Chương 10
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you.”
He had not expected that.
“For now,” she added.
Daniel looked at the photograph again. “Marcus used my company to build the place.”
“Parts of it.”
“How long?”
“Possibly a year.”
“And Lily found it.”
“Yes.”
“She thought I was involved.”
“We don’t know what she thought.”
Daniel did.
He remembered her word on the board.
Liar.
Alvarez stood. “Go back to her.”
“What are you doing?”
“Finding Marcus before he decides protection requires another payment.”
Daniel followed her to the door. “When you find him, call me.”
“No.”
“He may talk to me.”
“He may use you.”
“He already has.”
“That doesn’t make you useful. It makes you compromised.”
Daniel’s voice stayed calm. “He won’t surrender to you.”
“Then he’ll be arrested.”
“He won’t be taken in a house or parking lot. He’ll choose somewhere he controls.”
“You’re describing yourself.”
“I’m describing the man who learned from me.”
Alvarez turned. “That’s exactly why you are staying here.”
Daniel returned to Lily’s room.
Priya slept in a chair with her chin against her chest. Her laptop remained open on the tray table, displaying Blackline’s internal audit dashboard. Red warnings covered the screen.
Lily was awake.
Daniel pulled his chair close.
She looked at him, then at the communication board.
He handed it over.
M-A-Y-A?
“Safe. With police.”
Her shoulders loosened slightly.
“They found your phone.”
Her eyes widened.
“It’s damaged. They’re trying to recover it.”
She selected B-A-C-K-U-P.
“Yes.”
P-A-S-S.
“Password?”
YES.
Daniel hesitated. “Do you want to give it to me?”
NO.
The answer hurt less than he expected because he had earned it.
“To Maya?”
YES.
“She won’t talk to police yet.”
Lily frowned.
“Marcus’s wife took her from the station.”
Her fingers moved faster despite the pain.
L-Y-D-I-A B-A-D.
Daniel leaned closer. “Why?”
Lily spelled M-A-S-O-N M-O-M.
“I know.”
She chose N-O, then repeated B-A-D.
“What did Lydia do?”
Lily’s eyes closed. Her breathing became strained.
Daniel lowered the board. “Later.”
She opened her eyes and forced her hand toward it.
He held the letters steady.
C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T-S.
“Contracts?”
YES.
S-I-G-N-E-D.
“Lydia signed them?”
YES.
“What contracts?”
Lily’s hand dropped.
Daniel called the nurse. Medication, checks, another warning not to exhaust her.
When Lily settled, he looked at Priya’s laptop.
“Wake up,” he said.
Priya opened her eyes immediately. “What?”
“Lydia Vale signed contracts connected to the Gray Room.”
Priya straightened and began searching. “Blackline contracts?”
“Lily thinks so.”
“Legal documents are restricted.”
“You have audit authority.”
“I had audit authority. Board suspended executive access while outside counsel conducts review.”
“Can you see vendor approvals?”
“Some.”
She worked for several minutes.
“Here,” she said. “A supplemental security agreement for Alden Leadership events. Signed by Lydia Vale as outside counsel, Marcus as operations director, and…”
She stopped.
Daniel looked at the screen.
His own digital signature appeared at the bottom.
He stared at it.
“I didn’t sign that.”
Priya’s face had gone still. “It’s your certificate.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
“Certificate was used from your office terminal.”
“When?”
“November fourteenth. Ten thirty-two p.m.”
“I was in Seattle.”
“I know. We had the Northstar meeting.”
“Who had access to my office?”
“Marcus. Cleaning staff. Executive assistant.”
“Cameras?”
“Retention is ninety days.”
“Access logs?”
She searched. “Badge entry at ten fourteen. Marcus.”
Daniel looked toward Lily.
She had contacted Marcus because she found his father’s company on the security contract and Daniel’s signature beneath it. She had believed her father might be involved. Perhaps she had hoped Marcus would tell her it was forged. Instead, Marcus had tried to meet in person.
Priya whispered, “He used you.”
Daniel thought of every time Marcus had warned him that the world required dirty hands. Every time he had accepted an explanation because questioning it would have required admitting that Blackline was not as clean as Claire believed.
“How many other contracts?” he asked.
Priya began searching.
They found eleven before dawn.
Private events. Temporary security. Subcontractors whose ownership disappeared behind shell companies. Payments approved late at night through Daniel’s certificate. Most amounts were small enough to avoid board review. Several were tied to venues near universities.
“This wasn’t just Mason,” Priya said.
“No.”
“Marcus built him a system.”
Daniel watched Lily sleep. “Marcus built himself a system and let Mason use it.”
Priya rubbed her face. “We need to send this to Alvarez.”
“Do it.”
“It may destroy the company.”
“Do it.”
She looked at him. “Four hundred employees.”
“I heard you the first time.”
“They didn’t do this.”
“No.”
“So what happens to them?”
Daniel stood and walked to the window. Morning traffic moved along the street below, red brake lights gathering at the intersection. A cyclist slapped the hood of a taxi. A delivery truck blocked a bus lane. People were late to ordinary places.
“We separate the legitimate contracts,” he said. “Outside audit. Freeze questionable accounts. Protect payroll. Notify clients before the news does.”
“That requires leadership.”
“You lead it.”
“I’m not the owner.”
“You are today.”
Priya stared at him. “And you?”
“I’m the signature on eleven contracts I didn’t read.”
“You didn’t sign them.”
“I created a company where Marcus could make that believable.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“It will be to Lily.”
Priya’s voice softened. “You don’t have to confess to things you didn’t do just because you feel guilty about things you did.”
Daniel turned from the window. “Send the files.”
She did.
At 7:40 a.m., Maya Chen agreed to speak with police.
Alvarez called Daniel afterward.
“The password opened the backup,” she said.
“What’s on it?”
“Audio from the Gray Room. Photographs of the private room. Screenshots of payments. Copies of Blackline contracts.”
“Video?”
“Not yet.”
“What does the audio prove?”
“We’re reviewing it.”
“What does it prove?”
Alvarez was silent.
“Say it.”
“Lily confronted Mason Vale in the private room. Ethan Cole, Brandon Hale, and Tyler Whitmore were present.”
May you like
Daniel gripped the borrowed phone.
“Lily accused them of drugging women and recording assaults,” Alvarez continued. “Mason demanded her phone. She said the files were already backed up. There’s a struggle. Tyler says, ‘Just scare her.’ Brandon says he wants to leave.”
