Chương 6
“No.”
“It has security.”
“I don’t trust your security.”
Daniel almost responded immediately.
Then he stopped.
Because after tonight, he understood why she felt that way.
“Then tell me what you trust.”
Anna looked at him.
“I don’t know yet.”
The honesty disarmed him.
He nodded once.
“Fair.”
Emma pulled on Anna’s sleeve.
“Can we stay?”
Her mother looked down.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel crouched beside her.
“Emma.”
She looked at him.
“Your mom is scared.”
Emma nodded like she already knew.
“Adults always say they’re not.”
A small, sad smile crossed Daniel’s face.
“That’s true.”
“My mom says being scared makes people do bad things.”
Daniel looked at Anna.
Anna looked away.
“She’s right,” Daniel said.
“But sometimes being scared also makes people do things they never thought they could.”
Emma considered that.
Then she looked at the drawing in her hand.
“I want to finish this.”
Daniel nodded.
“Okay.”
It was a simple answer.
But something about it changed the atmosphere.
For the first time since Anna arrived, nobody was moving toward the next emergency.
They were just sitting.
A child coloring.
A mother watching.
A man who had spent years building walls realizing he had invited strangers into the one place he thought was impossible to break into.
Twenty minutes later, Marcus returned with a tablet.
His expression told Daniel the footage mattered.
“I found the entry.”
They moved to a private conference room near the lobby.
Daniel did not bring Anna inside at first.
Not because he distrusted her.
Because he did not know what he could afford to show anyone.
That instinct would have once made him proud.
Now it made him uncomfortable.
Marcus pulled up the recording.
The timestamp showed 8:42 p.m.
A man entered through the employee entrance.
He was wearing a dark jacket and a baseball cap.
His face was partially hidden.
Daniel watched him scan his badge.
The system accepted it immediately.
“Can you enhance the image?” Daniel asked.
Marcus shook his head.
“Not enough.”
The man walked toward the elevators.
He did not appear nervous.
He did not look around.
He moved like someone who belonged there.
That detail bothered Daniel.
People who broke into places usually acted like they were breaking in.
This person acted like he was returning.
The footage continued.
At 8:57 p.m., the man exited.
At 9:02 p.m., Anna and Emma entered through the main lobby.
Five minutes later, Daniel left the boardroom.
Marcus paused the video.
“Look.”
Daniel leaned closer.
The man had left something near the reception desk.
A small object.
A flash drive.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“Did anyone find that?”
“No.”
“Then where is it?”
Marcus checked.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel looked toward the lobby.
The answer came before he wanted it to.
Someone had taken it.
Someone inside the building.
He walked back out.
Anna was standing by the window.
Emma was asleep on one of the lobby chairs, her backpack under her head like a pillow.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“The drive.”
Anna turned.
“What drive?”
“You know something about it.”
“No.”
He watched her reaction.
The pause.
The slight tightening around her eyes.
A person who knew nothing would ask what drive.
A person who knew something would wonder how much he knew.
“Anna.”
She closed her eyes.
“I didn’t take it.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You thought it.”
“Because you know something.”
She looked exhausted.
“Someone gave me instructions.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel almost interrupted.
Then he stopped himself.
She continued.
“A week ago, I received a message from an unknown number.”
“What did it say?”
“It said if I wanted proof, I needed to go to Calder & Voss tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because someone inside was ready to help.”
Daniel looked back toward the conference room.
The investors.
Richard.
The people who had been waiting for him to return.
“Who?”
Anna shook her head.
“The message didn’t say.”
“Did you reply?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“No answer.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You brought your daughter into this because of an anonymous message.”
Anna’s face changed.
“I brought my daughter because I had nowhere else.”
The sentence was quiet.
But it carried more weight than anger.
Daniel looked away.
He had no response that did not sound like an excuse.
A notification appeared on his phone.
A new email.
No sender.
No subject.
Only one attachment.
Daniel opened it.
The file contained a single photograph.
A picture taken inside his company.
A picture of Thomas Calder standing beside Richard Voss.
But the date at the bottom of the image was impossible.
Four months after Thomas had died.
Four months after Thomas had died.
Daniel stared at the photograph until the screen dimmed.
Then he touched it again, bringing the image back.
The date remained unchanged.
March 14.
A date that had no reason to exist.
Thomas had died in November.
Daniel had signed the documents.
He had attended the funeral.
He had stood beside a wooden box and listened to people describe his brother in words that felt too small.
Reliable.
Funny.
Loyal.
As if a few carefully chosen sentences could explain the absence of a person who had shared half his life.
“This isn’t possible,” he said.
Anna moved closer.
“What is it?”
Daniel almost handed her the phone.
Almost.
Then he stopped.
Not because he wanted to hide it.
Because he was afraid of what would happen if another person confirmed what he was seeing.
“What happened to your brother?” Anna asked.
The question was too direct.
Too personal.
Daniel looked at her.
“You already know he died.”
“I know what people told me.”
“That’s different?”
“Yes.”
She looked at the photograph.
“Because people lie more easily about things they don’t understand.”
Daniel put the phone down.
“My brother died in a car accident.”
“Were you there?”
“No.”
“Did you identify him?”
The question made him uncomfortable.
“No.”
“Who did?”
Daniel opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
He remembered the paperwork.
May you like
The calls.
The hospital administrator who had spoken to him in a quiet voice.
