Chapter 8 - The Secret Beneath Marsten Property Services
Chloe had imagined returning to Marsten hundreds of times during the short ride downtown.
In none of those versions did forty people stare at her simultaneously.
The leaked story had traveled quickly.
Roman Vale Accuses Employee of Stealing Confidential Records.
The wording was deliberately vague.
Miriam made sure no actual crime was alleged.
But vague accusations were more powerful than precise ones.
People filled the missing spaces themselves.
Chloe kept walking.
Her badge still worked.
That surprised her.
It also worried her.
Alan Pike was waiting outside the elevator.
He looked exactly as he always did.
Navy suit.
Silver tie.
Kind grandfather smile.
“Chloe.”
She stopped.
“Mr. Pike.”
“You gave us quite a scare.”
“I know.”
“Are you all right?”
She almost admired the performance.
“Not really.”
His expression softened.
“I heard about the situation with Mr. Vale.”
Chloe looked down.
“I made a mistake.”
Pike touched her elbow gently.
“We all do.”
The words made her skin crawl.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Of course.”
“Privately.”
His smile remained warm.
“Come upstairs.”
Chloe followed.
Her hidden microphone transmitted everything to Miriam, who waited three blocks away.
Roman was farther.
That had been Chloe’s condition.
If his car appeared anywhere near Marsten, Gabriel would know.
Pike’s office overlooked the city.
Family photographs covered one shelf.
Chloe could not stop looking at them.
People were complicated.
That was something she had once hated.
Monsters would have been easier if they always looked like monsters.
Pike poured coffee.
“No, thank you.”
“Sit.”
She remained standing.
He smiled.
“Still stubborn.”
The comment surprised her.
“You think I’m stubborn?”
“Roman Vale certainly does.”
Chloe allowed her eyes to widen.
Pike noticed.
“I’ve spoken with people.”
“Roman threw me out.”
“So I heard.”
“I shouldn’t have gone with him.”
“No.”
“He scared me.”
Pike walked around the desk.
“What did you give him?”
“Nothing.”
“Chloe.”
“I swear.”
“The paper?”
Her pulse increased.
“What paper?”
Pike’s smile vanished.
Just slightly.
“The one you took from Tommy.”
So there it was.
Chloe pretended fear.
“How do you know about that?”
“Tommy called us.”
“Us?”
Pike realized the mistake.
He corrected smoothly.
“The office. Last night.”
“Why would Tommy call Marsten?”
Pike sat.
“Because some documents from our company were involved.”
“He never mentioned that.”
“He was protecting you.”
Chloe nearly laughed.
Instead she looked down.
“What happens now?”
Pike studied her.
“We help you.”
“How?”
“First, we clear up a system error.”
Chloe forced herself not to react.
“What error?”
“Your employee account has been flagged.”
“For what?”
“A transfer authorization.”
“I didn’t authorize anything.”
“We know.”
Pike turned his computer toward her.
A verification screen.
Exactly what Tommy described.
TRANSFER REJECTION REQUIRED.
Chloe’s face appeared beside it.
“You only need to confirm that you did not initiate this transaction.”
Her heartbeat thudded.
“And then?”
“We correct the record.”
“You need my face?”
“And voice.”
Chloe hesitated.
Pike smiled.
“It protects you.”
Of course it did.
Everything dangerous was always presented as protection.
Chloe leaned toward the screen.
Then stopped.
“What company am I rejecting?”
Pike’s hand tightened.
“Internal matter.”
“I work in accounting.”
“It’s above your level.”
“Then someone above my level should reject it.”
For the first time, the grandfather mask slipped.
“Chloe.”
She met his eyes.
“Why me?”
“Because your credentials were used.”
“By who?”
“We’re investigating.”
“You already know.”
Silence.
Pike stood.
“You’ve had a traumatic night.”
“Yes.”
“You’re confused.”
“No.”
His smile disappeared entirely.
“Complete the verification.”
“No.”
The office door opened.
Two men entered.
Not Marsten employees.
Chloe recognized one from the alley.
Dean had called him Russo’s driver.
Pike sighed.
“This could have been easier.”
Chloe looked at the security camera in the corner.
“You really want to do this inside your own office?”
Pike followed her gaze.
“That camera has been disabled.”
“Not that one.”
She pointed to his computer.
His face changed.
Chloe smiled.
“The compliance server records webcam activity automatically.”
Pike lunged toward the laptop.
Chloe moved first.
She hit a keyboard shortcut.
The screen locked.
Pike grabbed her wrist.
