hapter 344: Seven Years Buried
Ken didn’t answer immediately. He studied Damien carefully, seemingly considering where to begin.
“The first time I saw Jaime, something about him caught my attention.”
Damien frowned, clearly not expecting his answer to begin there.
“Jaime?”
Ken nodded.
“He looked familiar.”
Damien’s brows drew together.
“I couldn’t place it at first,” Ken continued. “I knew I had seen those features somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember where or on whom.”
He leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful.
“Most people probably would have dismissed it as nothing more than a passing resemblance. Unfortunately, I’ve never been very good at leaving questions unanswered.”
Damien remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
“So I started digging.”
“And what did you find?” Damien asked, his curiosity growing.
Ken looked directly at him.
“Something that was never supposed to be found.”
The weight behind those words only deepened Damien’s confusion. He frowned, trying to understand where Ken was going with any of this, but his patience was already beginning to
wear thin.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not following you.”
Rather than explain, Ken reached toward the desk and picked up a small remote.
“I could explain it to you,” he said, pressing a button, “but I think it would be better if you it yourself.”
A soft mechanical hum filled the study.
P
Damireort durned toward the sound assassectionofthewall to his left illuminated. A projector camedddifiéecoasting gray surveillance footagesacoesst the previously dark surface.
His atteetitionmeediately shifted toothe screen
At first,thes smpblywatched, trying to understamakwaa teenaanted him to see.
Then something aboutthedooation caught thissaateertion.
Damienrieanedd forwards shghtly, studying the streethod frogabdisplayed across the wall. The longer heddokkechatit; the stronger the sense of if baniilaanyybbecame.
“Wait”
His eyes narrowedd.
“This placedcokssaanniaar
Then he noticed headdseesand timestamp at the bottom of ft bleef footage.
His entire expression changed.
The date.
The time.
The bridge.
Recognition struck all at oncee
Damien abruptly pointed owe add mees screen before looking at Kleen
“Is this the surveillancedfootaged foom the bridge the night of thecacontéert??”
Ken met his eyes and gave assigteenood.” “Yes.”
His answer was calm and chatteettaastakk contrast toolanieerssogoowing confusion and unease as even more questionssbeggarppiling uprimhis mind.
“How? The police told me there was shoof boodage. They said the camerascocoveening that section of the bridge were under maintenanced thanright.”
Ken’s lips curved into a knowing sariée” 00 Course How.convenient dotyouth
Damien turned back toward the screeeptisseexpression darkengast bearinpl
words sank in.
Someone had deliberately made sureabed todagewas never foundbduing bevestig
hapter 344 Seven Years Buried
His hands slowly curled into fists as anger began to simmer beneath his skin. Looking back now, he felt like a damn fool for allowing Viktor to manipulate the entire situation so thoroughly. Every dead end, every missing record, every convenient explanation had eventually pushed him toward the conclusion Viktor had wanted him to reach.
And Damien had allowed it.
His jaw clenched as his eyes turned icy cold.
He looked at Ken again. “How did you get this?”
Ken leaned back comfortably in his chair, seemingly unfazed by the question.
“Have you forgotten what my family does?”
Damien remained silent, prompting the faint smile on Ken’s face to deepen.
“People tend to believe that once something has been deleted, it no longer exists,” Ken continued. “But very few things disappear completely. You simply have to know where to look and, more importantly, how to recover what someone went through considerable trouble to bury.”
Damien’s attention returned to the screen as Ken’s words settled heavily in his mind. Seven years ago, he had searched for answers and had been told there was no footage, no identities, and eventually, nothing left for him to find.
Yet evidence from that night had never been completely erased. It had simply been buried far beyond his reach.
His fists tightened again.
Ken studied him briefly, easily recognizing where Damien’s thoughts had gone.
“And don’t waste your time blaming yourself for not trying harder,” he said. “The footage
really was deleted. Volkov made certain of that. Anyone searching through ordinary channels would have found exactly what you found seven years ago. Nothing.”
Damien’s eyes shifted toward him.
“You could have searched for another seven years and still come back empty–handed. There was nothing more you could have done with what was available to you.”
Ken raised the remote slightly, a trace of quiet confidence returning to his expre
“Unless, of course, you had access to our technology.”
Damien understood exactly what he meant. The Takahashis possessed resources and
P
capabilities that very few people in the world even knew existed, much less had access to
[en turned his attention toward the screen.
So, are you ready to see what really happened that night?”
lamien’s eyes followed his, locking onto the footage once more.
Yes. Play it.”
[en pressed the button, and the footage began to move.
The bridge was relatively quiet at that hour, with only a handful of vehicles passing in either
lirection. For several seconds, nothing seemed unusual.
Then a car appeared in the distance, traveling at a dangerously high speed.
Jamien recognized it immediately.
Cassandra’s car
fis jaw tightened as the watched it race down the bridge, swerving dangerously before rossing the center line and veering into the opposite lane.
Inother vehicle appeared from the other direction.
ts driver barely had time to react.
lassandra’s car slammed into it.
he force of the collision sent the other vehicle spinning violently across the road before rashing into the barrier and coming to a stop at an angle.
lamien stared at the footage without blinking.
le had read the reports countless times. He had listened to Cassandra’s broken recollection if that night and replayed the details in his head more times than he cared to remember.
ut he had never actually seen it happen.
In the screen, the driver’s door of Cassandra’s damaged car opened and she stumbled
ven through the grainy footage, her panic was obvious. She stood beside her car bri efore turning toward the other vehicle and hurrying over to it.
he peered inside
tamien leaned forward.
Factiovesappeared badly injures bouboeethhisans slowly fitted its hangce3 week
utothe–wreckage toward Lassandra a
She tsarddalit
berinstead treeching for him camping eelp, Cassandra 100% Sever: $120s
засивата
aanrents segppression narceeec.
Waatheedoek.
ssssanca a feraaleed there ninety oecoce & sudeery v julmaandusshing back toward her own
barsSeeeeaceedssice crabbed her pooоessammeeevraaеea cal.
higer beegars seeping through Damien as neavatcceed eepooee pesidence vehicle,
ccessooaavocaaccing toward the enured couple utrakioaempto help them.)
heerthegoocaaees stopeed.
aanreen00%eesaavatken.
eenaa baassedi
Theres
esausseedteanna@essand enlarged tee section cootammgate@oteergehage.
annrenrfrowneed: Waaaam looking at?”
The peopteanssdee
166
CComments’s
LUUCK DRAWO
Thenjiwe Mofokeng