Chapter 2 - A Red Seal and Five Hidden Payments

By the time Harper reached the guest suite, Chloe had already found the first file.

She had whispered the name of the folder as if Richard Hayes might somehow hear through the walls of their family home.

“HHH medical development,” Chloe said. “It’s old. Five years old. Dad buried it under Cascade infrastructure grants.”

Harper locked the bedroom door behind her. Gideon stood outside in the corridor, supposedly to protect her. She was not sure whether that meant from Kane, from Vivian, or from whoever had arranged the red-seal injection.

“Open everything,” Harper said.

“I’m trying. Most of it’s encrypted.”

“Look for Croft Industries, Elias Voss, silver compound, neurochemical research, anything marked private placement.”

There was a pause.

“Harper.”

“What?”

“I found a payment.”

“How much?”

“Eight hundred thousand dollars.”

“To Dad?”

“No. From Dad.”

Harper sat on the edge of the bed.

“Where did it go?”

“A research foundation called Meridian Behavioral Health.”

She repeated the name.

Gideon knocked once.

“Harper?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“Close enough.”

Chloe lowered her voice. “There are four more payments. Smaller. All within six months before Kane Croft was poisoned.”

Harper looked at the dark window.

“Can you send me copies?”

“I already did.”

A second message appeared.

“Do not tell Dad you found this,” Harper said.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“If he asks where I am—”

“I’ll lie.”

Harper almost smiled.

Chloe had always been terrible at lying.

“Make it boring. Tell him I’m negotiating.”

“That part is true.”

“Not anymore.”

When the call ended, Harper opened the files.

The first page looked harmless: consulting expenses, community wellness investment, risk analysis. The second was worse. Hayes Humanitarian Holdings had funded a private trial involving “adaptive silver compounds for management of predatory endocrine events.”

Predatory.

The word felt deliberately chosen to make people sound like problems.

A handwritten note had been scanned at the bottom.

VOSS SAYS CANDIDATE K.C. RESPONDS ABOVE EXPECTATION.

Harper read it three times.

Candidate K.C.

Kane Croft.

A knock sounded.

She hid the phone beneath a pillow.

“Who?”

“Gideon.”

She unlocked the door.

He entered carrying a tray with tea, bottled water, and food that looked untouched by human hands.

“How is he?”

“Stable.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the answer I have.”

Harper closed the door.

“Why did you recognize the red seal?”

Gideon’s face hardened. “Because I’ve administered emergency suppression before.”

“To Kane?”

“Once.”

“Did he react the same way?”

“No.”

“So tonight was different.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Harper watched him.

He looked exhausted, but not evasive.

She pulled out her phone.

“Do you know Meridian Behavioral Health?”

Gideon’s expression changed.

That was enough.

“You do.”

“I know the name.”

“How?”

“It funded some of Dr. Voss’s early research.”

Harper handed him the screen.

He read the transfer records.

For almost a minute he said nothing.

Then he sat down.

“My father paid them,” Harper said.

Gideon rubbed his face.

“Did Kane know?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“If he knew Richard Hayes had financed research connected to his poisoning, you would not have arrived here tonight under a debt agreement.”

Harper believed him.

Kane’s reaction to the initials on the tag had been too raw to be rehearsed.

“Where did that tag come from?” she asked.

Gideon looked at her.

“The one around his neck.”

His eyes sharpened. “You saw it?”

“Yes.”

“He’s had it since the hospital.”

“H.H.H. is stamped on it.”

Gideon stood.

“What?”

“You’ve never looked?”

“It’s medical identification. He doesn’t let anyone touch it.”

Harper felt anger rise.

“Five years. He’s been wearing evidence for five years.”

“If it is evidence.”

“It’s my father’s company initials.”

“That doesn’t prove Richard poisoned him.”

“I didn’t say it did.”

Gideon studied her, then nodded once.

That mattered.

Not because he trusted her.

Because he understood the difference between suspicion and proof.

A distant crash sounded from the private wing.

Harper moved toward the door.

Gideon blocked her.

“No.”

“You said he was stable.”

“I said stable. I did not say safe.”

“Then why are you standing here?”

His jaw tightened.

“I was ordered to keep you away.”

“By Kane?”

“Yes.”

“That sounds like him.”

“You’ve known him for forty minutes.”

“I’ve known men like him my whole life.”

Gideon almost smiled. “No, you haven’t.”

Harper crossed her arms.

“Then educate me.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“Kane was twenty-eight when the poisoning happened. Croft Industries was expanding into the Pacific Northwest. He was negotiating with six packs, including yours, to build jointly owned housing, clinics, and schools.”

“My father told us Croft was trying to take territory.”

“Your father told everyone that.”

Harper swallowed.

Gideon continued. “Kane wanted financial transparency as a condition of investment. Some Alphas hated that. They called it interference.”

“Dad would have.”

“Yes.”

The answer came without cruelty.

That made it worse.

“Then Kane collapsed during a summit at Cascade territory,” Gideon said. “Silver compound in his bloodstream. His wolf nearly tore through the bond trying to survive it.”

“And Voss saved him.”

“That was the story.”

Harper stared at him.

“You don’t believe it anymore.”

“I believe Voss kept him alive. I also believe Voss became indispensable afterward.”

A soft sound came from the corridor.

Not a crash.

A growl.

Gideon turned.

The door handle moved.

Harper’s heartbeat spiked.

“Kane?”

No answer.

Gideon drew a compact weapon from beneath his jacket, though Harper doubted bullets were useful against an Alpha King.

The door opened.

Kane stood there barefoot, wearing a black shirt now, his face pale.

