Chapter 6 - Unit B-417
Ortiz would not let me open the storage unit alone.
That was fair.
By then, I did not trust myself around evidence.
The lock clicked at 10:12 the next morning.
Inside were three banker boxes, an old carry-on suitcase, a desk lamp, and Claire's winter coat.
I touched the sleeve before I could stop myself.
"You okay?"
"No."
That was becoming easier to say.
The first box contained company documents.
The second held personal papers.
A sealed envelope addressed to me.
"Photograph first."
Claire would have approved.
The third box contained a portable audio recorder.
Peter made a forensic copy before anyone played it.
File one was Claire dictating notes.
"March fourteenth. Northstar invoices do not match services. Marcus approved all three. Vanessa asked finance to bypass compliance."
"March seventeenth. Daniel won't listen. I pushed too hard. That's on me. But the numbers are still wrong."
File seven was different.
"You don't understand what you're doing."
Claire answered, "I understand exactly what I'm doing."
"Then give us the drive."
"No."
Vanessa said, "Daniel will choose me."
"This isn't high school, Vanessa. It's fraud."
Then Claire said, "Don't touch me."
Ortiz paused before file eight.
The timestamp was eleven minutes later.
"If something happens to me, the board files are copied. Daniel needs to know Marcus is using Northstar to drain the company. Vanessa has the recovery codes."
Then came a sentence I had not expected.
"And Daniel needs to know I was wrong about one thing. Vanessa isn't the only one."
The recording clicked off.
Rachel whispered, "Who else?"
Peter checked the device.
There was one final file.
May you like
It had been deleted.
And someone had tried very hard to make sure it stayed that way.
