“They were preparing DNA samples.”
The investigator nodded.
“Looks that way.”
“Whose?”
“We’re testing them.”
Ethan sat beside Claire.
He no longer felt excited about solving anything.
Every answer produced something darker.
A few hours later, another discovery came.
One sample was labeled N.C.
Nathan Caldwell.
Nathan’s face went pale.
“How did they get my DNA?”
Claire remembered immediately.
“Your toothbrush.”
Nathan looked at her.
“At the hotel.”
During the separation, Nathan spent several weekends in a downtown hotel.
Vanessa visited him there.
She could easily have taken hair.
A toothbrush.
A drinking glass.
Anything.
The investigators believed Mercer planned to submit Nathan’s authentic DNA as though it belonged to the infant.
If the testing process remained controlled by Mercer or an accomplice, the result could appear legitimate.
Ethan shook his head.
“That can’t actually work.”
“Not in a properly supervised independent test,” the investigator explained.
“But if nobody questions the chain of custody, paperwork can fool people.”
Nathan looked sick.
“I wouldn’t have questioned it.”
Claire looked at him.
“No.”
Nathan met her eyes.
“I trusted her.”
“You trusted what you wanted to believe.”
Nathan looked away.
That sentence stayed with him.
He had told himself Vanessa represented a simpler future.
No arguments.
No old wounds.
No difficult conversations.
Vanessa complimented him.
Listened to him.
Made him feel wanted.
Now Nathan understood she had been studying him.
Every insecurity.
Every weakness.
Every resentment.
She did not fall in love with him.
She built a profile.
Daniel supplied the blueprint.
Lucas supplied access.
Mercer supplied documents.
Melissa supplied props.
Vanessa supplied the performance.
And Nathan supplied the one thing they needed most.
Belief.
At sunrise, investigators found a final document in the rental house.
A list of dates.
One was circled.
September 14.
Three days away.
Beside it were two words.
BOARD VOTE.
Nathan immediately understood.
The pregnancy fraud had a deadline.
Daniel planned to challenge his control of Caldwell Group at Monday’s emergency board meeting.
But now the fake child scheme had collapsed.
Which meant Daniel needed another way.
Nathan looked at Ethan.
“He isn’t running.”
May you like
“What?”
“He’s still trying to win.”