His eyes were no longer fully gold.

“Put that away,” he told Gideon.

Gideon lowered the weapon.

Kane looked at Harper.

“You called someone.”

It was not a question.

“My sister.”

“You were told not to involve your family.”

“I was told nothing of the kind.”

“I’m telling you now.”

“Too late.”

His nostrils flared.

Harper wondered whether he could smell the adrenaline under her skin.

She held out her phone.

“I found something.”

Kane did not take it.

“What?”

“Payments from my father to Meridian Behavioral Health before your poisoning.”

Something cold entered his expression.

“How many?”

“Five.”

“Amounts?”

She told him.

Kane looked at Gideon.

“Get Voss.”

“He left the estate forty minutes ago.”

Kane went very still.

“Why?”

“He said he was returning to Seattle.”

“He never leaves after an episode.”

Gideon was already reaching for his phone.

Kane took Harper’s device and scanned the transfers.

His hands had stopped trembling.

“Meridian was a shell,” he said.

Harper frowned. “For what?”

“Research procurement. Private trials. Equipment purchases that Croft could not legally fund under our public healthcare subsidiaries.”

“You knew?”

“I knew Meridian existed. I did not know Hayes funded it.”

“Who controlled it?”

“Voss.”

There it was.

The first line connecting everything.

But not proof.

Harper forced herself to stay careful.

“Why would my father fund Voss?”

Kane looked at the payments again.

“That is what we are going to find out.”

“We?”

His mouth tightened.

“You wanted to stay.”

“I did.”

“Then understand the rules.”

“I’m not good with those.”

“I noticed.”

He handed the phone back.

“Rule one: you do not leave this estate alone.”

“Fine.”

“Rule two: you tell Gideon before contacting anyone outside.”

“No.”

Kane’s eyes flashed.

Harper held her ground.

“My sister is not one of your employees.”

“She may now be a target.”

The words ended the argument.

Harper’s stomach dropped.

“Why?”

“Because if the files were hidden and someone learns she accessed them—”

“She did it from Cascade’s internal server.”

Kane looked at Gideon.

“Can Voss see access logs?”

“Possibly.”

Harper grabbed her phone.

Chloe answered immediately.

“Harper?”

“Leave the house.”

“What?”

“Right now.”

“Dad’s downstairs.”

“Take your keys. Take a coat. Go to Mrs. Benton’s place.”

Kane shook his head.

“No neighbors.”

Harper covered the speaker. “Then where?”

“Sheriff’s station.”

Gideon cut in. “Not if local law answers to Richard.”

Harper’s chest tightened.

Of course.

Kane held out his hand.

“Give me the phone.”

She hesitated.

Then she did.

“Chloe,” Kane said, voice calm. “This is Kane Croft.”

Silence.

Even from several feet away Harper could hear Chloe’s startled inhale.

Kane continued. “I need you to walk downstairs as if nothing is wrong. Do not pack. Do not argue with your father. Tell him Harper asked you to bring her a laptop charger.”

Harper stared at him.

“Take your car,” Kane said. “Drive east on Highway 12. Gideon will send you an address. Two of my people will meet you there.”

“Why should I trust you?” Chloe asked.

Kane looked at Harper before answering.

“You shouldn’t. Trust your sister.”

Harper felt something inside her shift.

Small.

Inconvenient.

Real.

Chloe agreed.

Kane ended the call and returned the phone.

“You just made my family crisis worse.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

He looked almost confused.

Gideon’s phone rang.

He answered.

His face changed immediately.

“What?”

Kane’s attention snapped toward him.

Gideon put the call on speaker.

A security officer spoke quickly.

“Sir, Dr. Voss’s vehicle never passed the south gate.”

“Then where is he?” Kane asked.

“We found it in the service garage.”

Harper’s skin prickled.

“Any sign of him?” Gideon asked.

A pause.

Then:

“No. But someone accessed the pharmaceutical vault twelve minutes ago.”

Kane turned toward the door.

Harper followed.

He stopped her with one look.

“Stay here.”

“No.”

“Harper.”

“If Voss drugged you, then whatever he took matters.”

“And if he is armed?”

“I’ll stand behind Gideon.”

Gideon sighed. “Why am I always volunteered?”

Kane’s mouth almost moved.

Almost.

Then the three of them headed for the medical level.

The pharmaceutical vault door stood open.

Inside, rows of temperature-controlled cabinets glowed under white light.

One shelf had been cleared.

Gideon checked the inventory screen.

His face darkened.

“What’s missing?” Harper asked.

“Silver suppressor concentrate.”

“How much?”

“Enough to kill an Alpha.”

Kane stared at the empty shelf.

Then Harper noticed something on the floor.

A small plastic cap.

Red.

She crouched without touching it.

“Kane.”

He looked down.

The cap had a smear of blood on one side.

Gideon called security.

Harper looked toward the rear exit of the vault.

A second door stood slightly open.

Beyond it was a service corridor leading deeper into the estate.

Kane’s head turned sharply.

His eyes brightened.

“Someone’s there.”

A shadow moved at the far end.

Gideon shouted.

The figure ran.

Kane lunged after him.

Harper followed until Gideon swore and grabbed her.

They reached the stairwell seconds later.

Empty.

But on the landing lay a black medical bag.

Inside were six red-seal vials.

And a photograph.

Harper picked it up by the edges.

It showed Kane five years earlier, unconscious in a hospital bed.

Beside him stood Dr. Voss.

And Richard Hayes.

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On the back, written in blue ink, were four words.

PHASE TWO BEGINS TONIGHT.