Chapter 10 - The Man Who Called
Mark Ellison denied everything.
Sergeant Ruiz interviewed him for three hours.
His attorney emerged and told reporters the identification was mistaken.
But the convenience-store footage showed a man of Mark’s height and build purchasing a prepaid phone in cash.
His credit-card records placed him at the gas station next door twelve minutes later.
Rachel said, “Circumstantial.”
Daniel replied, “It’s him.”
“Probably. Courts prefer more than probably.”
Ruiz found more.
The prepaid phone had connected twice to Ashford Development’s Manhattan Wi-Fi before the gala.
Someone inside the company had activated it.
Mark claimed anyone could have.
Nathan called a press conference.
Daniel watched from his apartment.
“My brother,” Nathan said solemnly, “is attempting to distract from serious allegations by attacking respected employees.”
Daniel turned off the television.
Sophie looked up from the sofa.
“Uncle Nathan lies differently than Victoria.”
Daniel paused.
“How?”
“Victoria smiles.”
He sat beside her.
“And Nathan?”
“He looks sad.”
Daniel thought about that for a long time.
That afternoon Mark requested a private meeting.
Rachel refused to let Daniel go alone.
They met in Rachel’s office.
Mark looked exhausted.
“I bought the phone.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“For Nathan?”
Mark nodded.
“Why?”
“He said he needed an anonymous employee hotline test.”
Rachel raised an eyebrow.
“You believed that?”
“No.”
“Then why do it?”
Mark looked down.
“Because Nathan knows something about me.”
“Blackmail?”
Mark nodded.
Years earlier, Mark had authorized improper entertainment expenses during a merger negotiation.
Not criminal.
Embarrassing.
But Nathan had records suggesting Mark concealed them from the audit committee.
“He told me he could end my career.”
Daniel’s anger rose.
“You helped frame me because you were afraid of losing your job?”
“I didn’t know what the phone would be used for.”
“You bought a burner phone for a man you knew was blackmailing you.”
“I made a terrible decision.”
Daniel stood.
Rachel said, “Sit.”
He did.
Barely.
Mark continued.
“After the gala began, Nathan took the phone.”
“You saw him call?”
“No.”
“Then this does not clear you.”
“I know.”
“Why tell us?”
Mark’s eyes met Daniel’s.
“Because I recovered more than the deleted audit files.”
Daniel stopped.
Mark removed a flash drive.
“There was a hidden archive.”
Rachel did not touch it.
“What’s on it?”
“Remote-access logs, payment approvals, and internal chat fragments.”
“Nathan?”
“Yes.”
“Victoria?”
Mark hesitated.
“Yes.”
Daniel felt the room tighten.
Mark placed the drive on the table.
“I made a copy before Nathan revoked my access.”
Rachel asked, “Where is the original?”
“On the company disaster-recovery server.”
“Still intact?”
“For now.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Why didn’t you take this to the board?”
Mark laughed bitterly.
“Nathan controls the board agenda. Two directors have already retained separate counsel.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
Ruiz.
He answered.
“We have a warrant for company records,” she said.
“Good.”
“Do not interfere.”
“I won’t.”
He meant it.
For once.
The hidden archive contained an internal message dated eight months earlier.
NATHAN: We need a domestic trigger with independent witnesses.
VICTORIA: He will react if Sophie is involved.
NATHAN: Not serious injury.
VICTORIA: Obviously.
NATHAN: Cameras need clean angle.
VICTORIA: I know where.
Daniel read the exchange in silence.
Rachel’s face was pale.
Another message:
VICTORIA: What about the drink?
NATHAN: Only enough to keep her upstairs.
VICTORIA: She hates orange juice.
NATHAN: Then make her thirsty.
Daniel pushed away from the desk.
Rachel whispered, “There it is.”
It was not yet authenticated.
But there it was.
A plan involving Sophie.
A drugged drink.
A provoked assault.
Cameras.
Daniel’s hands shook.
The next message had been sent thirty minutes before the gala.
NATHAN: M will call at 9:31. Police scheduled to respond after 9:50.
VICTORIA: That’s too close.
NATHAN: You only need five minutes.
VICTORIA: And if Sophie refuses?
NATHAN: Improvise.
Daniel stopped reading.
Victoria had improvised.
The juice.
The slap.
Daniel.
Rachel said, “We give this to Ruiz now.”
They did.
By evening, search warrants were executed at Ashford Development headquarters.
Nathan publicly called them “politically motivated harassment.”
Mark was suspended.
Victoria stopped answering reporters.
Daniel thought the balance had finally shifted.
Then Rachel received an email from opposing counsel.
She read it and went pale.
“What?”
Daniel asked.
“Nathan’s lawyers produced your 2019 agreement covering his original four-hundred-twenty-thousand-dollar theft.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“They have a copy?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Rachel looked at him.
“You gave Nathan one.”
Daniel remembered.
Of course he had.
Nathan’s lawyers were asserting that the document proved Daniel knowingly concealed corporate misappropriation.
Worse, the agreement contained Daniel’s handwritten sentence:
No board disclosure will be required if full repayment occurs.
Rachel looked at him.
“This may expose you to a shareholder claim for breach of fiduciary duty.”
Daniel stared at his own words.
Emily had warned him.
Rachel had warned him.
May you like
Every time Daniel had rescued Nathan from consequences, he had built another weapon for his brother.
And now Nathan had pointed the oldest one directly at his heart.
