Chapter 7 - THE KEY CARD
Evelyn stared at the evidence bag.
“That is not mine.”
The detective nodded. “We checked the issue log. It was created yesterday using your identity.”
“For what building?” Alexander asked.
“Reed Tower.”
Alexander’s corporate headquarters.
The detective continued. “The card accessed the twenty-eighth floor at 11:42 last night.”
“That’s executive records.”
“Exactly.”
Someone had created a false access trail in Evelyn’s name.
If the fraud were discovered, it would look as if Alexander’s elderly mother had broken into company records the night before confronting Victoria.
“They were building a story,” Evelyn said quietly.
Alexander looked at her.
“A confused old woman,” she continued. “Stealing documents. Making accusations. Falling down stairs.”
“And Victoria was supposed to be the victim,” Alexander said.
The detective sealed the bag again. “We need to know who can create executive-level key cards.”
Alexander answered immediately. “Security administration and legal compliance.”
Marcus and Nolan.
Marcus arrived twenty minutes later carrying his laptop and an expression Alexander had never seen before.
“Before you ask, I did not create it.”
“I know.”
Marcus set down the laptop. “But my credentials did.”
The room went quiet.
“Someone logged into the security server under my account at 3:17 yesterday morning.”
“From where?”
Marcus turned the screen.
Nolan Pierce’s law office.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Alexander’s phone buzzed with a news alert.
He looked down.
A photograph of Evelyn being loaded into the ambulance filled the screen.
The headline read:
ELDERLY MOTHER OF BILLIONAIRE IN VIOLENT DISPUTE WITH SON’S GIRLFRIEND.
The article claimed Evelyn had entered the mansion uninvited, threatened Victoria, and fallen while “behaving erratically.”
Victoria’s attorney had released a statement saying she was “deeply concerned for Mrs. Parker’s mental condition.”
Alexander felt rage move through him like heat.
“They’re attacking her before she can testify.”
Evelyn took the phone from his hand.
She read the article slowly.
Then she handed it back.
“Good.”
Alexander stared. “Good?”
“They think I’m weak.”
A small smile touched her bruised face.
“Let them.”
Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered, listened, and looked at Alexander.
“We found Grant.”
“Alive?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In a motel forty miles north.”
Alexander grabbed his coat.
Marcus stopped him.
“There’s a problem.”
May you like
“What?”
“Grant says he won’t talk to you unless your mother comes too.”
