LOGINElaraWe spread the folder's contents across my kitchen table at midnight, all five of us now, my father included, nobody willing to wait until morning to see exactly what Kael and my mother had pulled out of that house."There's seven names," my father said, sorting through the documents with the careful attention of someone who used to do this professionally, back before his own life got buried the same way. "Seven separate cases, going back almost fifteen years.""All connected to the Voss company," Kael said, reading over his shoulder. "All handled the same way. Money moving, records disappearing, and Reyna's signature on every single authorization."I picked up one of the folders, a name I didn't recognize, a woman named Priya Anand, dates going back nine years. "Who's this?""Former employee," my father said, scanning the attached documents. "Filed a complaint about safety violations at one of the manufacturing plants. The complaint disappeared. She left the company a month late
KaelThe side door off the kitchen was unlocked, the way it always had been, Reyna never bothered with extra security because she'd spent her whole career making sure other people needed it more than she did.I eased it open slowly, Elara's mother right behind me, both of us listening for any sound over the hum of the refrigerator inside."Study this way," I whispered, leading her down a hallway I could have walked blind, past photos of holidays I'd forgotten and some I hadn't, Reyna smiling in every single one like she'd never once considered any of it might come apart.The study door was closed but not locked. I eased it open and flipped on my phone's flashlight instead of the overhead light, keeping the beam low."Diego," I said quietly into the phone, still connected to the speaker with the volume turned down. "We're in. What am I looking for.""Filing cabinets, a safe, anything locked that seems out of place for a home office," Diego said. "Financial documents specifically. Bank
KaelWe moved to Elara's mother's house within the hour, the four of us crowded around the kitchen table that had already seen so many of these conversations this month.Elara's father sat stiffly beside her, clearly uncomfortable being back in a space that had once been his own life, now rearranged around people he barely knew. Her mother kept glancing at him like she still couldn't quite believe he was real, sitting there after fourteen years of nothing."We have six hours," Diego said through the laptop speaker, his voice tight with focus. "I've pulled everything I can on the account activity, but I need something connecting the timing to an actual decision she made. A paper trail isn't enough on its own. I need intent.""What would show intent," Elara asked."Communication. Emails, texts, anything where she actually says what she's planning instead of just moving money around quietly." Diego paused. "Kael, does she keep anything at the house? A home office, files, anything she mig
KaelI saw Elara's face change from across the diner and was already halfway out of my booth before she even waved me over."Diego found something," she said, phone in hand, her father watching me approach with wary eyes. "About the file. He said I needed to see it before we left."I sat down beside her, and her father studied me for a long moment, the kind of assessment I recognized because I'd been on the giving end of it myself plenty of times."You're the Voss boy," he said. Not quite hostile, but not warm either."Kael. Sir.""I know who you are." He glanced at Elara, something protective flickering across his face despite fourteen years of absence. "I also know what your family's capable of burying when it's inconvenient.""I'm not my father," I said, the same thing I'd told him weeks earlier, the same thing I was apparently going to keep saying to every person in this story who'd been hurt by him."No," he said slowly. "Maybe not. We'll see."My phone buzzed, Diego calling inst
ElaraHe wrapped both hands tighter around the coffee cup, like he needed something to hold onto before he could start."Fourteen years is a long time to plan what you'd say," he said. "And somehow I still don't know where to begin.""Start with why you left."He nodded slowly, like he'd expected that to be the first question. "I worked for a company handling financial accounts, back when your mother and I were still married. One of those accounts belonged to a smaller business that was being acquired by the Voss empire. I found something in the books that didn't add up. Money moving in ways it shouldn't have been moving.""What kind of money?""The kind that gets people killed if they ask too many questions about it." He said it plainly, no drama in his voice, just a tired fact. "I didn't understand at first how deep it went. I just knew the numbers were wrong, and when I raised it with my supervisor, instead of an investigation, I got accused of stealing the money myself.""Mom told
ElaraI read Diego's message four times before the words actually landed."That's not possible," I said, even though some part of me was already turning it over, testing how it might fit. "He's been gone fourteen years. He never once tried to contact me. Not a birthday card, not a phone call, nothing.""Maybe he couldn't," Kael said carefully. "If he ran because he thought staying made him a target, maybe he thought reaching out would put you in danger too.""Or maybe he just didn't want to." The old bitterness came up fast, the kind I'd buried so deep I'd almost forgotten it was there. "Fourteen years, Kael. That's a long time to stay quiet if you actually cared."Mom hadn't said anything, just stood there with her hand pressed against her mouth, staring at the phone like it might change what it said if she looked hard enough."Mom.""I don't know what to say," she admitted quietly. "I always assumed he just left and never looked back. I never considered he might have been watching f







