Chapter 4 - The Enemy Inside the House
Claire’s recorded voice changed everything.
“The person helping Victor is Thomas Vale.”
Adrian frowned.
The recruitment manager.
The same man Elena said had warned employees not to question their wages.
Claire continued on the recording.
“Thomas doesn’t just recruit staff. Victor uses him to identify people who are vulnerable enough not to complain.”
Adrian felt sick.
Single parents.
Immigrants.
People with debt.
Workers supporting sick relatives.
Employees desperate enough to accept whatever explanation they were given.
Victor’s scheme had not accidentally harmed vulnerable people.
It had selected them.
Claire looked exhausted in the video.
“They target employees who won’t risk losing the job. Then Thomas tells them the missing wages are deductions. Some of the money goes to Victor, but not all of it.”
She held up several documents.
“Northstar is larger than Victor. Daniel found it first.”
Adrian leaned toward the screen.
Claire continued.
“My brother isn’t dead.”
Even though Adrian already knew, hearing Claire say it made his stomach twist.
“Daniel discovered that Northstar was buying land through shell companies. Victor found out Daniel was investigating him. Daniel staged the boating accident because he believed Victor would kill him.”
Marcus paused the recording.
“So Claire knew Daniel survived.”
“And never told me.”
“She may have been protecting him.”
Adrian looked away.
Claire resumed.
“Daniel contacted me after he disappeared. I didn’t tell Adrian because Daniel believed someone close to Adrian was leaking information.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry.”
Adrian felt his throat tighten.
“I wanted to tell you a hundred times.”
Claire inhaled shakily.
“But once I found the payroll records, I understood why Daniel was afraid.”
She described the structure.
Victor stole employee wages.
The money financed property purchases and private leverage.
Northstar bought assets near Mercer projects.
Victor then manipulated contracts, delays, and financing so Mercer companies became dependent on land Victor secretly controlled.
Eventually, Adrian’s empire would be forced to buy those properties at inflated values.
Victor would become rich twice.
First by stealing.
Then by selling Adrian his own vulnerabilities.
But Claire had discovered something even worse.
Victor planned to force Adrian out.
A board coup.
Manufactured debt.
Regulatory investigations.
Leaked documents tying Adrian personally to illegal operations.
Victor wanted Adrian’s companies weakened enough for Northstar to seize control.
“Adrian,” Claire said, “if I can’t stop this, you need to protect the employees first. They’re the people nobody will believe.”
The video ended.
Adrian sat in silence.
Claire had known.
She had been trying to protect people he barely noticed.
And she died before she could expose it.
Marcus spoke carefully.
“We still don’t have proof her accident was intentional.”
“No.”
“But now we have motive.”
Adrian stood.
“Find Thomas Vale.”
They discovered Thomas had not reported to work.
His phone was off.
His apartment was empty.
Security footage showed him leaving Chicago at four in the morning.
Victor had warned him.
At the same time, Elena returned from Rockford.
Adrian had asked her to remain home.
She refused.
“I need to work.”
“You’re involved in an active investigation.”
“I understand.”
“Then why come back?”
Elena looked at him.
“Because I’m tired of being afraid.”
The answer surprised him.
She stood inside the mansion foyer wearing her burgundy uniform again.
But something had changed.
Her shoulders were straighter.
Her voice steadier.
“I spent eleven months believing I should be grateful for whatever they gave me.”
She looked around the mansion.
“I don’t want my daughter growing up thinking that’s normal.”
Adrian nodded.
“You won’t clean today.”
“What will I do?”
“Help us identify employees.”
Elena spent the afternoon reviewing staff photographs.
She recognized several workers who had complained about wages.
Some had been fired.
Others suddenly transferred.
One name stopped her.
“Carlos Medina.”
A chauffeur.
“What about him?”
“He asked me once if my checks seemed small.”
Marcus searched.
Carlos had worked for Mercer for eighteen months.
Terminated six months ago.
Official reason: theft.
“What did he supposedly steal?”
