The Memory Thief

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – “The Partner”

Det. Ruiz was waiting in Dorian’s apartment when they got back at 10:30 AM.

He sat on the edge of the kitchen counter, arms crossed, looking like he hadn’t slept in two days. His tie was loose. His shirt was wrinkled. There was a stain on his sleeve he hadn’t noticed. Or didn’t care about.

“I’m not supposed to be here,” Ruiz said. “Lin doesn’t trust me yet. But I trust you.”

Ruiz was 29, sharp, and pissed off. Four years on the force and he’d seen the system eat three good cops. He’d watched Internal Affairs bury cases for people with the right last names. He was done watching.

“I pulled Veyra’s financials,” Ruiz said. He slid a tablet across the table. The screen was cracked in the corner. “They’re moving money through twelve shell companies. All of them trace back to a holding group in Meridian Bay. Meridian Bay Holdings.”

Kael leaned forward. “Who owns it?”

Ruiz opened a photo.

A man in his fifties, expensive suit, smiling for a charity gala. Victor Kade.

“Victor Kade,” Ruiz said. “Elise Kade’s husband.”

Kael froze. The coffee in his hand went cold.

Elise. The first victim. The woman who didn’t know her husband. The woman who’d smiled for the cameras at a press conference about her husband’s charity work, not knowing he’d already erased ten years of her life.

Dorian read the files over Ruiz’s shoulder. “Elise was subpoenaed three weeks before she was erased. She was going to testify about Veyra’s offshore accounts. Forty million moved through the Caymans. She had emails. Receipts. Witness statements.”

Ruiz nodded. “And forty-eight hours after she filed, she forgot the last ten years. Convenient.”

Kael looked at the photo of Victor Kade. The man looked grieved at Elise’s press conference. He’d cried on camera. Real tears. Or good acting. Kael couldn’t tell anymore.

“He killed her mind,” Kael said quietly. “And then he cried for the cameras.”

Ruiz pulled up another file. “Victor Kade’s alibi checks out. He was in Geneva. But his driver was paid two hundred thousand two days before. Cash. Untraceable.”

Dorian whistled low. “Clean.”

Ruiz rubbed his eyes. “My brother was erased two years ago. Case closed as ‘psychotic break.’ No investigation. I found out last month it was Veyra. They paid the attending doctor fifty thousand.”

Kael looked at him. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I’m tired of being the guy who closes cases,” Ruiz said. “I want to be the guy who opens them. Even if it gets me killed.”

He laughed, but it wasn’t funny. It was the laugh of a man who’d already accepted the cost.

Kael wondered if he was using Ruiz’s grief the same way he’d used Mara’s. Was he just another person taking what he needed from someone else’s pain?

He hated that thought. But he couldn’t stop it. The Hollow was quiet, but it was listening.

Ruiz stood up. “I’m in. But if this goes south, I’m taking you both down with me.”

Dorian nodded. “Fair.”

They spent the next hour mapping Veyra’s shell companies. Meridian Bay Holdings. Northshore Consulting. Hollow Point Investments. The names got more obvious the deeper they went, like Thorne had stopped caring about being subtle.

Kael found a transfer for 1.2 million dated three days before Mara’s trial started.

“Memo: Consulting services,” Dorian read aloud. “Consulting for what? Jury tampering?”

Ruiz shook his head. “Witness interference. Cleaner than murder. Harder to prove.”

Kael stared at the screen until the numbers blurred.

Victor Kade had a house in Meridian Bay. A penthouse downtown. A yacht registered in the Caymans. And a wife who didn’t remember him.

“Where is he now?” Kael asked.

Ruiz pulled up a schedule. “Charity gala tonight. Meridian Bay Hotel. Memory wellness fundraiser.”

Dorian snorted. “Irony’s not dead.”

Kael closed the laptop. “Then we go to the gala.”

Ruiz looked at him. “You don’t have an invite.”

Kael smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll get one.”

They planned for three hours. Routes. Exits. Contingencies. Ruiz agreed to stay off the grid, to keep Internal Affairs off their backs for as long as possible.

When they were done, Ruiz stood at the door.

“If this works,” he said, “I owe you.”

Kael shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything.”

Ruiz left.

Dorian looked at Kael. “You good?”

Kael nodded. “I will be.”

They had a name. Victor Kade.

And now they had a way to get to him.