Chapter 163: Owen Price

Owen Price had never appeared important in the original investigation.

That was exactly why he had survived unnoticed.

He was not an executive, strategist, or family member. He had managed compliance documentation and contractor payments for Greyline's legitimate businesses while quietly processing instructions from Adrian's network.

When Adrian was arrested, Owen cooperated minimally, claimed ignorance, and left the country before investigators understood his role.

The recovered Crosswind files changed that.

Payment codes linked Owen to several dormant shell companies still holding substantial funds.

Investigators believed he had spent the past year moving money and destroying records.

The threatening emails suggested panic.

Freya asked one question.

"Why contact me? Why not just disappear?"

Derek answered, "Because he probably doesn't know how many copies exist."

Claire's old decentralized system had become Owen's nightmare.

He could not simply destroy one server.

Freya almost appreciated the irony.

Authorities obtained warrants and began coordinating internationally.

Meanwhile, Freya was instructed to maintain normal routines with security precautions.

That sounded easier than it felt.

At Sunroom, she reviewed cabinet samples while a security officer waited outside.

At Awake Stories, Mia screened deliveries.

Louis wanted Freya working from home.

She refused.

"I'll follow security advice. I'm not letting Owen Price decide where I sit."

Louis did not like it, but he accepted it.

The encrypted Crosswind files were gradually reconstructed.

One ledger revealed payments made after Adrian's arrest to former contractors for "retention."

Another contained references to a contingency network called Harbor.

Derek had never heard the name.

Neither had Thomas.

Owen appeared to have built Harbor himself using fragments of Greyline infrastructure.

That made him dangerous in a different way from Adrian.

Adrian wanted control.

Owen wanted survival and money.

The distinction mattered.

Investigators warned Freya that people protecting stolen assets could act unpredictably.

She resisted the urge to joke about predictive models.

Then another message arrived.

This one included a photograph of the old apartment building.

Louis went cold.

Freya did too.

The photograph was recent.

Owen knew where their story had begun.

Security checked the current tenants immediately. They were safe and had no connection to the case.

The image was intimidation.

Nothing more.

Freya forced herself to treat it that way.

She did not respond.

Two nights later, international authorities detained one of Owen's financial intermediaries.

The man agreed to cooperate.

He provided a location Owen had used within the past week.

By morning, investigators were moving.

Freya sat at the townhouse kitchen table with Louis, waiting for updates.

She hated waiting.

But this time she understood something she had not in earlier chapters of her life.

Not every danger required her to become the person holding the weapon, chasing the car, or uncovering the final clue.

Sometimes strength meant letting the right people do their jobs.

Louis remained close during the waiting period without pretending he could control the outcome. Freya appreciated that more than dramatic promises of protection. Security was a system, not a possessive sentence delivered by a handsome man in a hallway.

Freya made a note of the development and returned to the practical work in front of her. She had learned that a complicated life became manageable only when she separated what she knew, what she suspected, and what she could actually do next. Louis respected that habit, even when his instinct was to solve everything immediately. For now, they chose the next useful step and left the unanswered part where it belonged.

Freya made a note of the development and returned to the practical work in front of her. She had learned that a complicated life became manageable only when she separated what she knew, what she suspected, and what she could actually do next. Louis respected that habit, even when his instinct was to solve everything immediately. For now, they chose the next useful step and left the unanswered part where it belonged.