Chapter 5
I showed the message to my father.
His face drained of color.
“Don’t touch anything.”
“I already touched the phone.”
“You know what I mean.”
He called Margaret immediately.
Then security.
Then the police.
Within twenty minutes, the street outside my building was crowded with black SUVs again.
I hated it.
I hated needing protection.
I hated that Richard had managed to turn one slap into a threat against everyone around me.
Most of all, I hated knowing someone had learned Claire’s location.
Only four people should have known.
My father.
Margaret.
Kevin.
Me.
And the security team handling the apartment.
My brother had asked.
But I hadn’t told him.
That didn’t stop suspicion from entering my head.
It made me feel disgusting.
Daniel was my brother.
He had held my hand through Mom’s funeral.
He had punched a boy in high school for calling me spoiled.
He had stayed awake all night during my first panic attack after college.
But betrayal had already entered our family once.
Now I couldn’t stop looking for it everywhere.
The police moved Claire and Sophie before sunrise.
Nobody told me where.
That was deliberate.
The fewer people who knew, the safer they were.
At six in the morning, Margaret arrived at my apartment.
She looked exhausted.
“Digital forensics is tracing the text.”
“Any luck?”
“Burner number.”
“Of course.”
“The photograph is more useful.”
My father stood by the windows.
“How?”
“There’s metadata missing, but the angle suggests it was taken from across the street.”
“Security camera?”
“We’re checking.”
I sat on the couch.
My face had swollen overnight.
When I saw myself in the mirror, I barely recognized my left cheek.
Margaret looked at me.
“You should rest.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Because you’ve been awake all night.”
“So has Richard.”
My father turned.
“He made bail.”
I stared at him.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
My stomach dropped.
“How?”
“Simple battery. No prior convictions.”
“He threatened me.”
“The direct threat occurred as police were taking him out, but his attorney is calling it emotional speech.”
I stood.
“So he’s free?”
“For now.”
My phone began ringing.
Daniel.
This time I answered.
“Where are you?”
“At the office.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor called an emergency board meeting for eight.”
My father spun around.
“What?”
Daniel heard him.
“Dad’s there?”
“Yes.”
“Put me on speaker.”
I did.
Daniel sounded furious.
“Victor is telling directors that you jeopardized the Caldwell closing for personal reasons.”
My father laughed without humor.
“He assaulted my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then what exactly is the board supposed to debate?”
“He says terminating the loan exposes Bennett Capital to breach claims and reputational damage.”
Margaret swore quietly.
I said, “Victor knows we suspect him.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I confronted him.”
My father exploded.
“You did what?”
“I didn’t know you suspected him until Emily called. I saw him when I got here and asked where he was last night.”
“And?”
“He said he went home.”
“So you told him Sophie saw him?”
Silence.
Daniel sounded smaller.
“Yes.”
My father closed his eyes.
“Goddammit.”
“I didn’t know.”
“That’s the problem.”
Daniel went quiet.
I could hear people talking behind him.
Then he lowered his voice.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“Someone accessed the Caldwell financing files at 4:12 this morning.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“Who?”
“My credentials.”
My heart stopped.
Daniel rushed on.
“It wasn’t me.”
My father said nothing.
I stared at the phone.
“When did you get to the office?”
“Five thirty.”
“Where were you at four twelve?”
“Asleep.”
“Can you prove it?”
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Emily.”
“I’m asking because everyone else will.”
“Yes. My building has cameras. My girlfriend was with me.”
I exhaled.
My father asked, “What files?”
“Old Caldwell loan documents. The 2014 transaction.”
The room went silent.
My mother’s loan.
The one she had opposed.
“What was accessed?” Margaret asked.
“Everything.”
“Downloaded?”
“Yes.”
“Sent anywhere?”
“We’re checking.”
My father grabbed his jacket.
“We’re going in.”
Margaret stopped him.
“No.”
He stared at her.
“Victor called a board meeting about me.”
“And someone is actively manipulating internal systems. You don’t walk into headquarters until security knows whether the environment is compromised.”
“This is my company.”
Margaret’s voice hardened.
“It is also a crime scene if what Daniel says is true.”
I watched them argue.
Then something occurred to me.
“Why Daniel’s credentials?”
They stopped.
I looked at my father.
“If someone wanted files, why not use Victor’s access?”
Margaret answered first.
“To frame Daniel.”
“Or to make us think he’s being framed.”
My father frowned.
I hated saying it.
But we couldn’t afford comfortable assumptions.
Margaret’s phone buzzed.
She read a message.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She held up her screen.
“Security recovered footage from across the street where Claire was staying.”
My heart began pounding.
“Who took the picture?”
“They can’t see the photographer clearly.”
“Then what changed?”
“A car picked the person up.”
She enlarged the image.
My father leaned closer.
So did I.
The license plate was visible.
Margaret looked at us.
“The vehicle is registered to Caldwell Development.”
That should have made things simple.
It didn’t.
Because she swiped to the next image.
The driver’s face was visible through the windshield.
I recognized him immediately.
“Marcus?”
My father whispered the name.
Marcus Reed had been part of our family security team for eleven years.
He had driven me to college.
He had protected my mother during chemotherapy.
He had hugged me at her funeral.
Now there he was.
Driving a Caldwell car.
My father looked like someone had punched him.
Margaret called security.
No answer.
Marcus had already disappeared.
A news alert appeared on the television.
Victor Shaw was standing outside Bennett Capital headquarters.
Cameras surrounded him.
He looked solemn.
Responsible.
Concerned.
A perfect performance.
“We deeply regret what occurred last night,” he said. “However, Bennett Capital must not allow personal emotions to interfere with contractual obligations.”
I stared at him.
Then he delivered the knife.
“Given Daniel Bennett’s understandable distress involving his daughter, I have called an emergency board meeting to discuss temporary leadership arrangements.”
My father went still.
Victor wasn’t defending Richard.
He was using Richard.
The assault.
The loan.
The scandal.
Everything.
May you like
This wasn’t damage control.
It was a takeover.
