Fabian had put his distant father on a pedestal all his life. His desperate need to impress him had got him nowhere, but that didn’t mean he’d stopped trying. And now he had to clear his name. He didn’t give two fucks about Lord Reilly or what he was doing with his father; all he cared about was making sure the investigation got to the bottom of why his father had ended up ploughing into a mountainside. He didn’t trust anyone. It was quite obvious to him that his mother had given up, but he never would.

He stared at his phone. Over the years he’d been allowed to glimpse the inner workings of his father’s business interests, and shown the ropes. Tactika was a giant, and he was just getting started, but nevertheless, he knew enough of his father’s contacts to begin the fight back for his name. Donald being on the helicopter was a problem, of course, but there was no point moping about it and becoming self-defeating. His mother could do that on her own in her bed, waited on by the butler she was fucking. But of course, he wasn’t supposed to know about that. Neither was his father, but all that would be dealt with in good time.

He scrolled through his phone, tapped a number, and waited.

It rang out.

He paced up and down, frustrated. George was supposed to be on hand any time of the day, according to his father.

‘You have a problem, you go to George,’ he’d said. Fabian knew that his father took George everywhere with him. And that would have included the Lake District. So, why wasn’t he picking up?

Next he found the direct number for the editor of the broadsheet that had published the article. It went to voicemail.

‘Quentin. Call me. It’s Fabian Kennedy-Craig. If I don’t hear from you in the hour, then I’ll start digging out my father’s files on you, before we gave you a new name. Hope you’re having a great morning!’

Fabian pressed ‘end call’. It felt good just doing something. He vowed to spend every minute he had clearing his family name in the press. Then, and only then, could his takeover begin in full. He felt alive.