Page 186 of Titus

Jim rubbed his chin. “The government’s position is fairly straightforward. They believe Herbert Hawk created a network of shell companies and hidden ownership structures decades ago.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because there were assets he didn’t want connected directly to his name.”

Jim stood and walked toward the windows. “The current theory is that Herbert used those entities to quietly acquire assets linked to the Valdéz family without the family realizing he was behind the purchases.”

“I’m sorry… the Valdéz family?” I said, my stomach dropping. The family my mother had worked for was suddenly connected to Titus’s arrest? How the hell was this possible?

My mind briefly drifted to the conversation Titus and I had about how his family knew the Valdéz family, but I had no idea about the circumstances of their connection.

“Yes,” Jim nodded. “Titus made us aware a while back that your mother worked for them, so you know the family we are talking about, correct?”

“Yes, but Jesus, I’m shocked by this. They don’t seem like the kind of family that would be involved in something like this,” I said, trying to sort the facts in my head. “So, wait. This was allegedly all done by Titus’s father… and it happened decades ago, right?” The men nodded in unison. “So, what made them bring all of this up now?”

“That’s one of our bigger questions, but it seems Christian and Lowell Jameston are responsible,” Jim responded.

“Fuck,” was all I could say. “Titus mentioned something about those men having a dark past.”

“It’s why Jim has had people watching Christian and his company from the inside,” Spencer said. “Jim’s father, Howard, ran that family out of the West Coast years ago. He made the Jameston name a laughing stock the first time they tried moving into this territory, so the fact that they’d try coming out here again was… suspicious.”

I rubbed my forehead. “So, I’m trying to follow here,” I said, my brain feeling like it was about to burst.

“From what my team has uncovered,” Jim started, “we have reason to believe that Christian Jameston must’ve discovered this information about Herbert Hawk and brought it to the attention of the Valdéz family. That’s when the investigations began.”

“What a piece of shit,” I blurted out.

Spencer sipped his Pellegrino. “I could think of worse words,” he said.

I nodded. “So, how is any of this illegal?”

Spencer leaned back in his chair. “Because old man Hawk wasn’t interested in paying retail prices,” he said.

“What does that mean?” I questioned.

“It means that once the Valdéz family knew Herbert Hawk wanted something, the price immediately doubled.”

“I’m lost.”

“It’s very easy to get lost in all this shit,” Spencer chuckled.

Jim nodded. “Allow me to make it simpler to understand…”

“Please do,” I said.

“Let’s say your family owns a piece of coastline.”

“Okay.”

“It’s valuable. Developers want it. Investors want it. Everyone wants it,” he said.

I nodded. “So?”

“So, let’s say there’s one person your family absolutely refuses to sell to. He’s essentially made himself an enemy of your family…”

“Titus’s dad in this case?”

“Exactly.”