Chapter 5 - THE MAN INSIDE MY COMPANYEmergency lights flickered on three seconds later.
Three seconds can be a very long time when you have just learned somebody may have spent years infiltrating your company.
Monroe pushed Rachel and me behind the living-room wall.
“Stay here.”
Officers moved upstairs.
The alarm continued shrieking.
A second officer ran toward the electrical room.
Then, as abruptly as the lights had vanished, they returned.
“What happened?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
Five minutes later, Monroe came downstairs.
“No intruder.”
“Then why the alarm?”
“One upstairs window opened.”
“By who?”
“We’re checking.”
The window was in the guest bedroom Vanessa had used as a dressing room.
Nothing appeared stolen.
But sitting on the windowsill was a white envelope.
My name was written across it.
THOMAS.
Monroe had it photographed and opened carefully.
Inside was one piece of paper.
MONDAY. VOTE NO AND EVERYONE GOES HOME.
Rachel read it twice.
“Vote no on what?”
I knew.
The waterfront redevelopment project.
For two years, Halston Development had negotiated with the city to redevelop forty-eight acres of abandoned industrial land along the river.
Hotels.
Housing.
Parks.
Retail.
A medical campus.
The project would transform the eastern waterfront.
It would also make billions over twenty years.
The final board authorization was Monday morning.
If someone wanted Halston removed from the project, sabotaging that vote could do it.
Stephen looked at me.
“Who benefits if we withdraw?”
“A lot of companies.”
“Which one most?”
I thought about the competitors.
One stood above the rest.
Blackridge Capital.
Aggressive.
Private.
Almost impossible to research.
They had bid against us during the initial selection process.
We beat them narrowly.
“What do you know about Blackridge?” Monroe asked.
“Not much.”
“Owners?”
“Investment funds.”
“Names?”
“Layers of entities.”
She looked at Stephen.
“Find them.”
By three in the morning, we moved to Daniel’s home.
I refused sleep.
Instead I sat at his kitchen table with Rachel, Stephen, Elena, and two laptops.
We reconstructed four years of strange coincidences.
Jonathan Reese joined Halston Development.
Six months later, we began bidding for the waterfront project.
Vanessa appeared at my charity event eighteen months after that.
Marcus became a consultant through one of our vendors.
Dr. Bell entered my life months before final approval.
Nothing looked connected individually.
Together, it looked like architecture.
“This wasn’t romance fraud,” Rachel said.
“No,” Elena replied. “It was corporate sabotage.”
“And my father was the door.”
Nobody said anything.
Because it was true.
At four fifteen, Stephen received the corporate ownership report.
Blackridge Capital was held through multiple funds.
One fund’s managing director was a man named Adrian Voss.
I knew the name.
I just couldn’t remember why.
Then Rachel did.
“Dad.”
She turned her laptop toward me.
A photograph appeared.
Adrian Voss, sixty-three, silver-haired, standing beside city officials at a development conference.
Twenty-seven years earlier, he had been my business partner.
I stared at the screen.
“Jesus.”
“You know him?”
“Used to.”
“What happened?”
“We built our first major shopping center together.”
“And?”
“He falsified invoices.”
Rachel stared.
“What did you do?”
“I confronted him.”
“Then?”
“He threatened to destroy the company if I exposed him.”
“So you exposed him?”
“Yes.”
Voss lost his partnership.
He avoided prison because prosecutors couldn’t prove enough of the fraud, but his reputation collapsed locally.
He disappeared from commercial development for almost a decade.
Then apparently rebuilt himself through private equity.
Rachel leaned back.
“This is revenge.”
“Maybe.”
Elena shook her head.
“Revenge doesn’t explain spending years infiltrating Halston.”
“Money does.”
I looked at the waterfront project.
Blackridge had tried twice to challenge our selection.
Both attempts failed.
If Halston collapsed or withdrew before final execution, Blackridge could pressure the city to reopen negotiations.
Marcus.
Vanessa.
Jonathan.
Dr. Bell.
They weren’t random criminals.
They were tools.
At six thirty, the sun came up.
At seven, Monroe called.
The fingerprints on the envelope didn’t identify anyone.
But the home-security system had captured something.
A maintenance contractor entered my property two days earlier.
His work order claimed he was inspecting the heating system.
Nobody at Halston had requested it.
The contractor’s company had been paid by a Blackridge subsidiary.
Now we had a line.
Not proof.
But a line.
At eight thirty, Jonathan Reese called me.
I looked at the phone ringing across Daniel’s kitchen table.
Nobody spoke.
Elena whispered, “He doesn’t know we suspect him.”
I answered normally.
“Jonathan.”
“Thomas. Thank God.”
He sounded concerned.
Convincingly concerned.
“I heard about yesterday. Are you okay?”
“Not particularly.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“Probably not.”
He hesitated.
“I’m calling about Monday.”
Of course.
“The board is worried.”
“About what?”
“Your health.”
I almost smiled.
“My health?”
“Thomas, please don’t take this personally.”
“How should I take it?”
“Dr. Bell contacted Walter.”
There it was.
“The board chairman?”
“Yes.”
“Why would my doctor contact my board chairman?”
“He believes you may not be capable of handling Monday’s vote.”
I looked at Rachel.
Her jaw tightened.
Jonathan continued.
“I’m your friend.”
“No. You’re my chief operating officer.”
“And I’m trying to protect what you built.”
“By removing me?”
“Nobody said removal.”
“Then what are you suggesting?”
“A temporary medical leave.”
“How convenient.”
Silence.
Then Jonathan’s voice changed.
Just slightly.
“You should think carefully, Thomas.”
“I am.”
“The waterfront deal could collapse.”
“Then we’ll handle it.”
“There are investors who won’t wait.”
“Who?”
Another pause.
“People with a lot at stake.”
I let silence grow.
Jonathan finally said, “Monday morning. Nine o’clock. Please don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
He hung up.
Elena looked at me.
“He just threatened you.”
“No.”
I placed the phone down.
“He warned me.”
“Difference?”
“A threat tells you what someone wants you to fear.”
“A warning?”
I looked toward the sunrise.
“Tells you what they fear.”
Jonathan feared Monday.
That meant Monday still mattered.
Which meant they hadn’t won.
I turned to Stephen.
“Call every board member personally.”
“What do I say?”
“Nothing about Vanessa.”
“Then what?”
“Tell them Monday’s meeting is proceeding.”
Elena stared.
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
“Thomas, that’s exactly where they want you.”
“No.”
I looked at the USB lying inside its evidence bag.
“They want a confused old man they can control.”
I stood.
“They’re getting the man who built the company they’ve spent four years trying to steal.”
Rachel gave me a long look.
Then she smiled for the first time since the wedding.
It lasted only seconds.
Because Detective Monroe called again.
This time her voice was different.
“Thomas, we found Dr. Bell.”
“Good.”
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
May you like
“What happened?”
“He’s missing.”
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