Chapter 7 - Rachel’s Warning
Rachel looked exhausted.
When Maya entered the private interview room, her friend immediately stood.
“I didn’t do it.”
“I know.”
Rachel’s eyes filled.
“You know?”
“We found the cloned credentials.”
Rachel sat again.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she reached into her coat.
A detective immediately moved.
Rachel froze.
“It’s just a flash drive.”
Maya nodded.
The detective allowed her to place it on the table.
“What’s on it?” Maya asked.
“Why Caleb came back.”
Rachel explained that three weeks earlier, someone had approached her with an offer.
Five million dollars.
All she had to do was provide internal documents capable of supporting Caleb’s ownership claim.
She refused.
Then threats began.
Not against Rachel.
Against her younger brother.
“So I started collecting evidence,” Rachel said.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because they said they had someone close to you.”
Maya went still.
“How close?”
Rachel looked through the glass toward the hallway.
“Family.”
Maya’s blood ran cold.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
The flash drive contained emails, recordings, bank transfers.
The conspiracy was larger than Caleb.
A private investment group wanted NorthStar’s upcoming acquisition to collapse.
If NorthStar’s valuation fell, they could buy distressed shares through intermediaries.
Caleb was simply the public weapon.
Someone else was feeding him information.
And that person had attended Richardson family gatherings.
Maya stared at Rachel.
“You’re certain?”
Rachel nodded.
“There’s a payment account.”
“To whom?”
“We don’t have the name. Just initials.”
“What initials?”
Rachel swallowed.
“D.R.”
Maya felt the room disappear.
David Richardson.
Her brother.
“No.”
Rachel said nothing.
Maya stood.
“No.”
“Maya—”
“My brother works for the company we’re acquiring. That creates a connection. It doesn’t prove anything.”
“I know.”
Maya returned home after midnight.
David was waiting.
So were Robert, Susan and Emily.
Maya looked at her brother.
“Have you ever spoken to Caleb Monroe?”
David frowned.
“No.”
“Have you shared information about me with anyone?”
“No.”
“Think.”
David’s expression changed.
Then he looked sick.
“There was someone.”
Maya’s heart sank.
“Who?”
“A consultant.”
“What consultant?”
“He contacted me two months ago. Said he was doing background research on NorthStar before the acquisition.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing confidential.”
“David.”
“He asked about you.”
The room went silent.
“What did you say?”
David looked ashamed.
“I said you had a history of failed businesses.”
Maya closed her eyes.
“I told him you were secretive. That the family didn’t really know what you did.”
“Anything else?”
“He asked whether you ever had partners.”
Maya opened her eyes.
“And you told him Caleb.”
David’s face answered before his mouth did.
“I’m sorry.”
Maya turned away.
The conspiracy had not needed a traitor.
It only needed a family that had spent ten years assuming the worst about her.
But David had one more thing to say.
“The consultant gave me his card.”
Maya turned.
David retrieved it.
Daniel Pierce examined the name.
His expression changed instantly.
“What?”
Daniel looked at Maya.
“This man doesn’t work for an investment firm.”
“Then who is he?”
Daniel placed the card on the table.
“He works for someone you know.”
“Who?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your first investor.”
Maya stared.
That was impossible.
Her first investor had disappeared after her company collapsed.
May you like
At least, that was what she had believed.
But before dawn, Maya would discover that her first failure had never been an accident at all.
