Chapter 5: Last Warning
Cameron showed Natalie the message without saying anything.
She read it.
Read it again.
"Logan," she said.
"Probably."
"Forward it to Grace."
He already had.
Grace called back forty seconds later.
"I saw it," she said.
"Screenshot it, don't delete it, and don't respond.
That message just became evidence of attempted intimidation.
If it came from Logan's number, we'll know by morning.
If it came from a burner, that tells us something too."
"What does it tell us?" Cameron asked.
"That he's scared.
Scared people make mistakes." A pause.
"I'll be at your house at eight instead of calling.
Don't open any other messages from unknown numbers tonight."
She ended the call.
Natalie was already pulling on her coat.
"I want to go home," she said.
They drove in silence for most of the way north toward Buckhead.
The city moved past the windows — late traffic, lit storefronts, the long stretch of Peachtree Road emptying out as they climbed toward the quieter neighborhoods.
Melissa had offered to come.
Natalie had told her to go home and lock her door.
At a red light on Roswell Road, Natalie said, "How long has Grace known?"
"About the forgery?
Three weeks.
She wanted to be certain before she said anything."
"And the text tonight — do you think that was Logan watching the party?
Or someone else?"
"I don't know."
"The three signatories he mentioned."
"Yes."
"If one of them sent that message—"
"Then Logan isn't working alone," Cameron said.
"Which is what Grace has suspected since she found the Pruitt connection."
Natalie turned toward the window.
"Darnell Pruitt," she said.
"Who is he, really?"
"Property developer.
Two civil suits in the last five years, both settled quietly.
One involved a construction contract dispute.
The other was a fraud allegation that was dropped before discovery."
"Dropped why?"
"The plaintiff withdrew.
Grace thinks he was paid to withdraw."
"So Pruitt has done this before."
"A version of it."
The light changed.
Cameron drove.
"And Logan found him," Natalie said.
"Or Pruitt found Logan."
"Grace thinks Pruitt found Logan.
Logan had the access — a wife with a joint account, a social circle with money, a marriage that looked stable from the outside.
Pruitt provided the infrastructure.
The shell company.
The notary.
The routing."
Natalie was quiet for a long moment.
"I introduced Logan to half the people at that party," she said.
"My colleagues.
My neighbors.
People who trust me."
Cameron said nothing.
"If Pruitt used my name on that company and Logan used my connections — how many other people were they planning to approach?"
"That's what Grace needs to determine."
They pulled into the driveway.
The house was dark except for the front porch light.
Natalie didn't get out immediately.
"Cameron." She was looking straight ahead through the windshield.
"When you first found the transfers.
Fourteen months ago.
What did you think?"
He turned off the engine.
"I thought you were having an affair," he said.
"That was the first thing.
Then I looked at the numbers and I thought — this is more organized than an affair.
This has structure.
Someone planned this."
"And then?"
"And then I hired a forensic accountant.
Quietly.
And I started watching."
"Watching me."
"Watching the money.
And yes — watching you.
For any sign that you knew."
She finally turned to look at him.
"Did you find one?"
"No," he said.
"Not once.
In fourteen months."
She held his gaze for a moment.
Then she opened the car door and went inside.
Cameron sat in the driveway for another minute.
His phone buzzed again.
Same unknown number.
This time, no words.
Just a photograph.
It was the front of their house.
Taken from the street.
Tonight.
The porch light was on in the image.
May you like
The timestamp in the corner read 11:14 p.m.
They had pulled into the driveway at 11:09.
