Chapter 12 - Derek's Deal
Derek surrendered the next morning.
He arrived with a lawyer and asked for federal protection.
Caleb was not allowed in the interview.
Three hours later, Nathan came out looking pale.
"What did he say?"
"That Malcolm asked him to scare Julia."
"How do you scare someone with a car?"
"Derek says the command was supposed to disable steering assist at low speed before she left downtown."
"But she was on the highway."
"The command queued late."
"So he accidentally nearly killed her."
"That is his claim."
"And Malcolm?"
"Ordered the intimidation. Ordered the driver change. Ordered the crash report contained."
"Did he order Derek to delay 911?"
"No."
"Then why was my father there?"
"Because Derek called him after the crash."
"Derek says Julia had evidence of accounting fraud tied to the Armitage merger. Malcolm wanted the documents."
"Not her life."
"According to Derek."
Caleb hated the difference.
It felt designed to preserve just enough innocence.
Derek gave investigators the family-office archive password.
The servers held years of deleted files.
Among them was a folder called SOVEREIGN.
Inside were strategy memos about Caleb.
Maintain workload pressure.
Limit direct childcare confidence.
Route household decisions through senior family staff.
Document missed appointments.
Preserve concerns regarding grief and executive instability.
Caleb read the words twice.
His father had been building a case around him for eighteen months.
Not because Malcolm hated him.
Because Malcolm thought Caleb belonged to the company.
And Sophie belonged to the voting structure.
Another memo appeared after Nora's hiring:
Nanny relationship increasing paternal independence.
If removal becomes necessary, create direct-observation incident.
That sentence was the nursery.
A scene engineered so he would trust his own eyes over Nora's voice.
The archive also contained a file on Helen.
A file on Caleb's assistant.
Everyone reduced to leverage.
Then the forensic analyst opened one final email.
Date: the morning Julia died.
No police until I have the documents.
It said something that might be worse in court.
Malcolm knew there was an emergency.
And his priority was evidence.
"Where is my father?"
"At Whitcomb Medical headquarters."
"Doing what?"
"Chairing the merger committee."
Caleb looked at the clock.
May you like
The board had moved the vote forward.
To today.
