Chương 4
Daniel didn't answer.
His attention moved across the screen, searching for details.
"The metadata is hidden."
Claire gave a humorless laugh.
"Of course it is."
Mara looked between them.
"You both talk like this happens all the time."
Neither responded.
That answer frightened her more than anything else.
Daniel reached for the keyboard, but Mara stopped him.
"Wait."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because every time someone tells me not to ask questions, something terrible happens after."
The words came out before she could soften them.
Daniel lowered his hand.
For a moment, the anger in his face disappeared.
Something like regret replaced it.
"You think I don't understand why you don't trust me."
"I think you understand it very well."
He looked away.
That hurt because it meant she was right.
Claire moved closer to the screen.
"The file was sent here because they wanted us to see it."
"Who is they?" Mara asked.
Claire didn't answer.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
Mara looked at both of them.
"Who are you afraid of?"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Someone who knows how to make people disappear without actually making them disappear."
Mara waited for him to explain.
He didn't.
A knock came from the office door.
All three of them froze.
Daniel walked toward it slowly.
"Who is it?"
A voice answered from the other side.
"Mr. Whitmore, it's Marcus."
Daniel's expression changed.
Not fear.
Annoyance.
"Marcus is my attorney," he said quietly.
Mara watched him.
"Your attorney is here at almost midnight?"
Daniel didn't answer.
The door opened, and Marcus Hale stepped inside carrying a leather briefcase.
He was in his late fifties, with silver hair and the kind of calm expression that made people wonder if he had ever been surprised by anything.
His eyes moved from Daniel to Claire.
Then to Mara.
The smallest flicker of recognition crossed his face.
That was enough.
"You know me," Mara said.
Marcus placed the briefcase on the desk.
"I know who you are."
"From where?"
"Daniel's office records."
"Before or after he accused me?"
Daniel stepped between them.
"Marcus."
The lawyer looked at him.
"You should have called me before bringing her here."
"I didn't bring her."
"No?"
Marcus glanced at Mara.
"Then she walked through three layers of security because she wanted a conversation?"
Mara felt heat rise in her face.
"Yes."
Marcus looked surprised.
Not impressed.
Surprised.
Daniel closed the door.
"We have a problem."
Marcus saw the monitor.
His expression changed immediately.
The calm disappeared.
"Who opened this?"
"No one," Daniel said.
Marcus looked at him.
"That's impossible."
"Apparently not."
Marcus walked toward the computer.
Mara noticed something she hadn't noticed before.
His hands were shaking.
Not much.
Just enough.
"You're scared too," she said.
Marcus stopped.
"I've represented powerful people my whole career," he said.
His voice remained controlled.
"But I have learned that fear is usually the most honest thing people show."
Mara looked at him.
"That doesn't answer my question."
Marcus glanced at Daniel.
Then at Claire.
"Because the answer is complicated."
"Everything is complicated when people with money don't want to explain themselves."
The words were harsh, but nobody argued.
Marcus looked back at the screen.
"The document isn't real."
Mara felt her stomach drop.
"What?"
"It is a fabricated agreement."
"Then why does it have my signature?"
"Because someone copied it."
She stared at him.
"Copied?"
"Digital reproduction."
Marcus pointed at the screen.
"Your signature was taken from another document and placed here."
Mara looked at Daniel.
"Then why did it have his signature too?"
Nobody spoke.
Marcus looked at Daniel.
"Because whoever created this wanted both of you connected."
The room went silent.
Mara felt the pieces shifting.
Not fitting.
Shifting.
"Why would someone do that?"
Marcus closed his briefcase.
"To create a story."
"What story?"
He looked at her.
"The story that Daniel Whitmore and Mara Ellis worked together to hide something."
A cold wave moved through her.
The accusation suddenly looked different.
She had thought someone wanted her blamed for stealing.
But maybe stealing was only the surface.
Maybe the real goal was making sure nobody believed her.
Daniel walked back toward the desk.
"They needed her reputation destroyed before she could speak."
Mara looked at him.
"You knew that?"
"I suspected."
"Suspected?"
Her laugh was quiet and painful.
"You suspected someone was setting me up and you still let the company fire me?"
Daniel didn't answer quickly enough.
That was answer enough.
"You protected yourself."
His eyes lifted.
"I protected you."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You protected what you thought you could still save."
The words landed.
Daniel looked like he wanted to argue.
But he didn't.
Claire sat down in the chair near the window.
"I told you this would happen."
Daniel turned.
"What?"
"I told you the longer you waited, the worse it would get."
Mara looked at her.
"Waited for what?"
Claire looked exhausted.
"For the truth."
Nobody moved.
Then she reached into her bag and removed a small envelope.
"I found this six months ago."
Daniel stared at it.
"You never told me."
"Because I didn't know if you were part of it."
The accusation hit him harder than Mara expected.
Claire placed the envelope on the desk.
"I found it hidden in our father's old storage files."
Daniel looked at it.
"Our father died five years ago."
"I know."
"Then why would there be something from three years ago?"
Claire looked at Mara.
"Because someone used his old access credentials after he was gone."
Mara felt the same strange coldness from before.
A dead man's identity.
A fake signature.
A hidden account.
Someone building a false history.
Daniel opened the envelope.
Inside was a single printed page.
His face changed as he read it.
Mara noticed Claire watching him carefully.
Not with anger.
With fear.
"What is it?" Mara asked.
Daniel didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
"Daniel."
May you like
He looked up.
And for the first time since she entered the mansion, he looked completely powerless.
