Chapter 3 - The Governor’s SonNathan Cole had survived combat service, three brutal elections, death threats, and the funeral of both parents.
Nathan stood six feet away from it while Chief of Security Raymond Holt photographed everything.
Stacks of hundred-dollar bills filled the foam-lined interior.
Beside the cash lay three envelopes.
One contained photocopies of bank transfers.
Another contained handwritten notes bearing what appeared to be Nathan’s signature.
The third contained photographs of Nathan meeting businessmen during private events.
Elena stood near the doorway with an ice pack pressed against her cheek.
Rebecca had been moved to a guest suite under security supervision.
She was not officially under arrest.
Not yet.
Nathan stared at the money.
“I’ve never seen this.”
Raymond nodded.
“I believe you, sir.”
“That won’t matter if this reaches the press.”
“It hasn’t.”
Nathan turned.
“You’re sure?”
Raymond hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
“What?”
“One reporter emailed your communications director fourteen minutes ago.”
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
“What did they ask?”
Raymond picked up a tablet.
“They asked whether you intend to resign over allegations that you accepted two hundred thousand dollars from a construction consortium in exchange for state contracts.”
Elena felt the room tilt.
Nathan closed his eyes.
Rebecca’s warning returned.
Only the beginning.
“Who is the reporter?”
“Daniel Crane. Capitol Ledger.”
Nathan knew the name.
Aggressive.
Connected.
Rarely wrong about having documentation before publishing.
“Call him.”
Nathan’s communications director, Melissa Ward, shook her head.
“Governor, not yet.”
“If I don’t respond, he prints.”
“If you respond without knowing what he has, you confirm there’s a crisis.”
Nathan stared at her.
“So what do you recommend?”
“We learn what else is coming.”
A knock sounded.
Two federal agents entered with an attorney from the governor’s legal office.
Special Agent Claire Donnelly introduced herself.
Nathan showed her the recording immediately.
The moment Rebecca’s voice mentioned fabricated transfers, Donnelly’s posture changed.
“Do you have the original file?”
Elena raised her wrist.
“Yes.”
“Has it been edited?”
“No.”
“Uploaded anywhere?”
Elena hesitated.
“My daughter’s watch app automatically backs up recordings.”
Donnelly looked at her sharply.
“To what?”
“My home tablet.”
Relief passed through Raymond.
“Good.”
Donnelly nodded.
“That gives us another copy and potentially metadata.”
Nathan looked at Elena.
“Your daughter is at home?”
“At school.”
“Who else can access your apartment?”
“My sister sometimes.”
Donnelly immediately turned toward another agent.
“Send a team.”
Elena stiffened.
“Why?”
“Because if Mrs. Cole knows about that watch, Senator Hale may know about the backup.”
Elena’s blood ran cold.
“My sister is home today.”
Donnelly stopped.
“Call her.”
Elena pulled out her phone.
Her sister Rosa answered after one ring.
“Elena?”
“You need to leave the apartment.”
“What?”
“Rosa, listen to me. Take your purse and go downstairs. Right now.”
“Elena, there are two men knocking on the door.”
Every person in the office froze.
Elena whispered, “Don’t open it.”
“They said they’re from the governor’s office.”
“They’re not.”
The call went silent.
“Rosa?”
A crash sounded.
Then Rosa screamed.
Elena nearly dropped the phone.
“ROSA!”
Nathan grabbed Raymond’s arm.
“Get people there!”
Raymond was already shouting into his radio.
The phone transmitted furniture scraping.
A man’s voice.
“Where’s the tablet?”
Rosa cried out.
Elena pressed the phone against her ear.
“Leave her alone!”
One of the men heard her.
“Mrs. Ruiz?”
Elena went motionless.
The stranger chuckled.
“You should have minded your own business.”
The call disconnected.
Elena stared at the screen.
Nathan looked sick.
Donnelly was speaking into her radio, coordinating Richmond police and federal units.
Elena suddenly turned toward Nathan.
“This happened because of the recording.”
Nathan did not defend himself.
“Yes.”
“My sister could be hurt.”
“Yes.”
“My daughter comes home from school in three hours.”
“She will not go home,” Nathan said. “I promise you.”
Elena looked toward the hallway where Rebecca was being guarded.
Nathan followed her gaze.
For the first time, the betrayal felt larger than politics.
His wife and Marcus had not merely planned to ruin him.
They were willing to terrorize innocent people to hide it.
Twenty-three minutes later, police entered Elena’s apartment.
The intruders were gone.
Rosa was found in the kitchen with a bruised shoulder but no serious injuries.
The tablet had disappeared.
So had Elena’s old laptop.
But one of the attackers had made a mistake.
The building superintendent had upgraded the hallway cameras the previous month.
One man’s face was captured clearly.
Donnelly showed the image to Nathan.
Nathan did not recognize him.
Raymond did.
His expression darkened.
“His name is Gavin Rourke.”
“Who is he?” Nathan asked.
“Former state police. Fired seven years ago.”
“For what?”
“Providing unauthorized security work.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“For whom?”
Raymond looked at him.
“Senator Marcus Hale.”
Nobody spoke.
Donnelly immediately issued a federal alert.
Meanwhile, the Capitol Ledger published its first story.
GOVERNOR COLE LINKED TO SECRET CASH PAYMENTS.
Within minutes, every cable news station picked it up.
Nathan’s approval rating vanished from conversation.
Pundits discussed resignation.
Opposition lawmakers demanded an investigation.
Television trucks gathered outside the gates.
From the guest suite, Rebecca demanded access to an attorney and claimed her husband was unlawfully imprisoning her.
Then another story appeared.
This one included copies of the fake bank transfers.
Melissa stared at her phone.
“They have everything.”
Nathan looked toward the black case.
“Marcus prepared this in advance.”
Donnelly nodded.
“He expected the scandal to explode before you could defend yourself.”
“Can the recording clear me?”
“It helps.”
“Helps?”
“It proves your wife and Hale discussed framing you. It doesn’t automatically prove every document is fake.”
Elena lowered the ice pack.
“What about the original metadata?”
“If we still had the backup tablet, that would help.”
Everyone knew who now possessed it.
Gavin Rourke.
Or Marcus Hale.
Nathan walked toward the window.
Hundreds of reporters waited beyond the iron gates.
Rebecca had understood the modern political world perfectly.
Truth moved slowly.
Scandal moved instantly.
His phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
He opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Elena gasped.
It showed her daughter Sofia leaving school with two security officers Nathan had assigned to protect her.
Taken from across the street.
Below it was a message.
DELETE THE ORIGINAL RECORDING.
OR NEXT TIME, WE DON’T MISS.
Elena’s face turned white.
Nathan handed the phone to Donnelly.
She read it.
“Governor, this has moved beyond political sabotage.”
Nathan stared at the photograph of the eleven-year-old girl.
“What do they want?”
Elena already knew.
“The watch.”
Nathan looked at her.
Another message arrived.
MIDNIGHT.
OLD RIVERSIDE WAREHOUSE.
ELENA COMES ALONE.
BRING THE WATCH.
Donnelly shook her head immediately.
“No.”
But Elena’s eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Because a third message appeared.
This one was a video.
Rosa’s stolen tablet sat on a table.
Beside it lay a gun.
And Marcus Hale’s voice said:
“Come alone, Elena.”
Then the camera shifted.
Behind the tablet sat someone tied to a chair.
Governor Nathan Cole’s twenty-year-old son, Andrew.
Nathan stopped breathing.
May you like
Marcus continued.
“Or the governor loses more than an election.”
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