Chapter 22 - The Man With the Scar

By dawn, nobody in the mansion had slept.

Jaden returned shortly before four in the morning with the envelope from Lucas’s apartment sealed inside a plastic evidence sleeve.

He looked exhausted.

Cynthia, who had refused to leave after hearing what happened, stood the moment he entered.

“You’re bleeding.”

Jaden touched the side of his neck.

“It’s a scratch.”

“That is blood.”

“I noticed.”

“Sit down.”

Jaden looked at Jason.

Jason almost smiled.

“You heard her.”

Jaden muttered something under his breath and sat.

Benita brought the first-aid box.

Cynthia cleaned the cut while Jaden explained what had happened.

“The man jumped from the back balcony to the fire escape.”

“From what floor?” Benita asked.

“Third.”

“And nobody caught him?”

“He had a vehicle waiting.”

Jason leaned forward in his wheelchair.

“The same black SUV?”

“Yes.”

“Plate?”

“Covered.”

“Camera?”

“One street camera. The guard already requested the footage.”

Jason rubbed his jaw.

“What about Lucas?”

“No sign of him.”

Cynthia stopped cleaning.

“Was the apartment searched?”

Jaden nodded.

“By us and the police.”

“Was anything taken?”

“His laptop. Several paper files. His external drives.”

Jason looked at the envelope.

“But not that.”

“No.”

“Which means Lucas hid it before whoever came looking.”

Jaden nodded.

“Or he expected them.”

The thought stayed in the room.

Benita looked toward Jason.

“Have you called the police about Victor?”

“Not yet.”

Cynthia frowned.

“Why?”

“Because initials are not enough.”

“But Lucas named him.”

“In a private note.”

“After finding records.”

“Records we do not have.”

Jaden finished for him.

“If Victor controls company security and someone inside the company is helping him, accusing him now tells him exactly what we know.”

Benita folded her arms.

“And while you wait, Lucas is missing.”

Jason’s expression hardened.

“I’m not waiting.”

“What are you doing?”

“Finding the source documents.”

Jaden leaned forward.

“How?”

Jason looked at him.

“Aliu.”

Silence.

Aliu had survived the shooting, but his doctors had restricted visitors. He had been moved twice for security.

Jaden shook his head.

“He nearly died.”

“And Lucas wrote that Aliu found the original work order.”

“That doesn’t mean we pressure him.”

“We don’t pressure him.”

Jason paused.

“We ask one question.”

Cynthia looked between them.

“What question?”

“Where he found it.”

Jaden stood.

“I’ll call the hospital.”

“No.”

Jaden turned.

Jason continued.

“Call the private nurse. Not the hospital switchboard.”

Jaden nodded slowly.

Twenty minutes later, they had permission for one visitor.

Jason went.

Benita insisted on accompanying him.

“You are not going into a hospital alone when someone is targeting people around you.”

Jason looked amused.

“And you plan to fight them?”

“If necessary.”

“With what?”

Benita picked up her handbag.

“With whatever is inside this bag.”

Jason stared at it.

“I’m suddenly afraid of your handbag.”

“You should be.”

For the first time that morning, Jaden laughed.

The moment was brief, but it mattered.

At the hospital, two private guards stood outside Aliu’s room.

Jason entered first.

Aliu looked smaller than he remembered.

A bandage covered part of his shoulder. His skin had lost color, but his eyes were alert.

“Boss.”

“Don’t call me boss from a hospital bed.”

Aliu smiled weakly.

“Then what should I call you?”

“Jason.”

“That sounds strange.”

“You’ll survive.”

Aliu’s smile faded.

Jason moved closer.

“Lucas is missing.”

Aliu’s face changed immediately.

“What?”

“Since last night.”

Aliu tried to sit up.

Pain stopped him.

“What happened?”

“His apartment was searched. Someone ran when Jaden arrived.”

Aliu stared at Jason.

“The file.”

“What file?”

Aliu closed his eyes.

“Lucas found it.”

“You gave him something?”

“I gave him a location.”

Jason glanced at Benita.

“Where?”

Aliu looked toward the door.

“Is it safe?”

“Yes.”

“No,” Aliu said. “Nothing is safe anymore.”

His voice was low but firm.

Jason waited.

Aliu looked back at him.

