Chapter 8 - THE RELEASE
Paige became the bait.
Her idea.
Gabriel hated it.
Therefore she was probably right.
Vale needed the signed release.
So Paige would agree to meet.
Not alone.
Not secretly.
Federal financial investigators were now involved because the shell-company network crossed states and banks.
Gabriel’s attorneys coordinated.
Police handled safety.
No private execution squad.
Paige insisted.
Vale chose an empty design studio in Chelsea.
Interesting.
Maybe psychological.
A place filled with drafting tables and white walls.
The career Paige abandoned.
She wore no wire herself.
The room was already under authorized surveillance.
She entered carrying the release.
Unsigned.
Vale stood by the windows.
Fifty-two.
Silver at temples.
Navy suit.
He looked exactly like a man who corrected spreadsheets.
No monster costume.
“Paige.”
“Martin.”
He smiled.
“You clean up well when you aren’t asleep at your desk.”
She ignored it.
“You threatened my mother.”
“No.”
“You photographed her house.”
“Pressure is not threat.”
“Tell that to a jury.”
His smile tightened.
Good.
Then he nodded toward the document.
“Sign.”
“Why?”
“Because Northstar was always mine.”
“Then why put it in my name?”
“You were convenient.”
There it was.
“Kevin?”
“Weak.”
“Gabriel?”
Vale laughed.
“Powerful men are easy to manage when you understand ego.”
Paige thought of Gabriel accepting correction.
Not always easy.
Maybe changing.
“You stole thirty-eight million dollars.”
Vale’s eyes sharpened.
“You found the document template.”
“Bad kerning.”
He stared.
Then laughed.
“I should have hired you.”
“You did.”
That actually stopped him.
“I worked downstairs for eight months while you used my designs.”
Vale’s smile faded.
Paige continued:
“You had access to my portfolio. My identity. My old drafts. You turned my unused career into your fraud kit.”
“Drama.”
“No.”
She placed the release on a table.
“Documentation.”
Vale stepped closer.
“You think Gabriel cares what happens to you?”
Paige held his gaze.
“I think that question matters less than you want it to.”
His expression changed.
Good.
She had spent years defining safety through whether Kevin stayed.
Then whether collectors called.
Now Vale wanted her value defined by Gabriel.
No.
She belonged to herself first.
“Sign.”
“No.”
Vale’s jaw tightened.
“Your mother—”
“Is somewhere you don’t know.”
“Your dog?”
“Also smarter than you.”
That one irritated him.
Then:
“You have no idea what Gabriel is.”
Paige answered:
“I know enough not to confuse him with you.”
Vale moved.
Not toward her.
Toward the exit.
He realized.
Too late.
Agents entered.
Vale did not fight.
He smiled.
That was worse.
“You think the drive is evidence?”
Paige froze.
“You never decrypted it.”
He was right.
Investigators had only directory structure.
Not files.
Vale continued:
“The encryption key dies with me.”
An agent cuffed him.
Gabriel appeared only after officers secured the room.
Paige looked at him.
“You were told to stay outside.”
“I did.”
“Technically.”
“Yes.”
Vale laughed.
“Still controlling, Gabriel.”
Gabriel ignored him.
Then Vale said:
“Ask Paige what Kevin hid in her portfolio.”
Paige turned.
“What?”
Vale smiled.
“Not me.”
He looked toward her.
“Kevin.”
Then agents took him away.
Paige found Kevin at the hospital.
“What did you hide?”
His face changed immediately.
There.
Guilt.
“Kevin.”
He swallowed.
“The decryption key.”
“Where?”
“In one of your old design files.”
Her anger flashed.
“You used my work again.”
“Yes.”
“Which file?”
He whispered:
“Buster.”
Paige stared.
Her college portfolio contained one illustrated poster of her golden retriever.
A ridiculous typography project.
Kevin hid the key inside it.
Two years earlier.
May you like
Long before he disappeared.
Meaning Kevin had been preparing for Vale’s betrayal far earlier than he admitted.
