James and Katherine both looked at her.
Olivia sat up.
“What?”
Katherine said:
“Say that again.”
She did.
James looked at Katherine.
“Mason kept offering to buy.”
Katherine's pulse quickened.
“If they knew the key was hidden…”
“They needed the car.”
“Not just broken.”
“Transferred.”
“To Mason.”
James nodded.
Katherine stood.
Her mind accelerated.
“My father hid the key before the last restoration.”
“If Adrian knew Robert had records outside company systems but not where—”
“The Ferrari could be the link.”
“Mason services it.”
“Searches.”
“Doesn't find key.”
“So they need possession longer.”
“Or permanent.”
Katherine looked toward James.
“Mason offered to buy it before the car stopped running.”
James froze.
“What?”
She pulled up old messages.
There.
Six weeks after Robert's funeral.
Before any engine trouble.
Mason:
If you ever consider releasing the 275, I have a collector ready. Your father mentioned downsizing his historic cars before he passed.
Katherine whispered:
“He lied.”
“Your father wouldn't have said that?”
“Never.”
“The Ferrari was the last thing he'd sell.”
James looked toward the repair records.
“So Mason wanted car before he sabotaged it.”
“And when I refused…”
“He made ownership painful.”
Katherine closed her eyes.
James moved closer.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She opened them.
“What?”
“People always say they're fine when they're clearly not.”
“It's useless.”
She almost smiled.
Then his hand touched hers.
Not seductive.
Steady.
Katherine looked down.
His fingers were rough.
Scar across one knuckle.
Grease remained beneath one nail despite washing.
Nothing polished.
Nothing strategic.
She turned her hand beneath his.
Their palms met.
James looked at her.
Olivia snored loudly from sofa.
They both laughed softly.
James whispered:
“Terrible timing.”
Katherine leaned closer.
“Story of my life.”
He kissed her.
Brief.
Careful.
Adult enough to know what it meant.
Cautious enough to know what it could complicate.
Katherine kissed him again.
Less careful.
Then Olivia shifted.
James stepped back.
Katherine whispered:
“Coward.”
“Father.”
“Same thing tonight.”
He smiled.
“Finish the case, CEO.”
She stared at him.
“Fix the car, mechanic.”
“Deal.”
The forensic audit lasted twelve days.
It uncovered twenty-one million dollars in questionable supplier payments over six years.
Not all theft.
Some legitimate but obscured through complex vendor structures.
Others indefensible.
Adrian Cross approved eleven of the largest transactions.
Mason Cross's entities received direct or indirect payments totaling 4.8 million.
The Ferrari restoration invoices were tiny compared with corporate fraud.
But they connected the same network.
Daniel Cho prepared documents.
Outside investigators were retained.
Board chair notified.
Katherine refused to confront Adrian until evidence preservation was complete.
James worked on the Ferrari meanwhile.
He returned every deliberately altered component to proper specification using verified period-correct parts.