Chapter 13 - Why Everett Never Fired HarrisonSebastian knew the answer.
“Harrison had the only direct link to Malcolm’s current network.”
Genevieve stared.
“So Dad kept him employed.”
“Yes.”
“For six years.”
“He monitored him.”
“With you.”
“Yes.”
Callum laughed bitterly.
“Fantastic. Our father turned the family estate into an undercover operation.”
Sebastian didn't smile.
Everett believed firing Harrison would make him disappear.
So he left him where he could watch him.
But Everett miscalculated.
Harrison realized he was under surveillance.
Then Adrian’s plane crashed.
“Did Harrison sabotage it?” Genevieve asked.
Sebastian shook his head.
“No proof.”
“Could he?”
“Yes.”
“Did he have access?”
“Possibly.”
Adrian flew from a small private field partly managed by an Ashford subsidiary.
Harrison knew schedules.
But federal investigators had attributed the crash to failure in a fuel-control component.
Could someone intentionally cause that?
Technically.
But six years later evidence was limited.
Then Sebastian revealed another fact.
“Adrian changed planes.”
“What?”
“He was scheduled to fly on a company jet.”
“Then?”
“He took the smaller Beechcraft.”
“Why?”
“Everett told him the company jet wasn't safe.”
Genevieve stared.
“Dad knew someone might sabotage it.”
“Yes.”
“So Adrian switched.”
“Yes.”
“And the second plane crashed anyway.”
“Yes.”
That suggested someone tracked the change.
Very few people knew.
Everett.
Adrian.
Flight crew.
Harrison.
And—
Callum.
He went still.
Genevieve looked at him.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Adrian called me.”
“When?”
“An hour before takeoff.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Dad was being paranoid.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
Callum closed his eyes.
There it was.
“Who?”
“Sebastian.”
Everyone stared.
Sebastian looked shocked.
“No.”
“You weren't senior then,” Callum said. “But you handled operations. I asked you to make sure the replacement aircraft was fueled.”
Sebastian’s face drained.
“I told Harrison.”
Silence.
Genevieve stared at him.
“So Harrison knew.”
Sebastian looked sick.
“Yes.”
Callum whispered:
“We handed him the information.”
Not intentionally.
But the chain existed.
Detective Morgan immediately reopened the aviation file formally with federal investigators.
Still no certainty.
But now motive and opportunity existed.
Then officers searched Harrison’s seized laptop from the airport.
Deleted emails recovered.
One dated the night before Adrian’s crash.
Harrison to Malcolm:
Plane changed. Same passenger.
Malcolm:
Then change the problem.
Genevieve stopped breathing.
Enough.
Not proof of exact sabotage.
But conspiracy.
Another email after the crash:
A.W. gone. Case recovered before investigators.
Malcolm:
Where?
Harrison:
E has it.
“E?” Callum asked.
Everett.
Their father recovered Adrian’s case.
Then why did it end up hidden in Everett’s warehouse?
Because he wanted to preserve evidence.
Another email:
E thinks crash wasn’t accident.
Malcolm:
Let him think.
Genevieve felt rage settle into certainty.
Malcolm knew.
Harrison helped.
Whether they personally loosened a bolt no longer mattered.
They had acted around the crash.
Then a final email from six months later:
Harrison:
E is getting close.
Malcolm:
Use family.
Harrison:
Which one?
Malcolm:
The one who already feels guilty.
Everyone looked at Callum.
Malcolm manipulated him next.
Perhaps feeding Everett false evidence about Callum.
Driving father and son apart.
Creating exactly the distrust Everett recorded.
Genevieve felt pity for her brother.
He had spent years believing his father suspected him because of the transfer he signed.
Malcolm helped make that suspicion inevitable.
But there was one problem.
If Harrison and Malcolm killed Adrian or helped cause the crash—
why not kill Everett immediately?
Because Everett still controlled money they needed.
They used him.
Until he discovered the original structure.
Then Everett died.
Genevieve turned to Detective Morgan.
“Dad’s death.”
The detective nodded.
“We’re reviewing it.”
Everett died in bed after dinner.
No autopsy beyond routine hospital examination.
He had known heart disease.
But Beatrice remembered something.
“He vomited that night.”
Everyone turned.
“You never said that.”
“I thought it was food.”
“What else?”
“He was sweating.”
“Chest pain?”
“Yes.”
Consistent with heart attack.
Also consistent with other things.
“What did he eat?”
“Dinner.”
“Who cooked?”
“Harrison.”
The estate manager often cooked when the chef was off.
Silence.
Police exhumation would require court approval.
Genevieve hated even considering it.
Then Maribel spoke quietly.
“You may not need to.”
Everyone looked.
“My brother found medical records.”
Mateo had hacked? No—better avoid unauthorized instructions; narrative okay.
Maribel explained Mateo had copied historical household pharmacy logs while tracing the sedatives.
One unusual purchase appeared the week Everett died.
A veterinary cardiac medication.
Ordered through an account controlled by Harrison.
Genevieve froze.
“Veterinary?”
“For the horses?”
The Ashfords kept none.
No pets requiring it.
The medication could be dangerous in the wrong dose.
Detective Morgan’s expression changed.
Now they had grounds.
May you like
Everett’s death might not have been natural.
And Harrison had been inside the house that night.
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