Chapter 11: Fractured Trust

The next morning, Leonard was all business.

He'd left a message for Daveson before dawn: Pick me up at 6 AM sharp. We're going to the office early. I need to access the company servers before my mother arrives.

Daveson was waiting with the Mercedes when Leonard emerged from the estate, already dressed in an expensive charcoal suit, his expression grim. He didn't greet Daveson, simply slid into the back seat and pulled up something on his phone.

The drive to Heyden Industries was conducted in tense silence. Daveson stole glances in the rearview mirror, watching Leonard's jaw clench as he scrolled through files, his violet eyes sharp and focused.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Daveson asked carefully.

"Proof," Leonard said tersely. "Email chains that shouldn't exist. Financial records that don't match what she's reported to shareholders. Anything that shows what she's actually doing with that money."

"And if we find it? If your mother is actually involved in something illegal?"

Leonard's expression hardened. "Then we take it to the authorities. And I make sure she faces consequences."

The words were delivered with cold certainty, and Daveson felt something twist in his chest. This was what he wanted, wasn't it? For Lissa to be exposed, to face justice. But hearing Leonard say it so matter-of-factly, seeing the pain barely concealed beneath his determination—it made Daveson's revenge feel less righteous and more like destruction.

Heyden Industries headquarters was a gleaming glass tower in Manhattan's financial district, all steel and sharp edges. Leonard used his executive key card to bypass the main lobby, taking them directly to the private elevator that serviced the executive floors.

His office was immaculate, all clean lines and expensive furniture. Daveson had been in here before, but only in passing. Now Leonard moved to his desk with purpose, booting up the computer and entering a series of passwords.

"I have access to the main servers," he explained, more to himself than to Daveson. "But certain files require mother's authorization. If she's moving money through accounts I don't have clearance for, I need to find where she's accessing them from."

He worked with focused intensity, fingers flying across the keyboard, occasionally stopping to make notes on a legal pad. Daveson stood by the door, ostensibly on guard but actually wrestling with his conscience.

This was the moment. If he was smart, he would access Leonard's system, copy everything, and send it to Raymond. They could take what they found and build a case without needing Leonard's involvement. A clean extraction that would protect Leonard from being implicated in any investigation.

But Daveson also knew that would be the ultimate betrayal. And he wasn't sure his heart could survive that.

"Got something," Leonard breathed, leaning closer to the screen. His excitement was short-lived, immediately replaced by confusion. "This doesn't make sense. These transfers, they're being routed through a medical facility. Some kind of private hospital or clinic."

Daveson's muscles went tight. A hospital. Just like in the blurb, his father had been taken to a hospital after his arrest. A hospital that Daveson had suspected was somehow connected to Lissa.

"What hospital?" he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

Leonard squinted at the screen. "Mercy Medical Group. Private facility in upstate New York. Very exclusive, very discreet." He looked over his shoulder at Daveson. "Why would my mother be transferring millions to a hospital? Unless..." His eyes widened. "My father. What if he's alive? What if he's in that hospital and my mother's been paying to keep him there, to keep him away from us?"

"That's a significant assumption," Daveson said carefully. "There could be other explanations."

"Like what?" Leonard's voice rose slightly. "She's running a secret medical facility? She's funding illegal experiments? None of the alternatives are better, Daveson."

The use of his real name, or the assumed name that had become almost real, made Daveson flinch. Leonard noticed but didn't comment on it.

"We need more information," Daveson said. "Accessing those servers without authorization would be illegal. We'd need…"

"I know what we'd need." Leonard was already pulling out his phone. "And I know who to call."

The person he called was apparently named Marcus, someone described as a "friend who knows computers." Within an hour, the man arrived, mid-thirties, with tired eyes and the bearing of someone who'd spent too long in illegal activities to find legitimate work entirely satisfying.

Leonard laid out what he needed, and Marcus whistled low. "That's deep. Really deep. And if someone's protecting those servers, cracking them without triggering alarms is going to take time. And possibly money."

"Money isn't an issue," Leonard said flatly.

Marcus set up his equipment on Leonard's conference table, fingers moving across the keyboard with the same kind of focused intensity Leonard had shown. Daveson watched, his mind racing through possibilities, contingencies, exit strategies.

