Chapter 13 - SOMEONE INSIDE DOMINIC’S CIRCLE KNEWFederal investigators did not rush in sirens.
They moved carefully.
Nathan’s evidence was old but substantial.
Current corroboration needed.
Dominic cooperated through attorneys.
That alone shocked people.
Grant secured copies.
Riley was moved to a protected apartment with independent security and social worker involved due age.
Dominic insisted external oversight.
“I don’t want her dependent only on me.”
Grant understood.
Nathan would approve.
Then leak happened.
A journalist emailed Dominic asking:
“Do you intend to testify against longtime associate Vincent Kade regarding evidence left by Nathan Dawson?”
Only six people knew meeting.
Dominic.
Grant.
Riley.
Two attorneys.
One federal investigator.
Riley saw headline threat.
“Again?”
Dominic:
“Yes.”
“Someone inside.”
“Yes.”
Grant looked furious.
The five-person number mattered again.
If Vincent had learned of Riley quickly after restaurant, maybe leak source was closer than they thought.
Suspicion fell naturally on Grant.
One attorney asked Dominic privately:
“Holloway has access to everything.”
Dominic nearly ended meeting.
But Nathan’s lesson: check facts.
Not loyalty assumptions.
Grant himself requested audit of devices.
“Do it.”
Dominic looked surprised.
Grant:
“If I’m clean, prove it.”
“If not, you need know.”
Review showed Grant’s phone had been cloned through malicious compromise months earlier during travel.
He had unknowingly leaked metadata and some communications.
No betrayal.
Grant was furious at himself.
Riley said:
“So everyone gets used.”
Grant looked.
“Apparently.”
Dominic:
“Vincent may have known when Grant was at restaurant.”
“Not contents.”
“Enough to investigate.”
They replaced devices.
Changed locations.
Then Grant said something important.
“If they were reading me, they know about Dr. Mercer.”
Dominic froze.
Elias.
One of five.
They called.
No answer.
Dominic's face drained.
Grant deployed welfare check with local authorities.
Elias was found alive.
His phone stolen in staged burglary previous night.
He had not been harmed.
Dominic breathed.
But message clear.
Vincent was searching the old five.
Trying to understand what Nathan had left.
Riley whispered:
“He knows the number matters.”
Dominic nodded.
Then Elias called from secure line.
“He asked something years ago.”
“Who?”
“Vincent.”
“What?”
“Whether Nathan ever gave me emergency contacts.”
Dominic closed eyes.
There.
Vincent had been trying to reconstruct circle for years.
Nathan’s daughter calling finally activated everything.
Elias added:
“I told him nothing.”
Dominic:
“Good.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Stay safe.”
Elias laughed.
“Look who's giving advice.”
After call Riley asked:
“Who were five again?”
Dominic listed.
Nathan.
Grant.
Elias.
Samuel.
Margaret.
Riley counted.
“Three dead.”
“Yes.”
“Nathan, Samuel, Margaret.”
“Yes.”
“Did Margaret die naturally?”
Dominic stiffened.
Cancer.
Verified.
Not Vincent.
Samuel?
Maybe not.
Riley said:
“If Vincent was looking at five, maybe my dad wasn’t only one he was afraid of.”
Dominic looked at Grant.
Grant understood.
“Reopen Samuel.”
Dominic nodded.
Another grave.
Another truth.
Vincent had spent years living beside Dominic because Dominic trusted results more than methods.
May you like
Now every dead person around him became question.
And Riley, a seventeen-year-old who had called one forbidden number, was pulling thread.
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