“Password.”
She pulled away.
One of the men moved toward her.
Then every monitor in the office flashed.
AUDIT MODE ENABLED.
Pike froze.
Chloe had triggered the emergency accounting protocol.
Every active session in the building was now mirrored to the compliance archive.
The men stopped.
They had no idea what it meant.
Pike did.
“You stupid—”
“Careful.”
Chloe’s voice shook.
But she remained standing.
“Everything you say is being stored.”
Pike stared at her.
Then laughed.
“You think that saves you?”
“No.”
She glanced toward the office door.
“It buys time.”
The building fire alarm activated.
Not an actual fire.
Miriam had triggered a legal safety inspection through a city contact the moment Chloe enabled audit mode.
Employees began evacuating.
The two men could not drag Chloe through hundreds of witnesses.
Pike knew it.
His face twisted with fury.
“Frank was right about you.”
Chloe backed toward the door.
“What did Frank say?”
“That Roman Vale has a weakness for damaged things.”
The sentence hit harder than she expected.
Chloe opened the door.
“Then Frank still doesn’t understand either of us.”
She joined the evacuation.
Outside, she walked three blocks without looking back.
Miriam’s car pulled beside her.
Chloe got in.
Roman sat in the back.
She stared.
“You were supposed to stay away.”
“I did.”
“You are three blocks away.”
“Four when I arrived.”
Chloe almost yelled at him.
Instead she began laughing.
Pure adrenaline.
Roman looked at her as though he could not decide whether she had lost her mind.
Miriam handed Chloe the laptop.
“Compliance archive is downloading.”
“How much?”
“Everything since September.”
Roman leaned forward.
“Search Gabriel.”
Chloe did.
No direct results.
Then she searched NORTHSTAR.
One hit.
Deleted email.
Sender: Alan Pike.
Recipient: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
Subject: FINAL AUTHORIZATION.
Chloe opened it.
The message contained six words:
HER FACE IS THE LAST KEY.
Below it, Gabriel had replied:
VALE WILL BRING HER TO US.
Roman stared.
“They planned this.”
Miriam nodded.
“From the beginning?”
Chloe thought about the alley.
The unlocked sedan.
Her random choice to hide inside Roman’s car.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“They couldn’t have planned me climbing into Roman’s car.”
Roman looked at her.
“Then what did they plan?”
Chloe searched the archive again.
She found another deleted email.
Two weeks old.
From Gabriel to Pike.
IF BENNETT DISCOVERS TRANSFERS, ROUTE HER TOWARD VALE. HE WILL PROTECT HER. WE CAN USE THAT.
Chloe’s stomach turned.
“They knew I might find it.”
Roman read the email twice.
“Gabriel knew how I would react.”
“He knew you’d protect the witness.”
“Yes.”
“So he wanted me near you.”
Roman nodded.
“Why?”
Miriam scrolled.
Another attachment appeared.
A photograph.
Roman’s father.
Michael.
Gabriel.
All three standing inside Harbor 6 twelve years earlier.
On the back of the scanned photograph was handwriting:
NORTH STAR REQUIRES TWO VALE SIGNATURES.
Chloe looked at Roman.
“Two?”
Roman whispered, “My father and Michael.”
“Both dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then how does Gabriel activate it?”
Roman stared at the photograph.
“He can’t.”
Miriam said, “Unless someone inherited one of their authorization rights.”
Roman turned pale.
“My father’s passed to me.”
“And Michael’s?”
Roman said nothing.
Chloe understood the answer before he gave it.
Michael Vale had never married.
No children.
His estate had gone to his closest surviving blood relative.
Roman.
“You have both.”
Roman nodded slowly.
“So Gabriel doesn’t only need me,” Chloe said.
“No.”
Roman stared toward the towers of downtown Manhattan.
“He needs us together.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Roman answered.
Gabriel’s voice filled the car.
“You finally understand.”
Roman’s hand tightened.
“Where’s Tommy?”
“Alive.”
“And Frank?”
“Impatient.”
Roman’s voice became cold.
“What do you want?”
Gabriel laughed softly.
“The same thing Michael wanted twelve years ago.”
Roman went still.
“What?”
“An end to the Vale empire.”
The call disconnected.
Chloe looked at Roman.
Something in Gabriel’s words had cut deeper than betrayal.
Because whatever was waiting at Harbor 6 was no longer simply about stealing Roman’s empire.
Gabriel believed he was finishing Michael Vale’s work.
May you like
And Roman clearly feared that some part of him might be right.
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