Chapter 49 EIGHT WEEKS

Chapter 49 EIGHT WEEKS


Adeline's POV

Eight weeks became our countdown.

Every morning, I woke up and counted down…56 days. 55 days. 54 days.

Every day that passed was one day closer to Belle marrying a man who was using her.

Kayden and I turned his study into a war room.

The walls were covered with photos, timelines, connections….everything we knew about Grey, about Russio, about how they fit together.

"We need to organize this better," Kayden said on day three. "Figure out what we know and what we still need to find."

I grabbed a marker and started writing on the whiteboard we'd installed.

KNOWN:

Grey's real name: Grayson Falco
Worked for Gravano family 2 years ago
Identity fabricated, funded by Gravano shell company
Meeting regularly with Russio
Has access to family documents
Juvenile record sealed by Judge Bellamy

UNKNOWN:
What Grey did as a juvenile
What his current mission is
When Russio will give final orders
How to prove any of this to Belle

"That's a lot of unknowns," Kayden observed.

"Then we make them known. Starting with the juvenile record. If we can prove Grey has a history of violence, Belle might listen."

"My contact at the DA's office said the victim was a thirteen-year-old girl. Aggravated assault. But the details are sealed."

"Then we unseal them."

"How? We can't break through government-level protections without triggering alarms."

"Maybe we don't have to break through. Maybe we find the victim and talk to her directly."

Kayden looked at me. "That's... actually brilliant. The victim isn't bound by court orders. She can tell us what happened."

"If we can find her. And if she's willing to talk."

"I'll call Stardust and have them search for assault cases involving thirteen-year-old girls in Connecticut, fifteen to twenty years ago. See if any connect to Grayson Falco."

We worked through the night.

We had coffee at midnight, pizza at 2 AM, then more coffee at 4 AM.

Kayden was at his laptop, and I was on my phone. Both of us were digging through records….following leads.

"Found something," he said around 3 AM. "Not the victim yet. But Grey's employment history is interesting."

"How so?"

"After he left our family two years ago, he worked for three other organizations. All legitimate on paper. Financial firms and consulting groups."

"Let me guess. All of them are connected to families like ours."

"Two of them, yes. The third is harder to trace. But I'd bet money there's a connection."

"So Grey has been embedding himself in various organizations for years. Gathering information and building connections."

"Or he's been training. Learning different skills…. different approaches."

"For what?"

"I don't know. But people don't spend years preparing for something small. Whatever Grey's ultimate mission is, it's big. Important enough to warrant all this preparation."

I walked to the timeline on the wall and traced the pattern.

"Grey was fourteen when he was arrested. Let's say that's when Russio found him and took him under his wing."

"That's fourteen years ago. My father has been grooming Grey for over a decade."

"Building him into the perfect weapon. Loyal….skilled…and completely under his control."

"And now he's aimed that weapon at your sister…at you."

"But why? What's the endgame? What does Russio gain from this?"

We stared at the board. At all the connections we'd mapped, at all the questions we still couldn't answer.

"We're missing something," Kayden said. "Some piece that connects everything."

"Then we keep looking until we find it."

By day five, we'd established a routine.

In the mornings, we follow up on leads from the night before.

In the afternoons, we research and document.

In the evenings, we compare notes and plan next steps.

At nights, we deep dive into records and connections.

We barely slept and ate. The investigation consumed everything.

But somewhere in those long nights, something shifted between us. The forced partnership became a real partnership. The arrangement became something else.

"Coffee?" Kayden would ask at 1 AM, already knowing the answer.

"Always."

He'd return with two cups and sit beside me. We'd work in comfortable silence until one of us found something.

Then we'd talk for hours…theorizing, connecting dots, building the case.

"You're good at this," he said one night. "The investigation…the analysis….you see patterns I miss."

"Years of training. Assassins have to think like detectives, anticipate and predict."

"Still. You're brilliant at it."

"So are you. The way you understand the family dynamics, the power structures. I'd be lost without that context."

"We make a good team."

"We do."

