Downstairs, in the wood-paneled study tucked into the west wing of the Lennox Estate, the air was crisp with purpose. The family lawyer opened his briefcase, sliding a stack of papers across the polished desk.
"We need to be precise," he said, voice smooth but firm. "The police will demand full access, but with the right leverage, we can limit their investigation. Keep them away from anything that could damage the family's reputation, or our assets."
Leo's jaw clenched as he nodded slowly. "The blood trail leads deep. If it's uncovered, the consequences won't stop at the estate."
Dash shifted slightly in his chair, fingers tapping the armrest nervously, but his eyes were sharp. "This family's wealth is our shield, and our sword. As the male heir," he added with a subtle nod toward Leo, who flinched but didn't respond, "I have to protect that. I told the police it was a mechanical accident. For now, it's holding."
The lawyer's gaze flickered. "Good. But prepare for a full forensic sweep. We'll bring in private experts who report exclusively to us. Control the investigation, or it controls you."
Leo's eyes darkened. "What about Maisie? She's been silent, barely leaving her room. And Gene... she's vanished. No one's heard from her since yesterday."
Dash's voice dropped. "Gene knows how to disappear when things get tight. She's gone off the grid, keeping her distance."
The lawyer's tone sharpened. "That's a liability. Money can buy a lot, but it can't buy silence when you don't know where your own are."
Leo leaned forward, voice low. "We'll keep Maisie grounded; she needs stability. As for Gene... we wait, watch, and hope."
The lawyer tapped his pen on the desk, eyes calculating. "The press is circling like vultures. One misstep and everything spills out, our money, our secrets."
Dash's jaw tightened with resolve. "We won't let that happen. Not on my watch."
The lawyer snapped his briefcase shut. "Good. I'll draft statements to control the narrative. We have the money and the means to buy time. Use it. That's our only advantage."
Leo's gaze hardened. "Then we fight from the shadows. Let them chase ghosts while we rebuild."
The lawyer paused, folding his hands atop the desk, his eyes moving around the room. "There's one unpredictable factor in all this: Igor."
Dash didn't answer right away. His fingers curled on the armrest, jaw tight. "He's not just some rogue servant. He was raised here, trained here. And he's not dumb. If he's loose, it's not an accident."
Leo leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "He's dangerous, yeah. But maybe not in the way we thought. He slipped past the cameras. Took out someone, maybe Harry, and vanished without a trace. That kind of precision? That's not rage. That's strategy."
The lawyer frowned. "Then he's even more dangerous than we assumed."
Dash shook his head. "Or… valuable."
Leo's eyes flicked to his brother, uncertain. "You mean... use him?"
"He knows things none of us do," Dash said, voice lower now, careful. "He was part of whatever Dad was doing behind closed doors. He knew about the labs, the experiments. Hell, he might even know why Dad was connected to the White Angels in the first place."
The lawyer's expression turned wary. "You're suggesting we let him run loose?"
"I'm suggesting we consider what he could uncover if we found him first and gave him reason to trust us," Dash said. "He's half-monster, but he was ours for years. Maybe he still is."
Leo's voice was soft, bitter. "And if he isn't?"
The lawyer didn't flinch. "Then he's leverage, or a liability. And if he exposes the estate, the labs, your father's involvement with the Angels… the fallout will be nuclear."
Dash didn't answer. He looked away, toward the darkened windows of the west wing.
For the first time since the murder, none of them was sure if Igor was a ghost of the past or the only path to the truth.
The silence that followed wasn't tactical; it was personal.
Dash leaned back in the leather chair, eyes fixed on the dark grain of the desk, like he could find absolution in the pattern. "Igor wasn't quiet because he was scared. He was quiet because he'd already survived worse. The mines did that to him before we ever laid eyes on him."
Leo exhaled slowly, the breath catching on something in his chest. "He was fifteen. But not like any fifteen-year-old I'd ever known. He came to us already hardened, already trained to obey, like muscle memory, like he didn't know there was another way."
Dash's gaze lowered. "We treated him like furniture. Worse than that, some days. He was a kid when he came here. Quiet, small. Never complained. I used to think that meant he didn't feel things the way we did."
