Chapter 9 - Mr. Fox
Mark carried the stuffed fox to the kitchen table like it was evidence in a murder trial.
Chloe showed us the tiny zipper in the back.
Inside was the blue drive.
Detective Ruiz took the drive into evidence, but Mark insisted Alan Pierce be present when a forensic copy was made.
By afternoon, we had our first look.
The drive contained thousands of files.
Invoices.
Bank transfers.
Audio notes from Mark's father.
Scanned signatures.
And one folder labeled CONTINGENCY.
The first document made Mark swear.
It was a draft of the same temporary executive authority form.
Created eleven months earlier.
The second was a private investigator report on our family.
Chloe's school.
My gym.
Mark's morning coffee stop.
Our pediatrician.
The final page had a section called PRESSURE POINTS.
Under Mark's name:
CHILD - EXTREME EMOTIONAL VULNERABILITY.
I could barely breathe.
Dave stood behind us.
"She studied your family like a target."
Mark kept scrolling.
Then he found an audio file dated two days before his father's death.
His father's voice filled the room.
"If you hear this, Vanessa has refused to stop. The amounts are bigger than I first believed. She has used Mark's credentials. If this reaches the board, she will try to make him look responsible."
The recording continued.
"I love my daughter. But love does not mean helping someone destroy everyone around them."
Then another voice entered the recording.
Vanessa.
"You would really send me to prison?"
"Yes."
"You'd choose Mark over me?"
"This is not about choosing children."
A chair scraped.
Vanessa's voice became colder.
"Then maybe Mark should learn what it feels like to lose something."
The audio ended.
Then Alan clicked a spreadsheet.
A list of scheduled transfers appeared.
One was dated tomorrow.
$3.8 million to Alder Ridge Consulting.
Authorized by Mark Bennett.
Mark stared at it.
"If that transfer clears, it makes me look like I'm still stealing."
Alan nodded.
"And the bank instruction can only be stopped in person by the acting CEO."
May you like
Mark's phone buzzed.
BOARD NOTICE: Vanessa Bennett appointed interim CEO pending emergency review.
