Chapter 11 - Colin Sykes
Colin Sykes had spent twenty-three years learning how to appear forgettable.
Gray suit.
Gray hair.
Quiet voice.
He had been a police officer before entering corporate security.
Employees trusted him with stolen laptops, threats, background checks and sensitive investigations.
Gregory trusted him with more.
Nicole remembered seeing Colin at Raymond’s funeral.
He had stood near the back.
Watching.
Not grieving.
When she searched old photographs, she found him at Charles Archer’s funeral too.
Always at the edge of the frame.
“Do not confront him,” Margaret warned.
Nicole had no intention of confronting anyone.
Instead she called Lena Cho.
The controller answered cautiously.
“Nicole?”
“I need to ask you something.”
“If this is about the company, Gregory told everyone to route questions through legal.”
“It’s about Northstar.”
Silence.
Nicole closed her eyes.
“You know what it is.”
“I know the name.”
“How?”
“I process reports.”
“Did you move money into it?”
“I processed transfers authorized above me.”
“By Gregory?”
Lena did not answer.
“Lena.”
“I have children.”
“So do I.”
“That is exactly why I’m not discussing this on the phone.”
Nicole looked at Margaret.
“Meet me.”
“No.”
“Please.”
Another long pause.
Then Lena gave an address.
A public library.
Forty minutes later they sat opposite each other at a table near the children’s section.
Lena looked exhausted.
“I started copying records six months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because the numbers stopped balancing.”
“Did you tell Gregory?”
“I asked questions.”
“What happened?”
“He promoted me.”
Nicole frowned.
Lena laughed humorlessly.
“That frightened me more than being fired.”
“Did you know Elias Vance?”
“No.”
“Raymond?”
“Raymond came to me three weeks ago.”
Nicole leaned forward.
“He did?”
“He asked whether Gregory controlled Northstar.”
“What did you say?”
“That Gregory authorized transactions.”
“Did you know my father created it?”
Lena blinked.
“No.”
Nicole believed her.
“Who is Colin Sykes?”
Lena’s face changed.
“Security.”
“More than that?”
“I don’t know.”
“His initials are on an Alder Ridge projection.”
Lena looked toward the library entrance.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you.”
Lena lowered her voice.
“A year ago Gregory asked me to backdate a valuation.”
“For Alder Ridge?”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Colin came to my office the next morning.”
Nicole felt cold.
“What did he say?”
“That company loyalty was important when jobs depended on stability.”
“A threat.”
“He never threatened me directly.”
“The best threats don’t sound like threats.”
Lena nodded.
“After that I copied everything.”
“Where?”
“Not at home.”
“Can police get it?”
“When I know who I can trust.”
Nicole nearly laughed.
“Welcome to the problem.”
At the Hart home, Gregory sat alone in his study.
Colin Sykes stood near the fireplace.
“She stopped the cremation,” Colin said.
Gregory poured a drink.
“I know.”
“She met Sloan.”
“I know.”
“And your tracker put her at Briar Road.”
Gregory stared.
“Did you see Raymond?”
“No.”
“Then we still don’t know.”
“Your daughter said she saw him.”
“My daughter is six.”
Colin’s mouth tightened.
“You believed her enough to call me.”
Gregory looked away.
Colin approached.
“If Raymond survived, we have a problem.”
“We?”
“You called me.”
“I asked you to recover documents.”
Colin stared at him.
“That isn’t what you asked.”
Gregory’s expression hardened.
“Be careful.”
Colin smiled without warmth.
“So should you.”
For the first time, Gregory appeared to understand that the man he had hired to protect his secrets had become one of them.
That night Nicole returned briefly to the house with Margaret’s security consultant.
She wanted clothes.
Emma’s medication.
Documents.
Gregory was gone.
In his study, Nicole did not search drawers.
She knew that could create legal complications.
But she noticed something on the desk.
A photograph.
Their wedding.
Nicole and Gregory smiling beneath summer flowers.
Raymond beside them.
Charles Archer behind them.
Colin Sykes at the edge.
Nicole picked up the frame.
Something was written on the back.
In Charles’s handwriting.
Gregory—
Family survives because someone is willing to do what the others cannot.
Nicole stared at the words.
Her father had not merely tolerated Gregory.
May you like
He had chosen him.
And whatever darkness now surrounded the Archer family had begun long before Raymond’s funeral.
