Chapter 12 - The Name on the Deleted File
One copy went to federal investigators.
One to Gabriel's attorney.
The third went somewhere only Madison knew.
Voss called that evening.
Gabriel put him on speaker.
“Richard.”
“You've made this unnecessarily difficult.”
“You tried to kill one of my employees.”
“A regrettable escalation.”
Madison's face hardened.
Gabriel's voice became ice.
“You loosened that railing?”
“No.”
“Trevor?”
“Yes.”
“And you paid him.”
“Yes.”
The casual admission stunned Madison.
Voss continued.
“But Trevor became unreliable.”
“You killed him.”
Silence.
Then:
“He made choices.”
Gabriel looked at Madison.
Her eyes filled with anger.
“Where are you?”
Voss laughed.
“You know better.”
“No. You know better. This ends one way.”
“Does it?”
Then Voss said something that changed everything.
“Ask Madison why her name appears on the final deleted manifest.”
Gabriel looked at her.
Madison frowned.
“What?”
Voss disconnected.
They searched the recovered files.
There it was.
M. HAYES.
Authorization code attached to a stolen shipment.
Madison went pale.
“I didn't do that.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because whoever framed you made a mistake.”
Gabriel pointed to the timestamp.
3:17 a.m.
The night the authorization was entered, Madison had been in the emergency room after her fall.
Someone had used her credentials while she was hospitalized.
That meant the sabotage served two purposes.
Remove Madison.
Then blame the theft on her.
Gabriel looked at the timestamp.
3:17.
Something about it bothered him.
Then he remembered.
The same time appeared on another file.
Trevor's payment authorization.
3:17 a.m.
Someone had automated both transactions.
They traced the terminal.
Not Voss's office.
Mercer's.
Madison closed her eyes.
“Daniel.”
Gabriel wasn't convinced.
“Too obvious.”
They pulled access logs.
At 3:11 a.m., someone entered Mercer's office.
Badge ID:
VICTOR DELORENZO.
Gabriel stared.
May you like
His uncle hadn't merely known.
He had been inside Center Seven the night Madison fell.
