Chapter 4

April Acevedo POV:

Harman left, sprinting to his car like a hero rushing to a damsel in distress. I didn't watch him go. I turned and walked into my office, the sanctum where I had built his kingdom. The air was cool and still, smelling of old books and fresh ink. For the first time in hours, I could breathe.

He thought I was going to fix his problem. The fool. A strategist doesn't just solve a problem; she analyzes the entire battlefield. She identifies the assets, the liabilities, and the optimal path to victory. My objective had simply changed.

I sat down at my desk, the leather of my chair cool against my skin, and pulled up the encrypted files for the Sandoval Mayoral Campaign. My files. I bypassed Harman' s limited-access credentials with a password he didn' t know I had: LEO1988. My brother' s name and birth year. A small, bitter tribute.

There it was. The shell company, 'K.W. Solutions.' The audacity was breathtaking. He funneled over two hundred thousand dollars in illegal corporate donations through it. And the signatory, the sole officer listed on the incorporation documents, was Kennedy Ann Williamson.

My fingers flew across the keyboard. I wasn't covering tracks; I was illuminating them, downloading every transaction, every wire transfer, every falsified invoice. I was building a case, not a defense. The architecture of his downfall had to be as meticulous as the architecture of his rise.

And then I found it.

Tucked away in a sub-folder labeled 'Contingencies' was a separate account. A private one, not tied to the campaign. It showed a series of transfers from the shell company into this account. Small amounts at first, then larger. A total of fifty thousand dollars. And then, a draft of a contract. A lease agreement for a high-end condo downtown and a one-page document promising a 'severance package' of an additional hundred thousand dollars.

The beneficiary of this arrangement? Kennedy Williamson. The contract was dated for the day after the election.

He wasn't just using her to launder money. He was paying her off. He had created an escape hatch. He was planning to cut her loose the second he secured the mayor's office, tossing her some hush money and leaving her to face the potential legal fallout alone. He was betraying his mistress just as callously as he was betraying his wife.

A cold, vicious smile touched my lips. This was perfect. This was the weapon I needed. Harman' s weakness wasn't just his ego; it was his belief that everyone was as disposable as he was. He saw people as pawns. He never considered that a pawn, when properly motivated, could checkmate a king.

My phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number.

'Is this April Acevedo?'

I hesitated for a moment, then typed back a single letter. 'Y.'

'This is Dale Watson. Kennedy's brother. She's in trouble, and she gave me your number. Said you were the only one who could help.'

My mind raced. Kennedy gave him my number? Why? Was it a trap? A desperate plea? Or had Harman, in his panic, told her to call me?

'Harman is on his way to the precinct,' I typed. 'He has his lawyers.'

The reply was almost instantaneous. 'His lawyers are for him, not for her. They won't even talk to me. They told me to stay away. Please. She thinks you can fix this.'

The pieces clicked into place. Harman' s lawyers were isolating Kennedy, positioning her to be the designated scapegoat. Harman was probably feeding her lies right now, telling her to trust him, that he would handle everything.

And Kennedy, terrified and naive, had made a desperate move. She had sent her brother to me. The enemy. Because deep down, she knew who the real power was. She knew who built things and who broke them.

This was my opening.

I didn't need a proxy. I had a direct line.

My fingers moved with cold, calculated precision. 'Tell Kennedy this: Harman Sandoval put her name on a legal document that carries a sentence of up to five years in federal prison. His lawyers work for him, not for her. He is setting her up to take the fall.'

I paused, letting the weight of that sink in. Then I added the finishing touch.

'I have proof he was planning to pay her off and abandon her after the election. If she wants to see it, tell her to be at the cafe on Morrison Bridge at 6 a.m. tomorrow. Alone.'

I hit send.

The seed was planted. Not a seed of doubt, but a seed of pure, unadulterated terror. Kennedy thought she was in a romance. I was about to show her she was just a co-conspirator in a crime she didn't even understand.

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