“Did anyone tell you to damage the vehicle?” Price asked.

“No.”

“Did you plan to?”

He hesitated. “I thought about scratching it. I wanted him mad. But I didn’t.”

Price made a note.

“Why are you telling us now?”

Logan studied the table.

“Because my dad knew who he was. He used my mom to make a scene. He used me to make him look dangerous. And when it went wrong, he told us we were protecting the family.”

He swallowed.

“I don’t think he means us when he says family anymore. I think he means his money.”

Price did not congratulate him. Coming forward mattered; it did not erase his harassment or the false video that had harmed Elijah’s reputation.

She told him exactly that.

For once, Logan accepted an answer he did not like.

CHAPTER 20: THE LAST ATTEMPT

The attempt to move the other Mustang came on a rainy Tuesday, two days before the scheduled auction date. Investigators had already instructed the auction house to preserve the vehicle and its paperwork. Gregory’s attorney had been informed of the dispute. Yet a transporter arrived at the facility with instructions purporting to come from a Lakeview authorized representative, requesting the car for “urgent mechanical work.”

The authorization was false.

The auction manager called Detective Price before allowing the gates to open. She and two investigators arrived while the transporter waited in a loading bay. The driver, who had been hired through an online dispatch service, appeared genuinely confused. He showed them the order on his tablet. It contained a digital signature from someone whose account had been compromised.

Price asked the driver to wait while they verified it.

Ten minutes later, security footage showed a man in a baseball cap approaching the storage office from the side entrance. He had no business there. When staff challenged him, he left quickly and walked toward a dark sedan parked beyond the fence.

An investigator obtained the plate number and notified the nearby units. The sedan was located a short distance away. Its driver was an employee of a company that had received payments from Gregory’s office. A later search, conducted under warrant, produced messages about removing documents and changing the auction vehicle’s storage location.

The effort failed.

With the second car secured and the chain of communications intact, investigators had enough to seek arrest warrants related to the suspected forgery and attempted vehicle fraud.