Chapter 2 - Twelve Million Reasons to Run
Arthur Pendleton stepped halfway into the service corridor.
"Harper."
She stared at him.
Dante was beside her.
Arthur couldn't see him from his angle.
"Come here," Arthur said.
Harper didn't move.
Dante spoke quietly.
"Your decision."
That surprised her.
"You aren't going to tell me what to do?"
"I've known you for seven minutes. I'm already fairly certain that wouldn't work."
Under different circumstances, she might have laughed.
Arthur whispered again.
"Harper, please."
That word changed something.
Please.
Not a command.
Fear.
Harper stepped toward the corridor.
Dante followed several feet behind.
Arthur noticed him.
His face collapsed.
"Dante."
"Arthur."
Harper folded her arms.
"You stole my drive."
Arthur shook his head immediately.
"I didn't."
"You sent the photograph."
"No."
"You knew what I found."
"Yes."
The answer silenced her.
Arthur glanced toward the ballroom.
"We can't talk here."
Dante's expression remained unreadable.
"Then choose somewhere."
Arthur swallowed.
"Private lounge upstairs."
They went together.
Harper refused to surrender her phone.
She also refused to walk between the men.
Nobody argued.
The private lounge was empty.
Arthur locked the door.
Harper immediately objected.
"Unlock it."
Arthur did.
Dante noticed.
Something like approval passed through his eyes.
"Start talking," Harper said.
Arthur poured himself water.
His hand shook.
"I didn't create Vanguard."
"But your wife's trust received the money."
"I know."
"You expect me to believe twelve million dollars accidentally wandered into your marriage?"
"No."
Arthur turned.
"I expect you to believe I was being used."
Dante leaned against the wall.
"By whom?"
Arthur looked at him.
"Someone inside your company."
Silence.
Dante straightened.
Harper felt the story shift beneath her feet.
Arthur explained.
Two years earlier, he'd discovered irregular transactions.
Someone with high-level authorization inside Lombardi Holdings was approving false vendor contracts.
Arthur had confronted the person.
That had been his mistake.
"They told me the money would pass through accounts connected to Evelyn," Arthur said. "If I reported anything, every document would point toward me."
Harper stared.
"You let it continue for two years?"
Arthur's eyes filled with shame.
"Yes."
"That's not being innocent, Arthur."
"I know."
"You signed reconciliations."
"I know."
"You let employees certify false numbers."
"I know."
His voice cracked.
"I know."
Harper had wanted him to deny it.
Strangely, his admission was worse.
Dante asked, "Who threatened you?"
Arthur shook his head.
"I never met them directly."
"Then how did they communicate?"
"Encrypted messages."
"Show me."
Arthur took out his phone.
Empty.
Everything deleted.
"Of course," Harper muttered.
Arthur looked at her.
"I started preserving copies."
"Where?"
His gaze dropped.
"The drive you found."
Harper frowned.
"My drive?"
"I swapped it."
"What?"
Arthur reached inside his jacket.
He removed a black encrypted drive identical to Harper's.
Harper stared.
"The one stolen downstairs wasn't yours," Arthur said.
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Arthur continued.
"I saw you discover the accounts this afternoon. I knew whoever was watching me would see it too. At the gala, I switched your drive while you were speaking to a client."
Harper's anger rose.
"You went into my purse?"
"Yes."
"Arthur."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"Don't make decisions for me and call it protection."
Arthur flinched.
She held out her hand.
"My drive."
He gave it to her.
Dante looked at it.
"What exactly is on there?"
Harper answered.
"Four years of transactions."
Arthur added, "And six months of messages."
Dante's composure finally cracked.
"You had evidence identifying someone inside my company and said nothing?"
"I had suspicions."
"Name."
Arthur hesitated.
Harper noticed.
"Arthur."
He looked at her.
"I don't know whether the name is real."
"Say it."
Arthur whispered:
"Gabriel."
Dante's face changed.
Harper caught it immediately.
"You know him."
Dante walked toward the window.
"Gabriel Lombardi is my cousin."
Arthur closed his eyes.
Harper stared at Dante.
"Does he work for you?"
"Chief operating officer."
That wasn't a crack inside the company.
That was the foundation.
Harper inserted the drive into Arthur's laptop.
Encrypted folders appeared.
Arthur entered a password.
Messages filled the screen.
Most were instructions.
Transfer amounts.
Account numbers.
Dates.
Then Harper saw something else.
A spreadsheet labeled:
HAYES_RECON.
Her surname.
She clicked.
Arthur stood abruptly.
"Don't."
Too late.
The document opened.
It contained a detailed record of Harper's work schedule.
Her office arrival times.
Her client assignments.
Her gala attendance.
Even the time she had accessed the Vanguard files that afternoon.
Someone had been tracking her.
Dante leaned toward the screen.
"This was created six weeks ago."
Harper's stomach turned.
"But I didn't discover Vanguard until today."
Exactly.
Someone had expected her to.
Arthur whispered, "Harper wasn't an accident."
Dante looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Arthur said nothing.
Harper scrolled.
At the bottom was another entry.
PHASE TWO: HAYES WILL FIND THE DISCREPANCY.
Beneath it:
LOMBARDI WILL APPROACH HER.
Dante's expression hardened.
Harper suddenly understood.
Someone hadn't merely stolen twelve million dollars.
Someone had designed tonight.
Her discovery.
Dante's approach.
Everything.
Then the laptop chimed.
A new encrypted message appeared.
Arthur backed away.
"That's impossible."
Harper opened it.
Three words appeared on the screen.
HELLO, HARPER HAYES.
Then another line began typing itself.
NOW ASK DANTE WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER.
Harper stopped breathing.
Behind her, Dante whispered:
"No."
May you like
She slowly turned toward him.
He knew the name she hadn't even said yet.
