Chapter 10 - A Seat No One Wanted Her to Take
They did not go alone.
They also did not tell Eric that.
Agent Shaw coordinated the operation.
Lorenzo hated every second.
Avery found this surprisingly satisfying.
At 11:58 p.m., she entered the abandoned courier garage wearing a concealed microphone.
Agents waited nearby.
Lorenzo waited farther away because Shaw threatened to arrest him for obstruction if he interfered.
The garage smelled like oil and wet concrete.
Eric Sloane stood beneath a single fluorescent light.
He was fifty-two, thin, balding, and looked exactly as Avery had always known him.
Unremarkable.
That frightened her more than if he had looked like a villain.
"You're late," he said.
"It's 11:58."
Eric smiled faintly.
"Still checking clocks."
"Occupational hazard."
Avery stopped ten feet away.
"Did you reroute me Thursday?"
"Yes."
"Did you restore my mother's account?"
"Yes."
"Did you send the package?"
"Yes."
"Did you threaten me?"
"No."
Avery studied him.
"Who did?"
"I don't know."
"That's convenient."
"It's true."
"Why use me?"
Eric looked almost sad.
"Mary asked me to."
Avery's chest tightened.
"You knew my mother?"
"She worked evening jobs. I managed dispatch then."
"She wasn't a courier."
"No. But your aunt's business had an account."
Avery remembered the template.
Eric continued.
"After Nolan gave her the documents, Mary came to me."
"Why?"
"She needed a way to send them without using her name."
"And you helped?"
"I tried."
"What happened?"
"Someone intercepted the delivery before it reached Antonio Vitali."
"Lorenzo's father was already dead."
"Exactly."
Avery froze.
"What?"
"Mary didn't know."
Eric's voice softened.
"Antonio died unexpectedly. Whoever she spoke to on the number Nolan gave her pretended he was still alive."
Avery felt sick.
"Who?"
"I never knew."
"Riccardo?"
"Maybe."
"Marco?"
"He was young then."
"How young?"
"Twenty-two."
Old enough.
Eric looked toward the darkness.
"Mary realized something was wrong. She hid copies. Then she asked me to keep her account dormant but recoverable."
"Why?"
"She said if anything happened, eventually someone would need the records."
Avery swallowed.
"Why wait six years?"
"Because I was scared."
At least he admitted it.
"Then why now?"
"Because the fraud started again."
"It never stopped."
"Not at this level."
Eric removed a flash drive from his pocket.
Avery didn't move toward it.
"What's on that?"
"Dispatch records."
"From when?"
"Six years ago and now."
"Why didn't you give them to police?"
"Because the last person who did disappeared."
Avery thought of Nolan.
"He's dead."
"Not Nolan."
Avery's stomach tightened.
"Who?"
Eric looked at her.
"Your mother's passenger."
Silence.
Avery stared.
"My mother was alone."
"No."
Police reports said she was alone.
Hospital reports said she was alone.
Her car had been found with one driver's-side airbag deployed.
"Who was with her?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know?"
"I saw them leave."
"Man? Woman?"
"A man."
"Age?"
"Maybe forty."
"Did you recognize him?"
"No."
"Why was he with her?"
"I don't know."
Avery's microphone picked up every word.
Eric stepped closer.
"He came into dispatch that night. Asked for Mary."
Avery's heart pounded.
"What did he say?"
"That he needed to warn her."
"About what?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
Eric held out the flash drive.
"This includes exterior footage from the garage."
"Why wasn't it given to police?"
"I copied it before the server was wiped."
Avery stared.
"Who wiped it?"
"Corporate technician."
"Name."
Eric hesitated.
"Stephen Kessler."
Vitali Holdings CFO.
Another authorized signer.
Avery nearly laughed from the absurdity.
Everyone was connected.
"Why would Vitali's CFO wipe courier footage?"
"He didn't work for Vitali then."
"Where did he work?"
Eric met her eyes.
"Duca Maritime."
There it was.
Avery took the flash drive.
Immediately, a noise sounded behind Eric.
Metal against concrete.
He turned.
A man emerged from the darkness.
Not an agent.
Avery's instincts screamed.
"Eric."
The man raised something.
Before Avery could identify it, the garage flooded with light.
"FBI! HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"
Agent Shaw's team moved.
The stranger ran.
Two agents pursued.
Eric dropped to the ground.
