Chapter 8 - The Name Behind the Initials
Emma stared at the letters until they blurred.
“M.L. Who is that?”
No one answered immediately.
Then Grant said, “We need a list of every manager, vendor, and corporate employee with those initials.”
Eleanor’s phone rang again.
This time it was Michael.
She answered privately and stepped into the corridor.
Emma could hear only pieces.
“No, you stay where you are.”
“…because we don’t know who has access…”
“…Alan knows too much already.”
Then Eleanor stopped talking.
Her eyes shifted toward Emma.
“What did you say?”
A pause.
“Spell the name.”
When the call ended, Eleanor looked older than she had ten minutes earlier.
Grant noticed. “What is it?”
“Michael checked the executive authorization logs from an isolated device. The false approvals were routed through an administrator account.”
“Whose?”
“Marissa Lane.”
Grant swore under his breath.
Emma didn’t know the name.
“Who is she?”
Eleanor looked at her. “Chief Compliance Officer.”
Emma gave a disbelieving laugh. “The person whose job is to stop this?”
“Yes.”
That made the betrayal feel even worse.
Marissa Lane had signed every ethics memo posted in the employee break room. Her name was printed beneath the anonymous hotline number. She was the person workers were told to contact if management threatened them.
Mateo had probably trusted that system.
“How deep does this go?” Emma asked.
“That,” Eleanor said, “is what we’re going to find out.”
Keene closed the binder and placed it into an evidence bag.
“We’ll get warrants for Beacon’s accounts and Lane’s communications.”
A phone rang somewhere in the freezer.
Everyone froze.
It wasn’t Emma’s.
It wasn’t Eleanor’s.
The ringing came from behind a stack of boxes.
Grant moved first. He pulled away two cartons and found a cheap prepaid phone taped to the wall.
The screen showed one incoming call.
UNKNOWN.
Keene lifted one finger. Quiet.
Then she answered and put the call on speaker.
A distorted male voice said, “Emma Carter.”
Emma’s blood went cold.
Keene said nothing.
The voice continued.
“If you want Ruiz back, the girl brings the binder to Pier 7 at midnight. Alone.”
Keene glanced at the evidence bag in her hand.
“You have ninety minutes.”
The line disconnected.
Emma immediately said, “I’m going.”
“No,” Keene, Grant, and Eleanor said at the same time.
Emma looked from one to the next.
“They asked for me.”
“That’s why you’re not going,” Keene said.
Emma’s phone vibrated again.
Another photograph appeared.
May you like
This one showed Mateo on the floor.
Beside him was a digital clock counting down from 01:29:42.
