Chapter 9 - A Father With Two Graves
Adrian didn't speak for almost a minute. He sat on the terminal steps holding the picture so carefully it might tear under his fingers.
"My mother buried him," he said finally. "I carried the flowers."
Eli crouched opposite him. "There was a funeral. That doesn't tell you who was in the coffin."
"What are you suggesting?"
"That Thomas Vale helped expose the Bellwether transfers and disappeared before Conrad could silence him."
I watched Adrian struggle between wanting the story to be true and hating the man who would have abandoned him. There was no clean side to that kind of hope.
"Why tell us now?" Jo asked Eli.
"Because someone has started paying witnesses again. I traced two payments to Pelican Harbor. Your father's account is being used to wash the money, Mara. They're turning a dead man's name into a weapon."
Adrian stood. "Then we stop tomorrow's transfer."
"Today," Jo corrected. The sky above the river had begun to gray. "It's already after six."
We drove to Vale Systems headquarters. Adrian used his badge to open the underground garage and led us to an empty conference room. On the wall, his company's mission statement promised TRUST AT SCALE. Jo took a picture.
"Don't," Adrian said.
"I need evidence of the irony."
He almost smiled. Then his computer denied his login.
ACCESS REVOKED. BOARD DIRECTIVE.
A second line appeared: EMPLOYEE UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR MISAPPROPRIATION.
"They've framed you," I said.
"Not yet. They're setting the table."
He called his compliance officer, Nora Blake. She answered on the first ring and sounded out of breath. "Adrian, don't come upstairs. Vanessa's here with a lawyer and two detectives. They say you stole the Bellwether reserve."
"Can you freeze the transfer?"
"I tried. Somebody changed the authorization path."
"Who?"
A crack sounded through the phone. Nora gasped. We heard a chair scrape and a man say, "Give me that."
May you like
Then the line went silent.
On Adrian's monitor, a countdown appeared: TRANSFER RELEASE IN 01:12:09.
