Chapter 2 - The Secret Camille Wouldn’t Tell
Camille woke to sunlight.
For several seconds she had no idea where she was.
Then pain arrived.
Her leg.
Her ribs.
Her face.
Marcus.
Kayla.
She pushed herself upright.
“Kayla?”
The bedroom door opened.
Daniel stepped inside.
Camille recoiled.
“Where is she?”
“Eating pancakes.”
“What?”
“In my kitchen.”
“You left her alone?”
“With Dr. Park.”
Camille stared.
Daniel remained by the door rather than approaching.
That mattered more than she wanted it to.
“Your leg is stabilized,” he said. “Peter wants imaging when you’re stronger.”
“I need to leave.”
“No.”
Her expression sharpened.
Daniel corrected himself.
“You can leave if you want. But you can’t walk.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“With a fractured leg?”
“I’ve figured out worse.”
“I believe you.”
That stopped her.
He placed the USB drive on the dresser.
Camille’s face drained of color.
Daniel watched.
“You know what this is.”
“Yes.”
“You know it belongs to my company.”
“Yes.”
“And you had it sewn into your coat.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Camille looked toward the window.
“No.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“No what?”
“No, I’m not telling you.”
“You appear behind my restaurant carrying encrypted property from my company while someone is hunting you.”
“I didn’t appear behind your restaurant.”
“What does that mean?”
She said nothing.
Daniel stepped closer, then deliberately stopped several feet away.
“Camille.”
“If I tell you, you’ll either think I’m lying or you’ll wish you’d left me in that alley.”
“I don’t frighten easily.”
“You should this time.”
Kayla appeared in the doorway with syrup on her cheek.
“Mommy!”
Camille’s entire face changed.
Kayla ran toward the bed.
Peter caught her gently.
“Easy. Your mom’s ribs.”
Kayla slowed immediately.
“Sorry.”
Camille pulled her close.
“You’re okay?”
Kayla nodded.
“Mr. Daniel has pancakes.”
Daniel looked offended.
“I have a chef.”
“You didn’t this morning.”
Peter coughed to hide a laugh.
Camille looked between them.
Something about the normality of the scene unsettled her more than fear did.
For nearly two years, normal had been dangerous.
Normal meant Marcus buying flowers after breaking a lamp.
Normal meant apologies followed by rules.
Normal meant pretending at preschool pickup that everything was fine.
She could not afford to mistake kindness for safety.
“We’re leaving today,” she told Kayla.
The little girl’s smile disappeared.
Daniel said nothing.
Kayla looked at him, then her mother.
“But Mommy—”
“We’re leaving.”
“Where?”
Camille had no answer.
Kayla knew it.
Children always knew.
“We’ll figure it out.”
Kayla stared at the floor.
Daniel picked up the USB.
“You might want to figure this out first.”
Camille glared.
“Don’t open it.”
“Why?”
“Because the moment you do, someone will know.”
Peter turned.
“What does that mean?”
“The drive reports authentication.”
Daniel studied her.
“How do you know?”
Camille closed her eyes.
There it was.
The mistake.
Daniel caught it immediately.
“You know our encryption system.”
“No.”
“You just described a security feature that six people in my company know exists.”
“I guessed.”
“No.”
Kayla climbed carefully onto the edge of the bed.
“Mommy used to work on computers.”
Camille went still.
Daniel looked at the child.
“Did she?”
Kayla nodded.
“At the big glass building.”
Camille whispered, “Kayla.”
“What?”
“You promised we wouldn’t talk about before.”
The girl’s lower lip trembled.
“I forgot.”
Camille’s anger vanished.
“It’s okay, baby.”
Daniel remained silent.
Camille looked at him.
He waited.
Finally, she exhaled.
“I worked for a contractor.”
“Which contractor?”
“Arcwell Systems.”
Daniel knew the name.
They managed compliance software for three Han Meridian subsidiaries.
“You were a programmer?”
“Forensic accounting.”
Daniel’s attention sharpened.
“I traced irregular transactions.”