“After your accident, I started keeping copies.”

“Copies of what?”

“Vehicle logs. Gate logs. maintenance forms.”

“Why?”

Aliu’s mouth tightened.

“Because the records changed.”

Jason felt his chest go still.

“You saw that?”

“I noticed two days after the crash.”

“What changed?”

“The departure time.”

Jason frowned.

“Why would that matter?”

“Because the first log showed your car left at 8:17 p.m. The replacement showed 8:42.”

Benita spoke quietly.

“Twenty-five minutes.”

Aliu nodded.

“Enough time to change who was listed as the final mechanic.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed.

“Who was listed originally?”

“A contractor named Tobi Mensah.”

“And later?”

“Internal fleet maintenance.”

“Why would someone remove Tobi’s name?”

“Because Tobi never touched the car.”

Jason stared at him.

Aliu continued.

“I found him two months after your accident.”

“You found the contractor?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

“He said Victor asked him to sign a blank service sheet.”

Jason’s jaw tightened.

“Victor personally?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Aliu looked ashamed.

“I tried.”

Jason went silent.

“When?”

“The week after you returned home from rehabilitation.”

“I don’t remember.”

“You were on heavy medication. Your father said the family had enough stress. He told me to give the records to him.”

Jason’s face shifted.

“My father knew?”

Aliu immediately shook his head.

“I don’t know what he knew. I gave him copies. A week later he asked me to stop investigating.”

Benita watched Jason carefully.

“That doesn’t mean his father was involved.”

Jason didn’t answer.

Aliu continued.

“I thought maybe he was protecting you. Or Jaden. Or the company.”

“Where are the copies now?”

“In an old storage unit.”

“Whose name?”

“Mine.”

“Where?”

Aliu gave him the address.

Jason memorized it.

“And the key?”

Aliu smiled faintly.

“You don’t need one.”

Jason raised an eyebrow.

“The lock code is the date you hired me.”

Jason almost laughed.

“Of course it is.”

Then Aliu’s expression became serious again.

“There’s something else.”

Jason waited.

“The man who shot me.”

“You saw him?”

“Not clearly.”

“What did you see?”

“A scar.”

Benita’s eyes sharpened.

“Beside his left ear?”

Aliu looked at her.

“Yes.”

Jason exhaled.

The same man.

Aliu continued.

“He said something before he fired.”

“What?”

“He said, ‘You should have left the dead buried.’”

Jason and Benita exchanged a look.

The same warning Lucas’s secretary had heard.

Jason leaned closer.

“Did you recognize his voice?”

“No.”

“Anything else?”

Aliu closed his eyes briefly.

“He smelled like clove cigarettes.”

Jason frowned.

“That matters?”

“It might.”

Benita nodded.

“Smells are memorable.”

Aliu looked at her.

“Exactly.”

Jason thanked him and stood to leave.

Aliu caught his wrist.

“Jason.”

He turned.

“Be careful with Victor.”

“You really believe it’s him.”

“I believe his name appears too often around things that should have nothing to do with him.”

Jason looked down at Aliu’s hand.

“You should have told me sooner.”

“I know.”

“But I’m glad you’re alive to tell me now.”

Aliu’s eyes softened.

“So am I.”

Outside the hospital, Benita pushed Jason toward the elevator.

He was quieter than before.

“What are you thinking?”

“My father.”

“You heard Aliu. He doesn’t know what your father knew.”

“I know.”

“But you’re wondering why he stopped the investigation.”

“Yes.”

“Then find out.”

Jason looked at her.

“You make everything sound simple.”

“No. I make the next step sound simple.”

“And the next step is?”

“The storage unit.”

They returned to the mansion.

Jaden and Cynthia were waiting.

Jason told them everything.

At the mention of their father, Jaden went pale.

“Dad told Aliu to stop?”

“That’s what he said.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Jaden stood and paced.

“Our father hated Victor’s shortcuts.”

“He also trusted him for thirty years.”

“That doesn’t mean he covered for him.”

“I didn’t say it did.”

“You were thinking it.”

Jason’s voice stayed calm.

“I was thinking I need facts.”

Jaden stopped.

Then nodded.

“Good.”

Cynthia looked at Jason.

“When do we go to the storage unit?”

“We don’t.”

She blinked.

“We?”

