Chapter 15 - OWEN'S DEAL

I met Owen in a closed restaurant in Evanston.

Claire knew where I was.

So did two investigators outside.

Owen did not.

He looked exhausted.

No tie. Unshaven. Hands shaking around untouched coffee.

'You always did love dramatic meetings,' I said.

He almost smiled.

Then he looked away.

'Natalie is going to kill the company.'

'You helped her.'

'I helped build Cedar House.'

'With stolen wages.'

'Yes.'

No excuse.

That surprised me.

'Why?'

He stared at the table.

'Because your father taught me the same thing he taught you. Protect the machine first.'

'I didn't steal from housekeepers.'

'You signed what we put in front of you.'

There it was.

The truth I hated because it was partly mine.

Owen said Natalie changed the plan two years earlier. What began as hidden margin became a takeover fund.

He wanted out after Maria recorded him.

Natalie threatened to expose his role and send him to prison alone.

'You threatened Maria yourself.'

'I know.'

'You used CPS reports.'

'I approved the retaliation system.'

June would have hated hearing him say it so calmly.

'What do you want?'

'Protection for my sister. Denise didn't know what Northstar was really doing.'

'And in exchange?'

He slid a flash drive across the table.

Natalie's private ledger.

Passwords.

Shell companies.

Board bribes.

Payments to a labor inspector.

And one file labeled JUNE CARTER.

I opened it.

Photos of June leaving my mansion.

Photos of her children in Peoria.

Her mother's building.

School pickup times.

My hands went cold.

'Why was she being watched?'

Owen swallowed.

'Because Natalie figured out she was the employee you found in the pantry.'

'How?'

'Your house cameras.'

'Who gave her access?'

He looked at me.

'Your head of residential security.'

A man named Victor Dane.

At that exact moment, my phone buzzed.

June.

I answered.

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