Desmond Cole
Chapter 04 - Desmond Cole
Adrian pulled up the penthouse's security system logs on his laptop, cross-referencing the exact timestamp when the camera feed had cut, understanding that whoever accessed the remote shutdown had left, at minimum, a digital footprint behind.
The system required a specific administrative credential to remotely disable any individual camera, a level of access Adrian had only ever granted to a small handful of people.
The log showed the shutdown command originating from a tablet registered to Desmond Cole, the family's longtime head of household security, a man who had worked for the Kane family for nearly fifteen years, present at nearly every major family event, trusted implicitly by Adrian's own father before his death.
"Desmond," Adrian said slowly, staring at the log. "He's worked for this family since I was a teenager. My father trusted him completely."
"Maybe that's exactly why your mother needed him," Claire said. "Someone with complete access, complete trust, already positioned close enough to the family to help manage something this significant without raising suspicion."
Adrian felt a fresh wave of betrayal settle over him, understanding that the man who had taught him to shoot skeet on the family's country property, who had walked him through basic self-defense as a nervous teenager, might have spent the past decade actively helping conceal his own father's murder.
"I need to find him," Adrian said. "Tonight, before he has time to consider disappearing entirely."
"That's dangerous," Claire said. "If he's willing to physically restrain someone to protect your mother's secrets, confronting him directly could be considerably more dangerous than either of us can handle alone."
"Then we call someone who can handle it properly," Adrian said, already dialing a number he hadn't used in years. "A detective. Someone completely outside this family's influence."
He reached Detective Farrah Nasser, a careful, experienced investigator he'd once worked alongside during an unrelated corporate fraud matter years earlier, someone he trusted to take this seriously without any prior connection to his family's considerable social influence.
"I need help," Adrian told her, once she'd answered. "My fiancée was assaulted tonight, in my own home, and I believe it connects to my father's death three years ago. I have reason to believe it wasn't actually an accident."
Farrah's tone sharpened immediately, professional urgency replacing her initial surprise. "I'll need everything you have. The letter, the financial records, and I'll want a formal statement from your fiancée as soon as she's able to provide one."
"I have all of it," Adrian said. "I want this handled properly, Farrah. Whatever it costs, whoever it implicates."
"Even your own mother," Farrah said carefully.
May you like
Adrian looked at Claire, still pale, still trembling slightly from the evening's violence, and felt any remaining hesitation dissolve completely.
"Especially my own mother," he said. "If she did what I think she did, I don't care whose name is attached to the consequences."