Jason looked at Jaden.

“Professional security goes first.”

Jaden smiled faintly.

“You finally learned.”

“Don’t enjoy it.”

By midday, two investigators and a retired police detective hired by the family entered Aliu’s storage unit.

Jason watched through a live video call from the mansion.

The unit contained boxes of old company records.

Vehicle maintenance sheets.

Gate logs.

Printed emails.

Photographs.

And a small metal cash box.

“Open that,” Jason said.

The detective forced the rusted latch.

Inside were three flash drives, a sealed envelope, and an old phone.

Jaden leaned toward the screen.

“What is that?”

The detective held up the envelope.

Jason’s name was written across it in his father’s handwriting.

Jaden went silent.

Jason’s face drained.

“Bring everything here.”

The detective hesitated.

“You don’t want me to open it?”

“No.”

“Understood.”

An hour later, the box sat on the dining table.

Nobody touched the envelope.

Jason stared at his father’s handwriting.

Benita stood behind him.

Jaden sat opposite.

Cynthia stayed beside Jaden.

Finally, Jason broke the seal.

Inside was a single page.

He read the first line.

Then stopped.

“What?” Jaden asked.

Jason swallowed.

“It says, ‘Jason, if you are reading this, then I failed to protect both of my sons.’”

Nobody moved.

Jason continued.

“I learned too late that the attacks against you and Jaden were connected.”

Jaden’s face went completely blank.

Jason kept reading.

“I did not stop Aliu because I trusted Victor. I stopped him because Victor threatened to kill one of you if I went to the police before I could prove what he was doing.”

Cynthia covered her mouth.

Benita whispered, “Oh my God.”

Jason’s eyes moved down the page.

His father had written that Victor was using company transportation contracts to move illegal cash through shell vendors. Jason had discovered irregular invoices shortly before his accident without realizing what they meant.

Jaden had confronted a driver connected to one of those vendors three years ago.

That was why Jaden had been attacked.

Jason’s accident had been punishment.

Jaden’s roadside beating had been a warning.

Aliu’s investigation had come too close.

And now Lucas had found the chain connecting all three.

Jaden’s hands trembled.

“Dad knew.”

“He knew part of it.”

“And said nothing to us.”

“He was trying to protect us.”

“By letting Victor stay in the company?”

Jason looked at him.

“I don’t know.”

Jaden stood.

“I do.”

“Jaden.”

“No. He let that man sit at our table after Victor tried to kill you.”

“We don’t know when Dad learned everything.”

Jaden turned away.

Jason continued reading.

The final paragraph was shorter.

“If Victor realizes this letter still exists, he will come for it. Do not confront him alone. The proof is not in the letter. The proof is in the numbers Lucas once asked me to explain.”

Jason stopped.

Jaden turned back.

“Lucas?”

“He knew Lucas would find it.”

“Find what?”

Jason looked at the old flash drives.

“The numbers.”

One of the investigators connected the first drive to an isolated laptop.

Folders appeared.

Invoices.

Shipping manifests.

Bank transfers.

Then a spreadsheet opened.

Jaden leaned closer.

A series of payments repeated every month.

Small enough to avoid immediate scrutiny.

Large enough to become millions over time.

The recipient was a company called Northstar Logistics.

Jason looked at the registration column.

“Who owns Northstar?”

The investigator searched.

A minute later he looked up.

“Officially? Nobody you know.”

“Unofficially?”

He turned the screen.

The beneficial ownership document listed a trust.

The trustee was Victor Hale.

Jaden exhaled.

“There it is.”

Jason shook his head.

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“That proves theft.”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“It doesn’t prove the attacks.”

The detective opened another file.

“Maybe this does.”

A scanned invoice appeared.

Vehicle ID.

Date.

Service order.

Jason’s car.

The night of the crash.

Approval code: VH-17.

Jaden stared.

Jason’s breathing slowed.

Then the old phone inside the cash box vibrated.

Everyone jumped.

The phone should have been dead.

But a small charging cable had been attached by the investigator moments earlier.

A new text message appeared.

No number.

Only words.

YOU FOUND THE BOX.

Benita stepped backward.

Jaden swore.

A second message arrived.

NOW I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE.

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Jason looked toward the mansion windows.

Outside, somewhere beyond the gate, an engine started.