THE HEIR'S REVENGE

chapter 21

“I don't think so too because I checked and confirmed that he wasn't doing any official review.” Brandon nodded. “I was near the north gate last afternoon when I saw him. The man looked professional and detailed. I got a picture.”

I looked at Brandon. He is becoming more useful to me these days.

I looked at the photograph.

The man was talking to someone in the Campus uniform. He had medium height, had a solid build and had a stillness about him.

He was the kind of person that has been trained to keep their body quiet, he was probably a former police officer or in the military.

“Send the picture to me.” I told Brandon.

I felt my phone buzz. Brandon had sent the pictures immediately.

“Thanks for this, I'll work on this..”

“You don't have to. I have already had two people watching from the main gates since Saturday morning.” I didn't stop glaring at him. “Don't worry, you don't have to worry. These are people who are opening me favours. They know his face.”

I didn't stop glaring at the man who a month ago was the person making my life difficult on campus. He literally made my life miserable now he was supporting me?

He was quietly running a surveillance operation for my sake even when I didn't ask him to do that.

"Thank you," I said, truly grateful that I finally had people around me who wanted to support me but still, I need to be careful.

People aren't to be trusted so easily.

He accepted my thanks with a nod and then walked in with me towards the lecture hall.

I sent the photograph to Henry at quarter to twelve that morning as soon as I got to the lecture hall, discovering that the lecturer was here.

I had explained with a voice note that the photograph was the picture of the next person who was asking about me.

The rest of the day was smooth. I had a phone call with Gerald Thompson about the east district property deal. Gerald said to the legal team.

I gave him the go-ahead ahead order to proceed. After the call, I went down to the coffee shop near the campus to have some coffee.

My phone rang at exactly six in the evening.

Henry.

“Tell me.”

“The man in the photograph is called Raymond Doyle.” His voice was flat, the way he sounded when the Information he wanted to give was really serious. “He's thirty-four four years old and used to be a police officer.”

He paused.

“He had resigned from the force six years ago but before then they held a disciplinary investigation before he left. The investigation was about him sharing information with a private organisation.”

“Go on.”

“The investigation was closed because he resigned.”

“So no one proved if he did it or not.”

“Yes. After he left the police, he worked as a private contractor, he did background research. His clients are private and are not on record.”

I waited. It just seemed like I knew where this was leading to.

“However I was able to trace two previous contracts he has worked through a company called Verity Advisory Services." Henry continued.

I still said nothing.

“Verity Advisory Services belongs somehow to the Vane family trust.”

The Vane Family. It was Victoria's family because her maiden name was Vane and her father was the one who funded Marcus Pierce's business. It was also this same family that was connected to Curtis's scholarship.

It was still Victoria.

Raymond Dayle worked for Victoria Pierce but not directly of course. Victoria was smarter than that. She knew she could be caught if did anything with these people directly.

“She's still trying so hard to find your address.

"Yes. From what it seemed like, she has your campus location, your approximate schedule and your vehicle description.” Henry breathed. “From his experience of being in the task force, he is more capable than Curtis Aldridge.”

I nodded.

I was not going to do anything dangerous to him. I just wanted him to be followed so we could get to the root of

this matter.

There was a pause. “You do not want us to approach him?” Henry seemed a bit taken aback. He had expected that I'd want to use the same strategy as I used with Curtis who wasn't a former member of the police

"Yes. He has your campus location, your approximate schedule, your vehicle description. The residential address is the one piece he's still missing." Henry's voice was careful. "He is more capable than Curtis Aldridge. He won't be deterred with a simple conversation."

"I'm not going to deter him," I said. "Not yet. I want him to follow. I want to know where he goes, who he talks to, where he sends his reports. I want to watch the whole chain operating before I touch any part of it."

There was a short pause. "That means letting him continue approaching people near you in the meantime."

"Yes. And if he escalates, that tells us something too." I looked out the window of the coffee shop on the ordinary street outside. "Can you get someone watching him tonight?"

"I already do," Henry said simply. "From the moment I confirmed the name."

Of course he did.

"One thing I want you to keep in mind, young master," Henry added. "The connection between Doyle and the Vane trust is very strong. In my judgment it almost certainly leads back to Victoria. But it is still not a direct line. Her name is still not on anything."

"I know," I said. "We keep building."

"We keep building," he agreed.

I ended the call and sat quietly for a minute.

I thought about every piece laid out in my mind like items on a table.

Raymond Doyle asking questions at my campus gates. The rental car passed through Marcus's accountant's neighbourhood four times. The same car drove past the Pierce house after the kidnapping failed. The number with no name. Curtis's scholarship is tied to the Vane family money. The woman at the school gate who knew Lily's full name and Mrs. Park's name and exactly what time collection happened every day.

Every single piece pointed at the same person.

A woman who had been destroying things quietly for twenty years and had never once had her name attached to any of it.

I didn't have her name on paper yet.

But I had Doyle.

And by morning I would know every move he made, every person he spoke to, and exactly where the chain led.

The walls were closing in around Victoria Pierce.

She just didn't know it yet.