Chapter 148 The Web Tightens
Lucian's POV
The knock came at eleven forty-seven, sharp and deliberate against the apartment door. I'd been staring at the city lights through the window for the past hour, my wolf prowling restlessly beneath my skin.
Daniel stood in the hallway when I opened the door, his face drawn and pale under the corridor lighting. He clutched a worn briefcase against his chest like it contained something precious or dangerous, possibly both.
"Ash and Susan aren't here yet," I said, stepping aside to let him enter.
He didn't waste time with pleasantries. His hands shook slightly as he set the briefcase on my dining table and popped the latches, revealing yellowed documents stacked in careful order. "International Logistics shipping records and financial statements," he said quietly. "Everything I could access without triggering security protocols."
I moved closer, scanning the top sheet. Dates, warehouse codes, shipment manifests—all stamped with Sterling Pharmaceuticals' subsidiary logo. "Why now?" I asked. "What changed?"
Daniel's jaw tightened. "The board meeting this afternoon. I opposed Dominic's Mexico expansion proposal. After the meeting ended, he pulled me aside and suggested I take some time off to rest." He laughed bitterly. "That SUV that nearly killed me today wasn't an accident. Dominic sent those men to silence me."
I picked up another document, listing chemical compounds I recognized from my pharmaceutical research days. Military-grade sedatives. Experimental compounds that hadn't passed FDA approval. "These shipments aren't going to hospitals," I said slowly.
"No," Daniel confirmed. "Dominic's been using International Logistics as a front for years. Arms dealers, black market pharmaceutical distributors, anyone willing to pay premium prices." He leaned forward, voice dropping. "He's a criminal. And I helped him because I was too afraid to say no."
I continued flipping through documents, cataloging every detail. But something was missing. "These are damning, but incomplete. There's no paper trail connecting Dominic directly to the illegal shipments."
Daniel's shoulders sagged. "He's careful. Each person only knows their small piece. I handled logistics coordination, but the authorization documents went through other channels."
Before I could respond, footsteps thundered down the hallway. Susan rushed in, her face flushed, carrying a canvas bag clutched against her chest.
"I heard you and Daniel talking earlier," she said breathlessly. "I heard everything about the evidence you needed."
Daniel stood abruptly. "Susan, what did you do?"
She set the bag on the table with a heavy thud and unzipped it. Two laptop computers emerged first, both bearing Sterling Pharmaceuticals asset tags. Then file folders. Finally, an old flip phone.
"I took them from Dominic's home office," Susan said, voice trembling but gaze steady. "From his personal safe. The password was Ash's birthday." She swallowed hard. "Will this be enough? Enough to put him in prison? Because if it is, I want to negotiate for supervised visitation rights with Ash."
"You went into his office?" My voice came out sharper than intended. "Does he know these are missing?"
Susan's confidence wavered. "He was in the shower when I took them. I was careful—"
"Until he opens the safe," I finished grimly. "If Dominic discovers the theft before we can secure the evidence properly, he'll destroy everything and disappear. You need to return these immediately."
The color drained from Susan's face. "But I thought—"
"You thought you were helping. But if Dominic realizes they're gone, he'll burn every piece of evidence we haven't secured yet." I met her eyes directly. "Can you put them back without him noticing?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes. I can do that."
After Susan and Daniel left, I paced the apartment trying to organize the chaos of information. That's when I noticed it—the old flip phone Susan had pulled from the safe, now half-hidden behind the fruit basket on my kitchen counter. She must have forgotten it.
I picked it up carefully, the plastic case worn smooth from years of handling. The screen saver showed a blurry photo of a baby.
Ash appeared in the doorway. "Dinner's ready," he said, then noticed what I was holding. "What's that?"
"Something Susan left behind." I slipped it into my desk drawer. "Let's eat."
Dinner was quiet, both of us too preoccupied to make conversation. When we finished, Ash helped me clear the dishes before retreating to the living room.
I was putting away the last plate when I heard Ash's sharp intake of breath. I turned to find him standing frozen near my desk, the flip phone in his hands and his face pale with shock.
"I just wanted to see the baby photo," he said weakly. "The password was my birthday, so I thought—" He held up the phone, hands trembling. "Lucian, there's a video. You need to see this."
The video file was labeled only with a date: June 15, 2001. The day of Moira's car accident. The day my mother died.
I took the phone from Ash's shaking hands and pressed play. The footage showed an office I recognized—Dominic's private study. The camera angle suggested it had been placed on a high shelf, aimed down at the desk.
Dominic entered the frame carrying two crystal glasses and a decanter. He poured amber liquid into one glass, then reached into his desk drawer and withdrew a small vial. I watched him tip the vial's contents into the second glass, the clear liquid dissolving instantly into the whiskey.
A minute passed. Then Eleanor Sterling—Dominic's second wife, Julian's mother—entered the study. She was smiling, relaxed. Dominic gestured to the drugged glass. Eleanor picked it up without hesitation and drank.
The change wasn't immediate. Then her movements began to slow. Her gestures became sluggish and uncoordinated. She turned toward the door, her steps unsteady.
The timestamp read 2:37 PM. The accident report had listed the crash time as 3:15 PM. Thirty-eight minutes later.
My hands went numb. All I could see was Eleanor's drugged, stumbling walk toward her car. Toward the mountain road where her vehicle would lose control and plunge over the cliff.
Dominic had drugged her deliberately, knowing she would drive afterward, knowing the mountain roads were dangerous. He'd murdered his wife and made it look like an accident.
"Lucian?" Ash's hand on my arm pulled me back. "Your eyes—they're changing. You need to calm down."
I forced myself to breathe, to push down the rage threatening to tear through my control. Fenrir snarled inside my mind, demanding blood and vengeance.
My phone buzzed—Lily's name flashed on the screen.
"Lucian, Briar's missing!" Lily's voice was panicked. "She said she was meeting Vincent this afternoon but she never showed up. Her phone's going straight to voicemail."
The world tilted sideways. "When did you last hear from her?"
"Around two o'clock. She sent a message postponing the meeting. Eric tried calling her at three-thirty. Nothing. Owen checked her apartment—she's not there."
I dial Dominic's private number. After a shrill busy tone, it's directly disconnected.
Less than ten seconds later, an unknown number calls back—this is Dominic's usual tactic.
"Looking for me?" A low voice carries a hint of amusement.
I suppress my fury. "Briar and Daniel—are they with you?"
"What do you think?" Dominic sneers.
Golden light instantly explodes in my eyes. Fenrir roars madly within me, and my voice drops to a bestial growl: "Touch her and see what happens!"