Chương 7
Reed walked to the window. Outside, morning traffic moved along the wet-looking street though the pavement was dry. A delivery cyclist stopped beside one of the television vans and checked his phone.
“Heller’s father worked for mine,” Reed said. “Grant grew up around the company.”
“Personal history is not evidence of innocence.”
“It is not evidence of guilt either.”
“No. But you defended him before I accused him.”
Reed turned.
His face closed again.
Ethan interrupted before either could press harder. “The board’s emergency committee wants a call at eight.”
“Cancel it,” Claire said.
Reed did not look at her. “No.”
“Your device access is compromised. Your routines are compromised. We don’t know which board members are involved.”
“I cannot refuse to speak with my own board.”
“You can delay until we secure the channel.”
“They will interpret delay as incapacity.”
“That is better than actual incapacity.”
Reed’s eyes sharpened. “You are here to protect my ability to act, not to prevent action.”
Claire stood.
“No. I am here to protect your life. Your authority is a secondary concern.”
“In my life, they are not easily separated.”
“That sounds important until someone carries you out under a sheet.”
Duvall entered the kitchen and stopped.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Reed looked at Claire with a level of dislike that might have ended an ordinary interview.
Then he said, “Secure the call.”
The emergency committee met by encrypted video from six locations. Claire remained outside Reed’s study with Duvall while Ethan sat inside, visible through the partly open door.
Graham Voss appeared on the largest screen.
He was older than Nolan by six years but looked less worn, with pale blue eyes, a broad forehead, and silver beginning at his temples. His suit was navy. A small green ribbon on his lapel represented the foundation’s new scholarship program, the announcement interrupted by his brother’s assault.
He began without greeting Reed.
“Is Nolan alive?”
“He was taken to Lenox Hill,” Reed said. “His condition is stable.”
“Have you spoken to him?”
“No.”
“Because the police won’t allow it, or because you prefer him silent?”
Ethan shifted in his chair.
Reed said, “Your brother assaulted a woman.”
“A woman you brought into a company event without introducing her to security.”
“She was a candidate for head of security.”
Graham gave a short, humorless laugh. “Of course she was.”
Another director, Helen Marrow, leaned toward her camera. “Adrian, the video is everywhere. Reporters are calling this a staged demonstration.”
“It was not staged.”
“Then it was negligence,” Graham said. “Which is worse.”
Claire watched Reed’s hands.
He kept them flat on the desk, but his right thumb moved once against the edge of a paper.
A director from Chicago asked whether the ballroom tea had actually been contaminated. Reed answered that police were investigating.
Graham’s expression did not change.
Not relief. Not surprise. Nothing.
Claire wrote that down, then crossed it out. Absence of reaction was not proof. Graham might have known from the news. He might have been controlling himself. He might simply have the face of a man who had practiced hearings.
“Monday’s meeting should be postponed,” Helen said.
“No,” Reed replied.
Graham tilted his head. “You intend to gather the board in person while claiming there may be an internal threat?”
“We have business that cannot be delayed.”
“What business?”
Reed looked at Ethan.
Ethan looked back, warning him without words.
Claire saw the decision arrive.
Reed said, “An internal audit has identified unauthorized vendor payments.”
The screen filled with simultaneous movement.
Helen removed her glasses. Another director reached toward someone outside his frame. Graham remained still.
“How much?” he asked.
“Approximately eleven million.”
“And you concealed this?”
“I was verifying the audit.”
“You concealed an alleged financial breach, received an anonymous threat, ignored your head of security’s recommendation, and exposed three hundred guests to a violent incident.”
Graham’s voice had not risen.
It did not need to.
“Monday’s meeting will address all of it,” Reed said.
“No,” Graham replied. “The emergency committee will address your fitness now.”
Claire stepped into the study.
Ethan turned sharply.
Reed did not.
Graham noticed her in the doorway. His pale eyes narrowed.
Claire said, “Mr. Reed’s residence and personal accounts were accessed using a compromised employee session. Until the breach is contained, this call is ending.”
“You don’t have authority to end a board meeting,” Graham said.
“No. But the man who does is sitting in front of you.”
She looked at Reed.
The choice was his.
Reed closed the laptop.
The study became quiet.
Ethan stood. “That was reckless.”
“Which part?” Claire asked. “Giving them the audit or leaving the call?”
“Walking into frame.”
“They needed to know he wasn’t alone.”
“Now they know who to investigate.”
“They already knew. Graham’s brother received a description of my dress before he attacked me.”
Ethan glanced toward Reed.
Claire told them about the message on Nolan’s phone. Detective Ortiz had not prohibited her from disclosing it, though she had not invited Claire to announce it either.
Reed moved to the study window.
“Graham would not use Nolan,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Because Nolan is unreliable.”
“That can be useful.”
“You don’t know them.”
“No. You keep making sure of that.”
Reed turned, anger showing now. “Their father co-founded this company with mine. Graham has spent thirty years protecting it.”
“From whom?”
“Competitors. Regulators. My father’s worst instincts. Sometimes mine.”
“Did he know about the audit?”
“No.”
“Could he have known?”
Reed did not answer.
Ethan said, “Graham chairs the risk committee. Preliminary audit flags pass through his office.”
Claire closed her legal pad.
“Then he could have known before you did.”
Reed stared at Ethan.
The assistant looked almost apologetic. “It’s possible.”
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At eight forty, Detective Ortiz called to say Nolan was awake, under guard, and requesting a lawyer. He denied sending or receiving any message about Claire. He claimed she had attacked him after he made a joke.
“There are twelve videos,” Claire said.