“A watch from a client.”
Elena shook her head.
“He wouldn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“He found cash in a guest room once. Almost six thousand dollars. He turned it in.”
Marcus located Carlos in Wisconsin.
They contacted him.
Carlos initially refused to speak.
Then Elena got on the phone.
“I found out too.”
Silence.
“What?”
“The salary.”
Another pause.
Then Carlos agreed to meet.
He arrived that evening.
Forty-two.
Married.
Three children.
He brought a folder.
“I knew something was wrong,” he said.
Carlos had saved pay stubs.
He had compared them with a payroll statement accidentally sent to him by corporate.
The numbers did not match.
When he confronted Thomas Vale, Thomas threatened him.
Two days later, the client’s watch disappeared.
Security found it in Carlos’s locker.
“I never touched it.”
Adrian believed him.
Victor’s people had planted evidence.
“Why didn’t you sue?”
Carlos laughed bitterly.
“With what money?”
The question landed painfully.
Adrian’s companies had resources.
Lawyers.
Investigators.
Employees like Carlos had fear.
By nine that night, four former employees had agreed to cooperate.
By midnight, seven.
The stories were nearly identical.
Missing wages.
Threats.
False discipline.
Terminations.
Victor’s operation had been running for at least six years.
Then Marcus received an alert.
Thomas Vale’s phone had turned on briefly near O’Hare Airport.
They traced a booking.
Mexico City.
Departure in ninety minutes.
Adrian contacted federal investigators through Rebecca.
Thomas was detained before boarding.
He lasted six hours before asking for an attorney.
Then something changed.
Thomas learned Victor had not offered protection.
No lawyer.
No money.
No assistance.
He began talking.
Victor had ordered payroll manipulation.
Victor had ordered false disciplinary reports.
Victor had approved shell companies.
And Victor had known Claire was investigating.
Adrian asked the question he feared most.
“Did Victor kill my wife?”
Thomas stared at him across the interview room.
“I didn’t touch her car.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Thomas looked at Rebecca.
Then back at Adrian.
“Victor said she had become a problem.”
Adrian’s hands clenched.
“What did he do?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“Tell me what you know.”
Thomas swallowed.
“There was a mechanic.”
Adrian felt his heartbeat slow.
“What mechanic?”
“Victor paid someone who worked near Milwaukee.”
“To do what?”
Thomas hesitated.
“To make sure Claire’s brakes failed under pressure.”
The room became silent.
Adrian stood so quickly his chair struck the wall.
Marcus stepped between him and Thomas.
“Adrian.”
Thomas raised both hands.
“I didn’t do it!”
“You knew.”
“I heard afterward.”
Adrian wanted to destroy him.
Instead, he walked out.
Elena was waiting in the corridor.
She had insisted on coming because former employees were being interviewed nearby.
One look at Adrian’s face told her everything.
“Your wife?”
He nodded.
Elena did not say she was sorry.
She simply stood there.
Sometimes grief was too large for polite phrases.
Finally Adrian said, “I trusted him.”
Elena looked at him.
“You trusted the wrong man.”
Her voice was quiet.
“That doesn’t mean everyone you trust will betray you.”
Adrian met her eyes.
It was the first thing anyone had said that reached him.
At four that morning, police obtained a warrant for Victor Hale.
But Victor was already gone.
His Chicago penthouse was empty.
His passport remained in the safe.
His cars were parked.
His phone sat on his desk.
Victor had prepared another escape route.
Then Marcus received a call from mansion security.
“Sir, we have a problem.”
Adrian straightened.
“What?”
“Elena’s locker was opened.”
Elena stared at him.
“What was taken?”
The guard answered.
“Nothing.”
Adrian frowned.
Then the guard continued.
“But someone left something inside.”
A photograph.
Taken that afternoon.
Sophie and Noah walking outside their grandfather’s house in Rockford.
May you like
Across the bottom, written in black ink, were five words.
STOP DIGGING OR THEY DISAPPEAR.
