“Who owns it?”
“We haven't been able to determine that.”
Elise stared at the seatback in front of her.
“What about Cynthia Hale?”
Daniel went silent again.
“You know who she is.”
“No.”
“I’ve heard the name.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
He exhaled.
“Call me when you land.”
The line disconnected.
Elise stared at the phone.
Then she noticed something under the armrest.
A small folded paper.
She opened it.
Three words were written in black ink.
YOU TRUST HIM.
Below them was a second line.
YOU SHOULDN’T.
Elise immediately looked toward the aisle.
No one was there.
She unfolded the paper completely.
On the reverse side was a photograph.
A warehouse.
A door.
And Cynthia Hale standing beside it.
The timestamp was from earlier that evening.
An hour before Cynthia had boarded Flight 247.
Elise turned the picture over again.
On the bottom corner was a handwritten number.
2A.
Chapter 3
Elise arrived at the Meridian headquarters before sunrise.
The lobby lights were on.
Security guards stood near every elevator.
The building felt less like her company and more like a crime scene.
Daniel was waiting upstairs.
He looked exhausted.
“You came straight here?”
“You should sleep.”
“Not before you explain the four hundred and eighty million.”
He nodded.
“I expected that.”
They entered the executive conference room.
Daniel closed the blinds.
“The transfer was authorized through the executive treasury portal.”
“Using my credentials.”
“Biometric?”
Elise stared at him.
“My fingerprint?”
“No. Facial verification.”
She went still.
“My face wasn't here.”
“That’s the problem.”
“How can the system approve my face if I wasn’t in the building?”
“We’re investigating.”
“Who has the emergency override?”
“Three people.”
“Names.”
“Me. General Counsel Rachel Kim. And you.”
“Rachel is missing.”
Daniel blinked.
“Her car wasn't at home this morning.”
“When did you hear that?”
“Her husband called me.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Rachel hasn't been in contact with anyone?”
Elise paced toward the window.
“So three people had access. One of them is missing. One says he didn’t do it. And one is me.”
Daniel watched her.
“You think I did this?”
“I think someone wants me to think you did.”
He nodded slowly.
“That’s fair.”
Elise turned.
“Where is Lena?”
“Still unreachable.”
“Then find her.”
“She’s not answering anyone.”
A security officer knocked.
Elise looked over.
He entered carrying a cardboard box.
“We recovered this from the old Chicago facility.”
Her eyes fixed on it.
“Personal effects.”
“Whose?”
Elise opened the box.
Inside were photographs, a broken watch, three notebooks, and a folder marked M.H.
The first document was an employment record.
Marcus Hale.
Elise stopped.
Cynthia’s brother.
She read the page.
Former Meridian senior trader.
Dismissed eighteen months earlier.
Reason: breach of internal risk controls.
Elise remembered him.
Not personally.
But she remembered the case.
A young trader accused of moving money through unauthorized structures.
She had approved the termination.
She had never met him.
Daniel watched her face.
“You knew him.”
“I knew his case.”
“Then you know why Cynthia is here.”
Elise closed the folder.
“I don't know why she’s here.”
“Maybe revenge.”
“Maybe.”
The security officer cleared his throat.
“There’s more.”
He handed her one of the notebooks.
The first several pages were handwritten numbers.
Dates.
Account codes.
Names.
Elise flipped through them.
Then she found a sentence underlined three times.
THE MONEY NEVER LEFT MERIDIAN.
She looked at Daniel.
He didn't answer.
She turned another page.
Another sentence.
NORTHSTAR IS NOT A BUYOUT. IT IS A TRANSFER.
The room became silent.
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed almost immediately.
He listened.
Then looked at Elise.
“Someone accessed the server.”
“Two minutes ago.”
“From where?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Your office.”
Elise grabbed her phone and headed for the door.
Daniel followed.
“Elise, security is already there.”
They reached her office.
The door stood open.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Her desk was exactly as she'd left it.
Her computer was locked.
The drawers were closed.
Then Elise saw the framed photograph on her bookshelf.
It had been moved.
An inch.
She crossed the room and lifted it.
Behind the frame was a rectangular empty space.
Someone had removed a file.
“What was here?” Daniel asked.
Elise’s face tightened.
“Nothing.”
“You're sure?”
But she wasn't.
Not anymore.
Because three days earlier, she had placed a sealed envelope behind that frame.
A document given to her by an elderly former Meridian partner named Arthur Bell.
The envelope contained one page.
Arthur had told her:
“Whatever happens, don't let anyone copy this.”
Elise had never opened it.
She had assumed it was irrelevant to Northstar.
Now it was gone.
Her phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared.
The missing envelope.
Open.
Inside was the one page.
Underneath the image was a message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE READ IT BEFORE YOU BOARDED.
Chapter 4
Cynthia Hale was waiting in the parking garage.
Elise saw her before the security team did.
She stood beside a black sedan with her hands in the pockets of her coat.
“Elise.”
“How did you get in here?”
“I didn't.”
Cynthia nodded toward the stairwell.
“I was waiting outside.”
“You were arrested.”
“I wasn't arrested.”
“You were removed from my flight.”
“And you survived the inconvenience.”
Elise walked closer.
“You used my corporate authorization.”
“Your boarding pass says otherwise.”
“I didn't create that boarding pass.”
“Then who did?”
Cynthia looked at her.
“You're finally asking the right question.”
Security officers appeared behind Elise.
Cynthia raised her hands.
“I’m not here to fight.”
Cynthia reached into her coat slowly.
She pulled out a photograph.
Elise didn't take it.
“What is that?”
“Your father.”
Elise froze.
“My father has been dead for nine years.”
“Why are you showing me his photograph?”