Chương 5
Daniel looked at him.
“That is different.”
“It should be.”
Marcus placed the printed page inside the folder and closed it.
“Where exactly was this stored?”
Daniel stepped closer to the table.
“On the old archive partition.”
“Not the active server.”
“No.”
“Then why did it appear now?”
Daniel looked down.
“I do not know.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“That answer is becoming a problem.”
The words were calm, but Daniel heard the accusation underneath them.
For years, Marcus had trusted Daniel because Daniel was one of the few people who could disagree with him without trying to win.
Now every missing detail felt like another locked door.
“I am not hiding anything from you,” Daniel said.
“I did not say you were.”
“You are thinking it.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Because someone knew about a drive that was supposed to be destroyed, someone accessed my company systems, and someone sent Claire to me with a baby.”
Daniel opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
The silence bothered Marcus more than an argument would have.
Elena walked toward the laptop.
“Can you make another copy?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Then do that first.”
Marcus watched her.
“You have an idea?”
“I have a basic understanding that if someone wants you looking at one thing, you should probably avoid staring at that one thing without making sure it is still there tomorrow.”
Daniel gave a small nod.
“She is right.”
Marcus looked annoyed.
“That seems to be happening often today.”
Elena ignored the comment.
“What else can you find without touching the original?”
Daniel sat down and began working.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
The only sound was the quiet tapping of keys and the distant hum of the building’s air system.
Noah slept through all of it.
Marcus stood beside the carrier, watching the baby’s chest rise and fall.
He wondered when exactly the impossible had become ordinary.
A few hours earlier, he had been reviewing acquisition numbers in his office.
Now he was investigating a hidden corporate archive while protecting a child connected to a woman he had spent years trying not to remember.
Daniel printed several pages.
“I found something.”
Marcus turned.
“Already?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“That is not a good sign.”
The pages showed access records.
Names.
Dates.
Login attempts.
Marcus scanned them quickly.
His expression changed.
“The file was opened three days ago.”
Daniel nodded.
“Before Claire came to see you.”
“By who?”
Daniel pointed.
Marcus followed the line.
The name meant nothing.
A temporary account.
No employee attached.
“That is impossible.”
“It should not exist.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Can you trace it?”
“Not from here.”
“Then we go somewhere we can.”
Daniel hesitated.
“Marcus.”
“What?”
“If someone has access at that level, walking into headquarters may not be smart.”
Marcus looked at the pages again.
He hated admitting it, but Daniel was right.
The company he built had become a place where he could no longer assume he controlled the doors.
That realization felt worse than the threat itself.
“I need to know who touched that file,” Marcus said.
Elena folded her arms.
“And I need to know why Claire brought Noah to you instead of going somewhere safer.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You are still investigating.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the baby.
“Because someone left him with a person who looks like he has spent his whole life convincing himself he does not need anyone.”
Marcus almost responded.
Then he noticed something on the table.
A small plastic bracelet hanging from Noah’s diaper bag.
He had seen it earlier but ignored it.
A hospital bracelet.
The name printed on it was faded.
He picked it up carefully.
“Noah was in a hospital.”
Elena moved closer.
“When?”
Marcus checked the date.
Two weeks earlier.
Daniel looked over.
“That is not from today.”
“No.”
Marcus turned the bracelet over.
There was a handwritten mark on the back.
A set of numbers.
Daniel frowned.
“Could be a room number.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
He knew numbers.
That was the one thing everyone always gave him credit for.
The numbers were not random.
They were coordinates.
Or something close.
Elena noticed his expression.
“What?”
Marcus looked at her.
“I do not know yet.”
The honesty surprised her.
Maybe because it was the first time he had admitted uncertainty without immediately trying to replace it with a decision.
Daniel took a photo of the bracelet.
“I can run it through the company database.”
“No.”
Both Marcus and Elena said it at the same time.
Daniel looked between them.
Marcus explained first.
“If someone is already inside our systems, we do not send anything else through them.”
Daniel nodded.
Elena looked at Marcus.
“Good.”
He glanced at her.
“Do not sound so surprised.”
“I am adjusting.”
“To what?”
“To you being careful.”
The comment should have irritated him.
Instead, it stayed with him.
His phone vibrated.
All three of them looked at it.
This time, Marcus did not answer immediately.
The number was blocked again.
Daniel whispered, “Do not put it on speaker.”
Marcus glanced at him.
“Why?”
“Because if it is the same person, they may know who is in the room.”
Marcus answered but kept the phone close.
“Who is this?”
The voice came after a few seconds.
“You moved.”
Marcus looked at the window.
“What?”
“You were supposed to go to the address.”
The words were quiet.
Not a threat.
An observation.
Marcus felt his stomach tighten.
“How do you know I did not?”
“Because you are still trying to solve things before you make the wrong choice.”
Marcus said nothing.
The caller continued.
“You brought Daniel.”
Marcus looked at Daniel.
Then at Elena.
“And her.”
Marcus’s grip tightened.
The caller knew.
Not just that he had help.
Who the help was.
“How are you watching me?”
A pause.
“I am not.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because Claire made the same mistake.”
Marcus went still.
May you like
“What mistake?”
“She trusted someone who wanted answers more than safety.”
