Chapter Forty-Four: The Evidence

Adrian made the call at midnight.

Not a meeting. Not a discussion. A decision. He picked up his phone and dialed Felix. He said four words: "Send it. All of it."

Then he hung up.

I was standing in his doorway. I'd been on my way to tell him Julian had booked a flight. The words died in my throat.

"You already knew," I said.

"I've been tracking his travel for a week. He booked the ticket yesterday. False name. No return."

"You didn't tell me."

"I didn't want you to panic."

I stared at him. He stared back.

"I don't panic," I said.

"I know. That's why I waited."

I walked into his office. I sat across from him. I didn't speak.

"We're out of time," he said. "Henry is in custody. Julian is running. If we wait, he disappears. If we don't, we lose everything."

"So you made the call without me."

"I made the call for you."

I looked at him. He looked at me.

"Don't do that again," I said.

He didn't respond. He just nodded.

---

The files went out at 12:47.

Felix sent them to every major outlet. Priya copied the legal team. Marcus handled the authorities. Sloane coordinated security. Daniel stayed with me. We didn't speak. We just watched.

By 2 a.m., the first story broke. A financial news outlet published the dossier in full. The headline was simple: Ashford Holdings Exposed: Decades of Fraud, Money Laundering, and Murder.

By 4 a.m., it had been shared thirty thousand times.

By 6 a.m., Henry Ashford had been taken into custody.

By 8 a.m., Julian had disappeared.

---

Felix came to my office at nine.

"He's gone," he said. "His apartment is empty. His phone is off. His car is still in the garage."

"What about the airport?"

"We have people watching. But he's smart. He won't use his real name. He won't use the ticket he booked."

I stood. I walked to the window. I didn't look at the city. I looked at the reflection of my own face in the glass.

"He's not going to run," I said.

Felix frowned. "What?"

"Julian doesn't run. He retaliates. He's not leaving the country. He's planning something."

"Something like what?"

I turned. I looked at him.

"Something that hurts me."

---

That afternoon, Sloane found the car.

It was parked in an underground garage three blocks from the penthouse. Julian's car. The one he'd left behind. The one he'd been seen getting into the night before.

She called me immediately.

"There's something in the trunk," she said.

"What?"

"You need to see it."

---

I went down to the garage with Sloane and two of her team.

The car was black. Tinted windows. Expensive. Julian's taste. Sloane opened the trunk.

Inside was a duffel bag. Inside the duffel bag was a photograph. My mother's grave. The same photograph he'd sent before. But this time, it wasn't just the grave. It was the grave with someone standing beside it.

Me. Kneeling in the grass. Flowers in my hand.

The photo had been taken the day before.

I stared at it. My hands were steady.

"He was there," I said.

"Yes."

"He watched me."

"Yes."

I looked at Sloane. She looked at me.

"He's not running," I said. "He's hunting."

---

That night, I didn't sleep.

I sat in my office. I stared at the photograph. My own face. My own hands. My own grief.

Julian had been there. He'd watched me. He'd taken this picture.

He wanted me to know.

I stood. I walked to Adrian's office. He was already awake. He was on the phone. He hung up when he saw me.

"What?"

I handed him the photograph. He looked at it. His jaw tightened.

"Where did you find this?"

"Julian's car. Sloane found it."

He set the photograph down. He looked at me.

"He's not running," I said.

"I know."

"He's coming for me."

"I know."

I looked at him. He looked at me.

"Then we don't wait," I said. "We don't hide. We don't run. We find him first."

Adrian was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.

"Agreed."

He picked up his phone. He dialed. He waited.

"Felix. I need everything on Julian's known associates. Every property. Every bank account. Every place he might go to ground."

He hung up.

"We'll find him," he said.

"I know."

I turned and left. I didn't walk to the window. I didn't stare at the city. I walked to my room. I closed the door.

I sat on the edge of the bed. I didn't stare at the wall.

I opened my laptop. I started working.

Julian wanted to hunt me. He wanted to scare me. He wanted me to hide.

I wasn't going to hide. I was going to hunt him back.