Chapter 11 - The Man Who Signed EverythingAdrian Pike agreed to speak to the board's audit committee only after Tessa notified him of the surveillance records. He arrived with his own attorney and a face full of injured innocence.

"I supervise hundreds of stores," he said. "You cannot expect me to recognize every customer or vendor."

I projected the video of his meeting with Vivian and Marcus. "What did you give her?"

"A customer-service briefing."

"With my photograph?"

"I can't confirm the contents from that angle."

Tessa placed the emergency deletion order beside him. "Your credentials authorized this purge."

"My office coordinates system maintenance."

"At midnight after a complaint was filed?"

Adrian's lawyer advised him not to answer.

Dad watched with the patience of a man being forced to listen to every warning he'd ignored. When the meeting ended, he requested Adrian's immediate removal from data-access responsibilities pending an independent review. The committee voted four to one in favor.

The dissenting vote belonged to board chair Evelyn Cross. She'd been Grandpa's friend for thirty years and had always brought me a bookstore gift card at Christmas.

"We should not ruin a man's career on suspicion," she said.

"No one is convicting him," I answered. "We're protecting evidence."

She gave me a sad little smile. "You sound so young."

"I am young. That doesn't make the footage disappear."

After the meeting, Evelyn touched my arm. "Your grandfather would hate this spectacle."

"Grandpa hated people being pushed around."

"He also understood loyalty," she said, then walked away.

At home, Dad opened the drawer where Grandpa's keys were kept. It was empty. Only a pale rectangular patch on the velvet showed where the old leather key case had lain.

Dad checked the lock, then the desk camera. At 6:12 that morning, someone had entered his study with a maintenance badge.

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The visitor turned toward the camera for a split second.

It was Evelyn Cross.