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Hazel ith Callue in his condition Callum wanted to sit in the roouard in a chair beside the bed, just watching his father’s still and pale face Machines hu from Payne’s body
Hazel could see Calluenuinely needed another chance to be close to Payne Colton His tense hts ventured beyond worry
“Who besides Ace do police think may have shot him?” she asked
He looked at her, cohts “They considered many, most in the family They even considered Marlowe, since she is now CEO”
Hazel wondered if all of this was related to Ace being switched at birth “It seems like too much of a coincidence that he was shot so soon after that e a Colton by blood”
He nodded “Yeah, I thought about that ure out itched him—and if that same person sent that email via the Dark Web Marlowe and I tried to find hospital records, but a hospital ad, the ht it too much of a coincidence that the fire broke out then”
“The person who did the switch must have set it,” she said
“Yes It would seem that way What we all can’t understand is, why anyone would switch a healthy baby with one asn’t?”
“The real Colton baby wasn’t healthy?”
“No He wasn’t doing well That’s why Ace was called a Christmas miracle, because none of his symptoms were present the next day”
Further proof—if the DNA wasn’t enough—that Ace had been switched Someone really unbalanced must have done it Hazel could see no othercast out of Colton Oil Whoever had shot Payne had to have another reason—one related to the baby switching Maybe she rong, she was no detective, but the motive had to be more complicated than that
“Is there any evidence supporting Ace’s innocence?” she asked All the times she’d encountered hiood baro people In the last teeks they’d stopped by his rooracious when she and Callum had delivered food
“Not really,” he said “There’s video footage showing a person who’s around five-nine wearing a ski mask and black clothes near the cri Ace also doesn’t own a gun If anything, the evidence points toward hiht not be Ace in the video but Ace had the resources and the motive to hire so ho other Coltons arriving home at the mansion”
“So, there was nothing wrong with the surveillance equip, then the video evidence contradicted that “And then there’s the threat that the board all witnessed”
“Yes, the threat And a cleaning woman named Joanne Bates, who found Payne’s body, heard someone say mom just before he was shot” He looked back at his father, clearly frustrated that his brother had to be in such a perilous situation