If they accessed those servers, if they found evidence of what Lissa had done to his father…

Daveson's phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: We need to talk. Parking garage. Level 2. 15 minutes.

Daveson's blood ran cold. He excused himself to use the restroom and took the elevator down to the garage, his hand resting on the concealed knife he kept strapped to his ankle.

The garage was mostly empty at this hour, the space echoing with the sound of his footsteps. He found her waiting beside a black sedan, Lissa Heyden in all her polished, dangerous glory.

"Roarke," she said, her voice smooth as silk. "Or should I say Daveson Roarke? Son of the man who tried to expose me six years ago?"

There was no point in denying it. Daveson raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Your business."

"Yes, it is." Lissa circled him like a predator, her smile sharp as a blade. "Do you know what your father discovered?"

"That you were stealing from your own company. Laundering money through shell corporations. That you're a criminal."

"That I was a criminal," Lissa corrected. "Past tense. I've been very careful since then. Very clean. Your father's attempts to expose me were... inconvenient. But manageable."

"You framed him. He died in prison."

"No." Lissa's voice was cold. "He died in a hospital after being released, his heart simply couldn't take the stress. A tragedy, really. I almost felt sorry for him." She paused, enjoying Daveson's visible fury. "Almost. But you know what kept me from mourning? The fact that if he'd succeeded, if he'd exposed me, thousands of people would have lost their jobs. My empire would have crumbled. I couldn't allow that."

"So you killed him."

"I removed a threat." Lissa's eyes glinted. "And now his son has come to remove me, how poetic. Except you made a fatal mistake, Daveson. You fell in love with Leonard."

The words hit like a punch to the gut.

"He's using him to get close to you," Daveson said, but even as the words left his mouth, he knew they were a lie. He hadn't used Leonard. Not really. Not in the way that mattered.

"You're trying to convince yourself of that," Lissa said with a smile. "But we both know it's not true. You've actually developed feelings for my son. Which is so wonderfully tragic. Because now you have to choose, Daveson. Protect Leonard, or avenge your father."

"You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Lissa pulled out her phone and showed him a video. Leonard and Daveson in the library, kissing with desperate intensity. "I have cameras everywhere. Every hallway. Every room. I know everything that happens in my house. I've known about your little romance from the beginning."

Daveson's hands clenched into fists. He wanted to kill her. Wanted to wrap his hands around her throat and squeeze until those cold eyes went dark.

But Leonard was upstairs. Leonard, who was searching for evidence against his mother. Leonard, who would be destroyed if Daveson's betrayal came to light.

"What do you want?" Daveson asked quietly.

"I want you to stop whatever Leonard is doing up there. I want you to convince him to let this go. I want you to choose my son over your revenge." Lissa's voice was soft, almost gentle. "And in exchange, I'll let you live. You can disappear, start over somewhere far away from here, and you'll never have to see any of us again."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I expose everything. I show Leonard the recordings. I tell him who you really are, what you've been planning. I destroy him with the truth about his mother, and I make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison for conspiracy to commit fraud and murder." Lissa tilted her head. "Or I could simply have Raymond Drake finish what he started. He's become very useful to me, you know. Very amenable to suggestions."

"You hired him," Daveson breathed. "The assassination attempt at your birthday party, that wasn't Raymond's idea. You orchestrated it."

"Of course I did." Lissa's smile widened. "I needed Leonard to feel like he needed protection. I needed someone I could control to be close to my son. And then when I discovered who you were, it became even better. You wanting to avenge your father, me wanting to keep you contained. We've been dancing this dance for months now, and it's time for it to end."

"What about Leonard?"

"What about him?" Lissa's expression turned cold. "He's my son. I love him. But his loyalty to me is absolute. When I show him what you've done, when I prove to him that his beloved driver was using him, he'll come crawling back. He always does."

Daveson was trapped. He could see it clearly now. Lissa had orchestrated everything from the moment she'd discovered his identity. She'd let him get close to Leonard, let him think he was in control, all while setting him up for a spectacular fall.

"I need to think," Daveson said.

"You have one hour." Lissa checked her watch. "After that, either you've stopped whatever Leonard is doing up there, or I make the call that destroys all of you."

She walked away, her heels clicking against the concrete, leaving Daveson alone in the garage with the weight of impossible choices pressing down on him.