Avery stood frozen until Lorenzo appeared despite being ordered not to.
Of course he did.
He reached her.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
He looked ready to personally argue with gravity.
Agent Shaw stormed toward him.
"I told you to remain outside."
"I did."
"You are inside."
"I was outside until the threat appeared."
Avery interrupted.
"Children."
Both glared at her.
She held up the flash drive.
"This matters more."
The fleeing man escaped through a side exit but abandoned his vehicle.
It was registered to a Duca Maritime subcontractor.
By dawn, federal analysts authenticated Eric's files.
The old video showed Mary Boon leaving dispatch on the night she died.
A man walked beside her.
Forty-ish.
Gray coat.
Face partially obscured.
Lorenzo watched the video three times.
Then paused.
"I know him."
Avery's breath caught.
"Who?"
Lorenzo enlarged the image.
"Stephen Kessler."
The current Vitali CFO.
Avery stared.
Kessler had been with her mother the night she died.
He later joined Vitali Holdings.
He became one of only four people authorized to move large corporate funds.
And he had never mentioned knowing Mary Boon.
Agent Shaw immediately issued a request for questioning.
Kessler disappeared before sunrise.
At nine, Lorenzo's board meeting began.
Avery intended to stay away.
Then Lorenzo called.
"I need you here."
She stood in the hotel mirror.
"Why?"
"Because Marco is presenting the media scandal as evidence I have lost control."
"Have you?"
"Possibly."
Avery smiled despite herself.
"That wasn't the right answer."
"It was the true one."
"Why do you need me?"
A pause.
"Not for the board."
"Then?"
"For me."
Avery stopped moving.
The words weren't dramatic.
That made them more powerful.
She wore the green dress from their dinner.
Not because a stylist selected it.
Because she liked it.
At Vitali headquarters, cameras filled the sidewalk.
Avery entered through the front.
No hiding.
Inside, the boardroom contained fifteen people and a table long enough to host a peace treaty.
Marco Vitali sat near the center.
He resembled Lorenzo around the eyes but carried none of his restraint.
Marco stood.
"So the courier joins the board now?"
Avery looked at the empty chair beside Lorenzo.
"Apparently."
Several directors exchanged glances.
Lorenzo pulled the chair out.
Avery sat.
Marco smiled.
"This is exactly the problem."
"What problem?" Avery asked.
He hadn't expected her to answer.
"This company is being turned into a spectacle."
"By me?"
"By your presence."
Avery looked around.
"Interesting."
"Excuse me?"
"I was outside this world until someone in it dragged me through the door."
Marco's smile faded.
Avery continued.
"If my presence embarrasses you, maybe ask why your company's confidential financial records arrived in my delivery bag."
Nobody spoke.
Marco looked toward Lorenzo.
"This is inappropriate."
"So was stealing nine million dollars," Avery said.
A director coughed.
Lorenzo hid the beginning of a smile.
Marco's face reddened.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Probably."
Avery leaned back.
"But federal investigators seem interested."
That changed the room.
Lorenzo took over.
He presented evidence of shell companies.
The forged historical signatures.
The link to Riccardo.
Kessler's disappearance.
Marco denied everything.
Then Gabriel displayed an authorization from Marco's credentials.
"Credentials can be stolen."
"True," Gabriel said.
"Then prove I signed it."
"We intend to."
The vote to remove Lorenzo was postponed.
Not canceled.
Postponed seventy-two hours while an independent audit began.
Marco stormed out.
As the room emptied, Avery stood.
Lorenzo remained seated.
"What?"
He looked up at her.
"You sat down."
"Most chairs work that way."
"No."
He glanced toward the seat.
"They expected you to stand behind me."
Avery understood.
"Never."
"I know."
There was admiration in his expression.
Not desire alone.
Respect.
That meant more.
Outside the boardroom, Camila waited.
Her face was tense.
"We have a problem."
Avery almost laughed.
"When don't we?"
Camila handed Lorenzo her phone.
A news alert filled the screen.
MISSING VITALI CFO FOUND—AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE ABDUCTION.
Stephen Kessler had been located in an abandoned vehicle.
Alive.
Barely conscious.
He had one message for investigators.
Three words he repeated again and again.
"Mary was right."
Avery looked at Lorenzo.
Whatever happened six years ago had finally begun speaking.
May you like
And someone was desperate to silence it before the postponed board vote.
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