Chapter 8 - SOMEBODY INSIDE
Lena got Mary out through the service entrance and into an armored company SUV.
“Your location was leaked,” she said. “Only six people knew you were coming.”
Mary watched rain streak across the glass.
“Name them.”
“You. Me. Two guards. Daniel. Arthur.”
“Not my parents?”
“No.”
That hurt worse than it should have.
Because it meant the traitor was close.
Back at headquarters, Daniel took the black phone into evidence.
The messages were still arriving.
Ethan: DELETE THE BACKUPS.
Unknown owner: CAN’T. SHE HAS SECURITY.
Ethan: THEN USE ARTHUR.
Mary read the last line twice.
Arthur Bell had served on the board for twenty-three years. He had been at her high school graduation. He had carried her mother’s coat at her grandmother’s funeral.
Arthur entered the room five minutes later.
“What happened?”
“Someone leaked my location.”
“Who knew?”
Lena answered, “You did.”
“So did you.”
“Enough.”
Mary watched Arthur carefully.
No panic. No defensive joke. Just insult.
Mary almost ignored it.
Vanessa was whispering.
“Ethan came to my apartment.”
“Call the police.”
“I did. He left before they got here.”
“What did he want?”
“The key.”
Mary looked at the empty brass key on the evidence table.
“He thinks you still have it?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa’s breathing shook.
“He also said something about Arthur. He said, ‘Bell will fix the vote.’”
Arthur went completely still.
Mary turned the phone on speaker.
“I asked what vote. He said tomorrow morning. Then he realized he’d said too much.”
“There is no board vote tomorrow.”
“There is now.”
A meeting invitation had been sent to every director at 8:00 a.m.
Topic: EMERGENCY LEADERSHIP CONTINUITY.
“I did not send that.”
Mary felt the room close around her.
Daniel checked the metadata.
May you like
The invitation had been created using Arthur’s credentials.
From a device registered to Robert Caldwell.