Leo's jaw tensed. "He felt it. We just didn't want to see it."
The lawyer said nothing.
Dash stared across the room, eyes glassy. "Remember when I used to wake up screaming from the night terrors? Igor would just… show up. Sit outside my door. Never said a word. But he stayed. Every time."
Leo nodded once, distant. "And he fixed my bike. That old one I kept wrecking in the courtyard. Didn't tell me he was doing it. Just left it leaning perfectly against the shed every morning, like magic."
Dash's voice dropped, raw now. "We raised a weapon. But somewhere along the way, he became... more. And we never figured out how to live with that."
Leo stared at the desk for a long moment, then murmured, "Maybe this whole thing, the fire, the collar, Harry, it's not just him unraveling."
Dash met his brother's eyes. "Maybe it's all of us."
Dash pushed back from the desk first, the chair creaking beneath him. Leo stood slower, as if the gravity in the room hadn't quite released him yet.
"We should regroup with Gene," Dash said, voice tight but steady. "See if she found anything in the tunnels."
Leo nodded silently, already heading toward the door.
But the lawyer's voice halted them mid-step. "Wait. One last thing we forgot to discuss."
Dash turned, impatience flashing in his expression. "Can it wait?"
"It shouldn't." The lawyer leaned forward, voice lowering. "Marlow."
Leo stopped walking. "He's still missing."
"Not just missing," the lawyer said. "His quarters were stripped bare. Tools, documents, and a keycard are gone. And the panel to the old tunnel was forced. Someone's been using it."
Dash's jaw tightened. "You think he's helping Igor?"
"I think," the lawyer said carefully, "we don't know where Marlow's loyalties ever truly were."
Leo glanced back, brows furrowed. "He's worked here longer than any of us. Before Dad even took over the estate. I never knew the mansion without him being a servant here."
"Exactly," the lawyer said. "Marlow predates your father. Which means his allegiances go deeper than the Lennox name. He might've been working for something, someone else, this whole time."
Dash frowned. "You think he planted Igor?"
"I think Marlow knew exactly what Igor was. What he could become. And now, just when Igor breaks control, Marlow vanishes without a trace?" The lawyer paused, then added, "You're dealing with two ghosts. One with brute force, and one with the keys to your family's entire infrastructure."
Leo folded his arms. "And if Marlow's trying to clean up what he thinks went wrong... or pick up where someone else left off...?"
"Then you need to decide," the lawyer said, stepping around the desk, "whether you're going to keep treating this like a family affair, or what it is."
Dash met Leo's eyes. "A breach."
The lawyer's mouth twitched. "More like a coup."
He handed Dash a sealed folder.
Unlabeled. Thick.
Dash stared at it but didn't open it. "What's this?"
"Something your father never wanted you to read," the lawyer said. "But if Marlow's made his move, you'll want to understand exactly what he may be after."
Leo took a step forward. "So what's the play if we find him?"
The lawyer met his gaze. "You don't let him vanish again."
Dash flipped the folder in his hands, the weight of it unfamiliar, like it might burn through his palms if he held it too long.
Leo didn't look at it. His focus had turned elsewhere, eyes narrowing toward the window where sunlight cut across the floor like a blade.
"We still haven't heard from Gene," Leo said, low.
Dash nodded, distracted. "She's gone dark since the tunnels."
The lawyer crossed his arms. "On purpose?"
"I don't think so," Dash muttered. "But it's hard to tell with her."
"She's smart," Leo added. "Too smart to vanish without backup unless something went wrong."
The lawyer raised an eyebrow. "Do you know where she'd go?"
Silence.
Leo frowned. "Even her comm signal dropped after the first transmission last night. No pings since."
The lawyer gave a short sigh. "Then she either doesn't want to be found…"
"…or she can't be," Dash finished, the line landing heavy between them.
Leo exhaled through his nose, jaw tight. "And if she's in the tunnels, and Marlow's down there too…"
Dash didn't reply.
He only looked back at the folder and opened it.