He smiled. "Who would have thought? A few months ago, you wanted to kill me. Now we're partners."

"I still might kill you. Don't get too comfortable."

"Fair enough."

But there was warmth in the teasing now…affection even.

We'd gone from forced allies to something approaching friends. Maybe more than friends.

Though neither of us said it out loud.

On day seven, Stardust called.
"I found her. The victim from Grey's juvenile case."

My heart raced. "Who is she?"

"Sarah Mitchell. Now goes by Sarah Chen. She's married, lives in Boston, and works as a social worker."

"Does she know Grey is out? That his records were sealed?"

"Probably not. But I found an interview she gave to a victims' advocacy group five years ago. She talked about her assault, but didn't name her attacker because of the sealed records. But the details match."

"Send me everything you have."

"Already done. But Blue? Be careful approaching her. This kind of trauma... she might not want to relive it."

"I'll be careful. But I need to know what Grey did…what he's capable of."

"Understood. Good luck."

I showed Kayden the information.
"Boston. That's three hours away. We could drive up tomorrow."

"And say what? 'Hi, we're investigating the man who attacked you when you were thirteen. Want to tell us about it?'"

"We'll figure it out. But we need her testimony. It's the only way to prove Grey is dangerous."

We drove to Boston the next morning and found Sarah's address. It was a small house in a nice neighborhood.
"Ready?" Kayden asked.

"No. But let's do it anyway."

We knocked.
A woman answered. She looked to be in her mid-thirties, had a kind face and tired eyes.

"Sarah Chen?"

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"My name is Adeline. This is Kayden. We're... this is going to sound strange, but we need to talk to you about something that happened when you were thirteen."

Her expression closed off immediately. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please. It's important. It's about Grayson Falco."

She flinched at the name. "How do you know that name? It's sealed. I can't…I'm not allowed to talk about it."

"We know. And we wouldn't ask if it wasn't critical. My sister is engaged to Grayson. She has no idea who he really is or what he's done and we need to warn her. But we need proof first."

Sarah stared at us. "Your sister is engaged to... to him?"

"Yes. The wedding is in eight weeks. Please. If there's anything you can tell us. Anything that would help convince her…"

"Come in." She opened the door wider. "If someone else is in danger, I'll tell you what I can."

We sat in her living room while Sarah made tea with shaking hands.

"I haven't talked about this in years. My therapist says I've processed it and moved on. But..." She sat across from us.

"Some things you never fully move on from."

"We understand. And we're grateful you're willing to talk to us."

She took a breath. "I was thirteen. Grayson was fourteen. We went to the same school. He was... strange….intense. He fixated on me and started following me, showing up at places I went."

"Was he threatening?"

"Not at first. Just persistent..Obsessive. He'd write me notes, and try to talk to me. I kept saying no, kept asking him to leave me alone but he wouldn't."

"What happened?"

"One day after school, he cornered me. Said if I wouldn't be his, I wouldn't be anyone's. Then he..." She closed her eyes.

"He had a knife. He attacked me and stabbed me twice. Once in the shoulder and once in my side."

My blood ran cold.
"I survived…bviously. But barely. I was in the hospital for two weeks. I had surgery, physical therap and counseling."

"And Grayson?"

"He was arrested and charged as a juvenile. But then... everything changed. His lawyer…some expensive guy from New York, got the case sealed and got him out. And suddenly, it was like it never happened. All the records buried and all the evidence hidden."

"Do you know who paid for the lawyer? Who helped seal the case?"

"No. But whoever it was had serious power….serious money, because they made my case disappear completely."

Russio. It had to be Russio.
"Thank you for telling us this. I know it wasn't easy."

"If your sister is with him... get her away….please. Because the boy who attacked me? He wasn't sorry or remorseful. He was angry that I rejected him. And he wanted to make sure I paid for it."

"We'll do everything we can."

We left and sat in the car.

"We have it," Kayden said. "Proof that Grey is violent, that he attacked a girl who rejected him, that Russio helped cover it up."

"Now we just have to figure out how to use it."