Chapter 10 - The Empty Office
"Who watched it?" I asked.
Bell shook her head. "We have a login and a location. Not a name yet. The remote session came from the executive office."
Someone had stayed behind on purpose.
On Sunday, Miriam got a court order preserving the company's digital records, with an outside technician collecting copies rather than letting either side choose what to hand over. Priya reviewed the first batch. She found consulting invoices charged to the accessibility project, all approved during months when no consulting work had been performed.
"The money didn't vanish," Priya told us by video call. "It moved. You have invoices, wire instructions, and people receiving payments. That's traceable."
"Eighteen months. That's how long I've been saying this."
I apologized again. He looked away.
"Save it for when we can sit somewhere that doesn't smell like disinfectant," he said.
At dusk, a nurse told me someone from my insurance company wanted to arrange a transfer to a private rehabilitation center. Miriam checked the request. It had been submitted by Audrey using the authority in an old health-care proxy, despite my clear instructions to remain at Grayport Memorial.
"I'm staying here," I told the nurse. "Please document that."
That night, Jonah came back with takeout soup and a photograph Nora had given him at graduation. In it, Audrey stood between us, grinning, her arms hooked through ours. We were all younger and convinced there would always be time to fix whatever went wrong.
"Do you think she's afraid?" he asked.
"I think fear has become her excuse for everything."
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His phone vibrated. It was a message from Audrey, the first she'd sent him in a year.
I KNOW WHAT YOU'VE FOUND. COME TO THE BOATHOUSE ALONE, OR DAD WILL LOSE MORE THAN HIS COMPANY.
