Chapter 9 - The Paper TrailLater that night, while the house slept, Julian locked himself inside his basement study. The atmosphere in the room was suffocating.
He pulled a hidden steel lockbox out from behind a row of law books on his shelf. Inside were the original financial ledgers from four years ago—documents detailing a massive, illegal embezzlement scheme from Eleanor’s family trust.
Four years ago, Eleanor had been on the verge of discovering that Julian had drained tens of millions of dollars to pay off massive gambling debts to an offshore syndicate. When Leo had accidentally wandered off at the park, Julian hadn't panicked—he had seized a dark, desperate opportunity. He paid a local criminal named Gideon half a million dollars to take the boy and vanish, knowing the devastating grief would completely break Eleanor's focus and distract her from auditing the family accounts.
He had expected the boy to be moved across the country or quietly abandoned in another state. He never dreamed Gideon would keep the child as a street beggar in Seattle.
Julian pulled out a disposable phone and dialed a number he hadn't called in years.
"Gideon," Julian hissed into the receiver the moment the line clicked open. "You ruined me. The boy is back in my house."
A rough, gravelly voice chuckled on the other end. "I saw the news, Vance. The kid ran off three days ago when I was dealing with a shipment. Not my fault he remembered his way to 4th Avenue."
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"He’s starting to remember my voice, Gideon!" Julian whispered furiously, sweat dripping down his temple. "If he talks to the police or Eleanor’s lawyers, I'm done. You need to fix this."
"Fixing it costs extra," Gideon replied coldly. "Double what you paid me four years ago. Meet me at the abandoned pier on 8th Street at midnight tomorrow. Bring the cash, or I go to the cops myself and tell them who hired me."
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