Chapter 2 - DAVID'S NAME WAS ON THE MONEY
David did not touch Emma again.
That mattered.
He raised both hands.
“I didn’t send that car.”
Emma backed toward the wall.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
That answer stopped her.
David looked down the street where the Lexus disappeared.
“I expect you to stay alive long enough to verify it.”
Emma clutched the ruined page.
“Your name is on the transfers.”
“I know.”
She stared.
That was worse.
David glanced toward the tower.
“We can’t talk here.”
“Why?”
“Because Nicholas has exterior cameras.”
“He already fired me.”
“That’s not the problem.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“Then what is?”
David looked at the paper.
“That account was built to make me the problem.”
Emma stopped.
Rain ran from her hair into her eyes.
“What?”
David pulled his own phone from his jacket.
The screen was cracked.
He opened a photograph.
A wire authorization.
D. RUIZ PROTECTIVE SERVICES.
Same company.
Same routing structure.
Except below the name was a tax identification number.
David said:
“That is not my business.”
Emma frowned.
“You don’t own Ruiz Protective Services?”
“No.”
“Then whose is it?”
“Shell company.”
“Why use your name?”
“Because I signed security invoices for Nicholas.”
Emma understood slowly.
David’s legitimate access created plausible paperwork.
Someone had built a company around his identity.
Or near enough.
“Did you know money was moving through it?”
“I found out six weeks ago.”
Emma stared.
“And you said nothing?”
“I did.”
“To who?”
“Internal counsel.”
“What happened?”
“Two days later I was reassigned from executive security to night loading dock.”
Emma felt cold despite the rain.
David continued.
“I copied what I could.”
“Where?”
He hesitated.
Emma’s eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
“In my car.”
“Which car?”
“Not the Lexus.”
She almost laughed.
David pointed toward a dark sedan parked half a block away.
“I came here because someone texted me your name.”
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“What did it say?”
David showed her.
CALLAHAN FOUND THE TRANSFERS. SHE WON'T LEAVE QUIETLY.
Unknown number.
Timestamp:
Six minutes before Nicholas shoved her outside.
Emma looked toward the tower.
“You were waiting?”
“I was coming to get you.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew what happened to the last person who found the same account.”
Emma stopped breathing.
“Who?”
David’s face changed.
“Auditor named Michael Trent.”
Emma knew that name too.
Michael had resigned eight months earlier.
At least that was what the company said.
May you like
David looked at her.
“He didn’t resign.”
