“They’re half-siblings,” Jake says. “Seth needed the money. Your father needed a camera-ready family. Whitaker had both.”
Never mind that Hedy’s parents—who’ve been managing the day-to-day operations since the beginning—had been together the entire time. Her father’s marriage to Gina had always been a separate thing that no one ever discussed. It was a political arrangement that produced the requisite number of children. They were friendly and everyone looked good in the campaign ads.
DB liked Hedy’s father, but he could never square the warm, funny man with the calculating politician who was able to compartmentalize his on-screen family from his “real” family.
“So Whitaker traded Gina like cattle,” Hedy says, mirroring DB’s thoughts. “Why would my father agree to that?”
Jake winces. “Because every deal Whitaker makes includes a pound of flesh.”
The room is heavy with silence.
Jake drags a new set of documents onto the screen.
“We’ve all assumed your father owns this property,” he says carefully. “That it passes to you when he dies.”
“It does,” Hedy says. Then, frowning, “Unless it doesn’t.”
Jake shakes his head.
Odd swears under his breath.
Hedy studies the screen, then looks up like she’s solving it backward. “You said Seth needed capital. But he was always the tycoon. More money than God.”
“That’s the story,” Jake agrees. “Here’s the truth: Seth lost everything in a bad venture. Right before he partnered with your father and Whitaker.”
“Interesting timing,” Odd murmurs, and the table nods in agreement. The timing of things is seldom accidental.
“Whitaker swooped in with a loan to rescue the deal, but Seth had to surrender the intellectual property to secure the loan.”
“So my parents and Seth built this from the ground up,” Hedy says slowly, “but Whitaker owns the landandthe IP?”
Jake nods. Grim. “That’s not the worst of it.”
“Tell me.”
“This took years of chipping away at his security, and I had to bring in Ryder for some of the trickier bits, but I managed to grab a single screenshot that explains everything.” Jake shares it with the room. “The IP includes the Guardian files. Every mission. Every murder. All of it held in trust for Whitaker’s sister:Gina.”
The room goes silent for a single inhale. Then it detonates with expletives, invectives, and outright threats. Anders reaches for his knife.
Jake raises a hand. “If Whitaker dies naturally, the property and files pass to Hedy, with a percentage to his family. If he dies under suspicious circumstances, everything transfers to Gina, along with instructions to hand the archive to the justice department.”
Anders puts away his knife.
Odd feels DB’s grip tighten.
“So if we kill the cancer,” DB says, shaking his head, “a stranger gets the keys to the Cave and everything she needs to put us away for life.”
“Yes.”
Odd pinches the bridge of his nose. “What do we know about the sister?”
“Not enough,” Jake says. “Mostly because Hedy’s father has her digital footprint locked down.”
“Like he’s protecting her?” Hedy asks.
“Maybe.”
Hedy scrubs a hand over her face. “I need to talk to my father.”
