Chương 13
“Does Garnet know Trevor came to your apartment in April?”
Garnet went still.
Amber’s face drained.
“No.”
Hazel handed the phone back.
Garnet looked at his wife.
“What apartment?”
“The old one.”
“The one you kept after we moved in together?”
“For storage.”
“You told me you gave it up.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Eventually.”
“What happened there?”
Amber shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Garnet’s voice changed.
“Don’t lie to me again.”
“I’m not.”
“Then what happened?”
Amber looked at Hazel.
Hazel said nothing.
Amber’s eyes filled.
“He brought documents.”
“What documents?”
“Copies of old company invoices.”
Garnet’s face went blank.
“From where?”
“He had them.”
“Why?”
“He said they were templates.”
Garnet stared at her.
“He stole files before I fired him.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You used them.”
“I know.”
“Did he still have client information?”
“Yes.”
“Banking information?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tax IDs?”
“I don’t know.”
“Employee information?”
“I don’t know.”
Garnet swore and walked away from us.
He stood in the grass with both hands on his head.
Hazel watched him.
Amber looked ready to follow.
She stopped herself.
I took out my phone.
“Who are you calling?”
Garnet asked.
“Daniel.”
“He’s already coming.”
“I’m telling him there may be former-employee data theft.”
Garnet nodded once.
I made the call.
Daniel answered immediately.
I gave him only the new facts.
He told us not to confront Trevor, not to wipe devices, and not to attempt to recover money ourselves.
He also said Garnet needed a cybersecurity firm and likely outside counsel because Daniel had represented my companies in matters that could create conflicts.
Garnet listened without interrupting.
When I ended the call, he said, “I know a firm.”
I nodded.
He looked surprised.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You usually have a better firm.”
“I probably do.”
His expression tightened.
Then I added, “Call yours first.”
That surprised him more.
He nodded and walked toward the porch.
Amber said, “What happens to me?”
Nobody answered.
She looked at Garnet.
“Are you calling the police?”
He stopped.
“I don’t know yet.”
“That means yes.”
“It means I don’t know.”
“You’re going to let your father decide.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“He decides everything.”
Garnet turned.
“Stop blaming him for things I’m deciding.”
Amber’s mouth tightened.
“He taught you that.”
“Taught me what?”
“That money makes you right.”
I felt the accusation hit me before it hit him.
Garnet glanced at me.
I said nothing.
Amber continued.
“He pays for something and then gets to control the terms.”
Hazel looked at me too.
This was becoming an unpleasant morning for my self-image.
Garnet said, “He didn’t tell you to steal.”
“No.”
“He didn’t tell you to fake invoices.”
“No.”
“He didn’t tell you to trust Trevor.”
“No.”
“Then stop making him the reason.”
Amber looked away.
Garnet exhaled.
“And Dad.”
I looked at him.
“Don’t look relieved.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
I almost argued.
Then I stopped.
He was right.
Some ugly part of me had been relieved when Amber’s accusation failed to transfer responsibility.
Garnet saw that.
“You hid the house.”
“Yes.”
“You hid the office.”
“Yes.”
“You hid the trust details.”
“Yes.”
“You made decisions for me because you thought I’d make bad ones.”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“That matters too.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“You’re starting to know.”
That hurt more than I wanted it to.
Hazel walked toward the front door.
“I’m making coffee.”
Nobody laughed.
She paused.
“Anyone who says no is lying.”
Then she went inside.
Garnet sat on the porch again.
I sat beside him.
Amber remained by the SUV.
For a while, nobody spoke.
A few minutes later, Hazel came back carrying four mismatched mugs on a tray.
Amber looked at hers.
“I don’t deserve coffee.”
Hazel handed it to her anyway.
“It’s coffee, not absolution.”
Amber took it.
That line almost made Garnet smile.
He sipped his.
Then his phone rang.
Priya.
He answered immediately.
“What did you find?”
We watched his face.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“How old?”
Another pause.
“No, send me everything.”
He stood.
“What access?”
His voice sharpened.
“Today?”
Amber looked terrified.
Garnet turned toward her.
“Did you give Trevor remote access to the company file server?”
Amber shook her head.
“No.”
He listened.
“What device?”
Priya answered.
Garnet looked at Amber again.
“An old contractor account logged in at six twelve this morning.”
I set down my coffee.
“Whose account?”
Garnet was already asking.
He listened.
Then he looked toward the road.
“Trevor Hale.”
Amber dropped her mug.
It hit the driveway and broke.
Coffee spread through the cracks in the concrete.
Hazel moved automatically to pick up the pieces.
I caught her wrist.
“Leave it.”
Garnet said into the phone, “Disable the account now.”
Priya answered.
His expression worsened.
“What do you mean you can’t?”
He listened.
Then his eyes found mine.
“He already changed the administrator credentials.”
I stood.
“What does he have access to?”
Garnet asked Priya.
Her answer took too long.
His face turned pale.
“All of it?”
Amber whispered, “Oh my God.”
Garnet covered the phone.
“He has payroll files, client folders, tax documents, vendor records.”
Hazel said, “Employee information?”
Garnet nodded.
“Possibly Social Security numbers.”
The morning shifted again.
The wedding vanished completely.
The glue, the dress, the argument in the ballroom all became tiny beside fourteen employees whose identities might now be exposed because somebody Garnet had fired months earlier still had a route inside the company.
Amber sank onto the low wall.
“I didn’t give him that.”
Garnet looked at her.
“I believe you.”
She stared at him.
That seemed to hurt her more than disbelief would have.
Priya said something else.
Garnet turned away.
“What file?”
He listened.
Then said, “Do not open it.”
He looked at me.
“There’s a note on the server.”
“What does it say?”
Priya read it to him.
Garnet’s face became completely still.
He lowered the phone.
Amber whispered, “What?”
He looked at her.
May you like
“Trevor wants seventy-five thousand dollars by Monday.”
Nobody spoke.