“How long?”
“Four years.”
“Under what name?”
“Camille Brooks.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He ignored it.
Camille looked at the USB.
“Six months ago I found duplicate vendor accounts. Same routing numbers, different shell companies. Payments were leaving three of your companies.”
“How much?”
“Initially? Maybe twelve million.”
Daniel’s face remained still.
“Initially?”
“I kept looking.”
“How much?”
“Forty-eight million.”
Peter muttered, “Jesus.”
Daniel did not blink.
“Where did it go?”
“Some overseas. Some into real estate. Some into private consulting accounts.”
“And Marcus?”
Camille looked toward Kayla.
“Not in front of her.”
Daniel nodded.
Peter took the child to the kitchen.
When the door closed, Camille continued.
“Marcus worked security for Arcwell.”
“Corporate?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“He handled problems.”
Daniel understood.
“Who hired him?”
“I never knew.”
“You married a man without knowing who employed him?”
Camille’s expression turned hard.
“He wasn’t like that when I met him.”
Daniel said nothing.
“He was funny. Patient. Good with Kayla. At least at first.”
“At first.”
“Then I found the accounts.”
“And he changed.”
“No.”
Camille looked at him.
“I finally understood what he already was.”
She described the first warning.
Her laptop moved two inches from where she had left it.
A password reset she had not requested.
Marcus asking too casually about work.
Then came the second.
A printed transaction report vanished from her locked desk.
Then the third.
Marcus came home one night and said, “You’ve been working too much.”
Not accusing.
Not threatening.
Smiling.
That was when she became afraid.
“I copied everything,” Camille said. “Put it on that drive. I was going to federal investigators.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Marcus found out.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel did.
Someone inside Han Meridian.
“Why my restaurant?”
Camille hesitated.
“I had an address.”
“What address?”
She looked at him.
“Han House.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“From where?”
“One of the payment files.”
He leaned forward.
“What was attached to it?”
“A note.”
“What did it say?”
Camille swallowed.
“Deliver original ledger to D.H. personally. Rear entrance. Midnight.”
Daniel felt every muscle in his body tighten.
“D.H.”
“Yes.”
“You thought that meant me.”
“What would you have thought?”
He could not answer.
Camille continued.
“I didn’t trust you. But after Marcus found the motel, I had nowhere left. I thought if you were behind it, maybe I could bargain. If you weren’t…”
“You thought I might help.”
“I hoped.”
Daniel stared at the drive.
“You were trying to reach me.”
“Yes.”
“And Marcus knew.”
“I think so.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated again.
This time he looked.
A message from Min.
WE HAVE A PROBLEM.
He left the room.
Min waited in the hall.
“Say it.”
“We pulled everything on Marcus Brooks.”
“And?”
“No Marcus Brooks.”
Daniel frowned.
“Try aliases.”
“We did.”
“Employment?”
“Nothing at Arcwell.”
“Marriage license?”
“Yes. But the Social Security number attached to it belongs to a man who died eleven years ago.”
Daniel’s eyes darkened.
“Photograph?”
Min handed him the phone.
A surveillance still showed Marcus entering a parking garage two months earlier.
Daniel recognized him.
Not personally.
But close enough.
Three years ago, the same man had stood ten feet behind Daniel during a closed meeting in Miami.
Different hair.
Different name.
Security credentials issued by Han Meridian.
Daniel zoomed in on the image.
“What name?”
“Matthew Reed.”
“Who authorized his badge?”
Min hesitated.
Daniel looked up.
“Who?”
“Executive security office.”
“Whose signature?”
Min turned the screen.
Daniel stared.
The digital authorization belonged to someone he had trusted for twelve years.
Victor Cho.
Daniel’s chief operating officer.
His closest friend.
The man currently downstairs entertaining Kayla with a stuffed tiger because he had heard Daniel unexpectedly had a child staying in the penthouse.
Daniel looked toward the elevator.
Then back toward Camille’s room.
May you like
The danger had never been outside his walls.
It was already inside them.
