Chapter 4 - BLOOD DOESN’T MAKE A MAN LOYAL Julian Vale arrived at 7:12 the following morning.
He demanded explanations.
Instead, Dominic asked one question.
“Why did you send me to the warehouse the night I crashed?”
Julian stopped moving.
That was the moment Dominic knew his brother had been hiding something.
Not necessarily murder.
But something.
Julian finally admitted the truth.
Arthur had asked him to divert Dominic.
He claimed it was political.
Nothing more.
Arthur wanted extra time to secure council votes.
Julian invented a warehouse emergency.
Dominic changed routes.
Twenty minutes later, another vehicle drove him into concrete.
“You knew Arthur was moving against me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Peter was selling information.”
Julian lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Dominic felt something break inside him.
“You knew my house was compromised.”
“I thought it was business.”
“This is my home.”
Julian looked up.
“You stopped separating those things years ago.”
The accusation hurt because it was partly true.
Dominic had built a fortress.
Then acted surprised when everyone inside behaved like soldiers.
Julian gave Vincent the address of Arthur’s secret West Loop apartment.
There, investigators found Peter.
Alive.
Terrified.
And ready to talk.
Peter admitted manipulating the brace.
He admitted tracking Ellie.
He admitted locking Angela inside the maintenance room.
But he denied arranging the crash.
Then Julian revealed another location.
The abandoned Vale Social Club.
Behind a false wall, investigators discovered Arthur’s hidden archive.
Cash.
Encrypted drives.
Council payments.
Dominic’s rehabilitation schedules.
Photographs of his car.
And a folder marked SUCCESSION.
Inside was a photograph taken the night Dominic crashed.
On the back were four words.
ROUTE CONFIRMED BY J.V.
Julian’s face went white.
“I didn’t write that.”
Then Vincent discovered bank transfers.
More than one million dollars.
All apparently sent to Julian.
Dominic stared at his brother.
Julian stared back.
“I swear to you.”
Dominic said nothing.
Because blood could lie.
Brothers could betray.
And evidence could destroy whatever love remained between them.
But then Dominic remembered Ellie.
The backward strap had looked correct until somebody examined it closely.
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So Dominic did something Arthur never expected.
He examined the evidence twice.
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