Chapter 2 - The People at the Door
Daniel moved before I could.
He crossed the dining room, nearly knocking over his chair.
“Don’t open that door.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
He stopped.
It was the smallest mistake.
But everyone noticed it.
Steven lowered his fork.
Rachel glanced at me.
Even Margaret’s expression changed.
Daniel forced a laugh.
“I mean, look at you. You’re covered in soup. Whoever it is can wait.”
Another knock.
Daniel looked toward the hallway again.
I knew that look.
For eleven years, I had mistaken it for concentration.
Now I recognized it.
Calculation.
He was trying to determine how much I knew.
“Claire,” he said quietly, “we should talk privately.”
“Six minutes.”
His jaw tightened.
“Stop saying that.”
“You started the clock.”
I walked toward the foyer.
Daniel caught my wrist.
Harold immediately stood.
“Daniel.”
I looked down at my husband’s hand.
Then into his eyes.
“Take your hand off me.”
Something in my voice made him release me.
I opened the door.
My attorney, Rebecca Sloan, stood outside.
Beside her was Amy Chen.
And behind them stood a man Daniel knew immediately.
Marcus Bell.
Our company’s director of information security.
Daniel went still.
Rebecca looked at my wet hair and stained blouse.
Her professional expression cracked.
“What happened?”
“Later.”
Marcus carried a laptop case.
Amy held another blue folder.
Daniel stepped into the foyer.
“You people have no right to be here.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“I was invited by the property owner.”
Margaret appeared behind him.
“My son owns this house.”
Rebecca’s gaze moved to me.
“No, he doesn’t.”
I almost admired how quickly Margaret’s face changed.
Daniel turned toward me.
“This is insane.”
“Five minutes.”
Rebecca entered.
Amy followed.
Marcus remained near the doorway.
I had expected the evening to be difficult.
I had not expected Daniel to humiliate me in front of his family.
But in one strange way, he had made the next part easier.
I no longer had to wonder whether I was being too harsh.
We returned to the dining room.
Rebecca placed her folder beside mine.
“Daniel,” she said, “you’ve been served electronically and will receive physical service regarding the civil complaint. Tonight we’re here primarily because Hartwell Medical Logistics has identified unauthorized access to company systems.”
Daniel laughed.
“You’re accusing me of hacking my own company?”
Amy answered.
“It isn’t your company.”
His eyes snapped toward her.
“I’m chief operating officer.”
“Former chief operating officer.”
“You work for me.”
Amy shook her head.
“I work for Hartwell.”
Margaret scoffed.
“This is unbelievable.”
Rebecca opened the folder.
“What may be more unbelievable is the destination of several transfers.”
Margaret stopped talking.
Daniel stared at her.
That look told me something.
She knew more than I had hoped.
Rebecca placed a photograph of a check on the table.
Then another.
Then an invoice.
Margaret’s condo renovation.
Custom cabinetry.
Imported stone.
New flooring.
Bathroom reconstruction.
$63,417.
Margaret’s face tightened.
“Daniel told me that was a gift.”
“It was,” I said. “Just not from his money.”
She looked at her son.
“Daniel?”
He ignored her.
Instead, he stared at Amy.
“You went through my files?”
Amy remained calm.
“I reviewed company transactions as part of my job.”
“You had no authorization.”
“I had Claire’s.”
Daniel turned toward me.
Then he smiled.
It was a strange smile.
Too confident.
“You think you’ve won.”
I said nothing.
He leaned against the table.
“You think because you found a few transfers, you understand what’s happening?”
Rebecca watched him carefully.
“Are you suggesting there are additional transfers we haven’t identified?”
Daniel realized his mistake.
His smile disappeared.
But Amy and I had both heard it.
So had Marcus.
“What additional transfers?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Daniel.”
“I said nothing.”
My phone showed four minutes remaining.
Then Marcus spoke.
“There is something else.”
Daniel’s eyes shot toward him.
Marcus opened his laptop.
“Claire asked us to preserve access logs before disabling Mr. Mercer’s credentials.”
He turned the screen toward me.
“There were several attempts tonight to access the corporate document repository.”
“When?”
“Twenty-three minutes ago.”
I looked at Daniel.
He had been in the kitchen twenty-three minutes earlier.
Alone.
“What were you accessing?”
“Quarterly reports.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
Marcus continued.
“You attempted to access acquisition documents.”
My stomach tightened.
“What acquisition documents?”
Marcus looked at me.
“The confidential Meridian acquisition folder.”
I stared at him.
Meridian.
The same name as the shell consulting company.
That couldn’t be coincidence.
Rebecca saw my reaction.
“Claire?”
“Meridian Consulting.”
Amy understood immediately.
“Oh my God.”
Daniel stepped backward.
I looked at him.
“What did you do?”
He said nothing.
Margaret grabbed his arm.
“Daniel, what are they talking about?”
He pulled away.
Marcus typed quickly.
“There’s more.”
He showed us another login record.
A file had been downloaded.
Not tonight.
Six weeks earlier.
A confidential acquisition proposal.
Hartwell Medical Logistics had spent nine months preparing to acquire a smaller competitor.
Only four people knew the target price.
I was one.
Daniel was another.
If that information had been leaked, someone could use it to sabotage the deal.
Or profit from it.
“Who received the file?” I asked.
Marcus hesitated.
“We don’t know yet.”
Daniel suddenly grabbed his phone.
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Daniel, I strongly recommend you preserve that device.”
He laughed.
“You don’t control my personal property.”
Then he walked toward the hallway.
“Where are you going?” Margaret asked.
“Out.”
I looked at the clock.
Three minutes.
“Good timing.”
He turned.
The rage in his face was gone.
Now there was something colder.
“You have no idea what you just started.”
I looked at him.
“No, Daniel. I think you started it.”
He walked away.
But before he reached the front door, Marcus’s laptop chimed.
Marcus looked at the screen.
Then at me.
“What?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
“Marcus.”
He swallowed.
“The file wasn’t emailed.”
“Then how did it leave?”
“External drive.”
Daniel stopped in the hallway.
Marcus continued.
“And I can tell you which workstation it came from.”
Nobody moved.
“It was copied from Claire’s office.”
My stomach dropped.
Daniel slowly turned around.
And smiled.
“There,” he said softly. “Now maybe you understand.”
I stared at Marcus.
“I didn’t copy it.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because security footage shows someone entering your office that night.”
Daniel’s smile vanished.
Marcus turned the laptop.
A grainy still image filled the screen.
Someone was entering my office at 11:42 p.m.
Not Daniel.
Not me.
A woman.
Older.
Blonde-gray hair.
Margaret.
I looked across the room at my mother-in-law.
Her wineglass slipped from her fingers.
It shattered on the floor.
May you like
And suddenly, the missing $184,000 was no longer the biggest secret at the table.
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