Chapter 58
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
The silence following Mark’s statement lasted several seconds. None of us moved or said anything now that it was definitely confirmed that motherfucker had everything to do with this.
Jim broke the silence. “So, Christian Jameston hired investigators?”
Mark nodded once. “Several of them, actually.”
Wyatt laughed. “That fucker spent money to investigate Titus?”
“He spent a lot of money investigating Titus.”
Spencer glanced over at Mark. “How much?”
“Millions.” Mark reached for his drink. “The European forensic investigator he reached out to was a man I met three years ago. I’d helped him with a marina acquisition in Greece.” Mark shrugged. “We’ve stayed in touch.”
“How did you know he knew anything about this?” Colton asked.
“Because when we were having drinks four or five months ago, he was venting to me about this.” Mark looked around the table. “He thought something was off about this particular client who reached out to him.”
Jim folded his arms. “What exactly was strange to him?”
“Well, when he was hired by this private client,” he said.
“Christian,” Spencer answered, glancing down at the documents, then back at Mark.
“He found it odd that Christian didn’t contact him directly,” Mark said. “He used attorneys, consultants, and corporate intermediaries.”
“To remain anonymous,” I added.
Mark nodded, “Exactly. The man found that strange. He wanted to know exactly who he was working for, and…”
“The dipshit honestly didn’t think a forensic investigator would find out who the anonymous person was?” I said with a laugh.
Mark mirrored my humor. “I’m starting to see how you captured the heart of my good friend, Ms. Veléz,” he nodded. “You’re exactly right. That’s why there’s documentation in there showing Christian is behind this.”
“How’d he uncover it was Jameston?” Colton questioned.
“The money left a bank account trail that eventually led back to Jameston’s interests.”
“What exactly was Christian looking for?” I asked.
Mark laughed. “Leverage. He wanted dirt on Titus.”
“What the fuck did my brother ever do to that bastard?” Wyatt questioned.
Mark shrugged. “Who fucking knows,” he said. “But from that file, you’ll see he was virtually obsessed with destroying him professionally and financially.”
“The first night he approached Titus,” Jim said, “it seemed Christian had some personal challenge to compete with him.”
“My brother didn’t like the vibe he got from him,” Wyatt said. “It was as if the man wanted to settle a score Titus knew nothing about.”
“That’s when he wanted to get inside with the Jamestons,” Jim said.
“The strange thing,” Spencer said, “Jim had men inside that group monitoring everything, and now it makes sense why no one found anything...”
“The fucker was months ahead of us already,” Jim concluded. “Jesus Christ.”
“Well, everything is in that file,” Mark said, pointing to it. “Ownership records, historical transactions, dormant entities, and anything else Herbert Hawk ever touched.”
Spencer looked up. “Why the fuck spend all that money, time and energy on this shit, though?”
“Because Christian was convinced there had to be something,” Sebastian said.
“Men like him consume themselves with this kind of bullshit. They spend so much time envying what other people have that they convince themselves there must be a secret behind it. Meanwhile, most of us are too busy running our companies to care.”
“The pricks out there who can’t accept losing always seem to make it their mission to take down the ones who actually have it figured out,” Jim added. “Fucking unreal.”
“What else was found?” Colton asked.
“Well,” Mark continued, “the investigators started uncovering old entities. Dormant companies, shell corporations, and ownership structures.”
If I never hear those words again, it will be too soon.
“At first, they thought it was nothing,” Mark said, “but as you flip through those pages, you’ll discover that all the earliest records are by Herbert Hawk.”
“Fucking hell,” Colton said, flipping through the pages. “It’s all right here.”
“Exactly,” Mark said, pointing toward the file. “Everything starts with Herbert Hawk, not Titus, Wyatt, or Colton.”
“How about any current executives?” Colton said.
“Nothing in there is current. Titus restructured the entire company after that,” Mark answered.
“Your brother was a man on a goddamn mission when it came to removing the stain your father left when he took over,” Sebastian asked Colton and Wyatt.
“First thing he did,” Wyatt nodded.
“So, yeah,” Mark folded his arms. “The entire trail began decades before Titus ever became CEO.”
“Then how did this end with Titus being arrested?” I questioned.
“Because Christian got greedy and kept pushing, digging, and paying.” Mark’s expression hardened. “The investigators eventually found enough inconsistencies to alert regulators.”
Jim’s jaw tightened. “After that?”
“Where it’s at today,” Mark shrugged. “It stopped being Christian’s investigation and is now the government’s.”
“And the second regulators became involved,” Sebastian added. “Nobody controlled what happened next. Not even Christian.”
Spencer slowly closed the file. “What about proof that Titus didn’t know? That’s the only thing keeping him held.”
“That’s what we need to bring to the attorneys, and they can bring to the feds.”
Spencer leaned forward. “That’s the sole reason he’s still in detention.”
For the first time all evening, Mark smiled. “You’ve been asking the wrong question.”
Mark reached into the file and pulled out another stack of documents. He slid them across the table.
“What is this?” Jim asked.
Mark nodded toward the pages. “Corporate restructuring records.”
Spencer’s eyes moved down the first page. “Jesus...” He paused while flipping through pages.
“What?” Wyatt said, reaching to pull the file toward him.
“Titus dismantled them,” Spencer said. “It’s all documented.”
“Why don’t the feds have those goddamn files?” Colton said. “If they did, my brother wouldn’t be in jail right now.”
“That’s the question I don’t have the answer to,” Mark said.
“Because they weren’t looking for evidence that would help Titus,” Sebastian said. “They were only looking for evidence to build their case.”
Spencer pointed to the records. “Titus started dismantling this shit shortly after he took over.”
Jim reached for the documents. “Right here is proof that Titus shut down three of Herbert’s shell structures. Then he consolidated assets.”
Wyatt picked up a paper. “This shows where he forced ownership disclosures and ordered internal audits.”
I looked between them. “What does that mean?”
“Titus spent years unknowingly cleaning up his father’s mess,” Sebastian said. “It’s officially documented in those papers.”
“They obviously arrested the wrong Hawk,” Jim said. “Jesus Christ.”
Spencer looked up. “So, this is a track record of what he knew about his father’s shady deals…
” He stopped, shaking his head. “Shit. This isn’t just a record of what Titus knew,” his eyes roamed back over the documents, “it’s a record of what he did every time he found something Herbert hid. ” He looked up. “He destroyed it.”
Sebastian looked around the table. “Exactly. Think about it. If Titus knew about the hidden entities currently under investigation,” he tapped the records, “why would he spend years dismantling every other hidden structure he found?”
“Right,” Mark said. “His behavior since taking over the company is the evidence.”
Sebastian nodded. “These investigators found records showing Titus repeatedly eliminated structures tied to Herbert’s era.”
“And now? It’s time we turn this whole damn file over to the attorneys to make their case and present it to the feds and get him the fuck out of there,” Wyatt said.
Colton picked up his phone and said, “I’m calling the attorneys right now.”