"I'm handling the documents."

"What documents?"

"The ones you gave me."

A brief silence followed.

Then Victor's voice changed.

"Listen carefully. I need you to leave the warehouse immediately."

"Why?"

"Because this arrangement has changed."

"What arrangement?"

"Richard, don't play games with me."

Richard felt his stomach tighten.

"You told me to bring the case here."

"I told you to hold it. I did not authorize you to show anyone what was inside."

Daniel moved closer to the phone.

"Mr. Kane, my name is Daniel Cross. We need to discuss the financial records."

The silence that followed was longer.

Then Victor laughed softly.

"Daniel. I wondered when you would appear."

Daniel's expression did not change.

"You knew I was coming?"

"I know many things."

"Then you know that these documents raise serious questions."

"Documents raise questions every day."

"These ones contain evidence that appears to contradict the reports your company gave investors."

Victor sighed theatrically.

"You investigators love dramatic language. You take incomplete information, build a story around it, and pretend that complicated business decisions are crimes."

Daniel replied calmly.

"That is why we examine original records."

"Original records can be misleading, too."

"Then you should have no problem explaining them."

Victor did not answer immediately.

Richard watched Daniel with growing concern.

The conversation was becoming a confrontation, and neither man appeared willing to retreat.

Finally, Victor spoke again.

"Richard, I am giving you one last opportunity to make a sensible decision."

Richard tightened his grip on the phone.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you should leave the case where it is and go home."

"I can't do that."

"Of course you can."

"No," Richard said. "I can't."

Victor's voice became colder.

"Think about your reputation. Your company. Your employees. Everything you have spent your life building."

Richard closed his eyes briefly.

"I am thinking about those things."

"Then act like it."

Richard looked at the documents on the table.

For years, he had treated his reputation as something that had to be protected at almost any cost.

He had feared scandal, embarrassment, and professional failure.

Victor understood those fears.

He had used them repeatedly.

But the documents in front of Richard represented something larger than his own career.

They represented people who had trusted the company and lost their savings.

They represented employees who had been pressured to falsify records.

They represented a system in which powerful people believed that ordinary families could be sacrificed to protect a business deal.

Richard opened his eyes.

"My reputation is not worth more than the truth."

Victor said nothing.

Richard continued.

"If I made mistakes, I will answer for them. But I will not help you hide what happened."

The line went silent.

Then Victor spoke in a quiet voice.

"You have no idea what you've just done."

The call ended.

Daniel looked at Richard.

"Now he knows we have the records."

Richard placed the phone on the table.

"Was that a mistake?"

Daniel glanced at the entrance.

"It may have made the situation more dangerous."

He gathered the folders.

"But keeping the truth hidden would have been a different kind of mistake."

Neither man noticed the shadow moving past the warehouse window.

PART FOUR: THE THIRD MAN

Chapter 7: The Figure Outside

A faint sound came from the far side of the warehouse.

Daniel immediately stopped moving.

Richard looked toward him.

"What is it?"

"Stay where you are."

Daniel turned off the small desk lamp beside the table.

The overhead light continued to flicker, but the corners of the room became darker.

Daniel moved toward a stack of wooden pallets and looked through a narrow gap between them.

Outside, a figure stood near the loading entrance.

The person was wearing a dark coat and holding a phone.

Daniel could not identify the face.

He returned to the table.

"Someone is watching us."

Richard's face tightened.

"Victor?"

"I don't know."

Daniel checked his phone.

There was no message from his supervisor, but the device showed that his last call had been interrupted by a weak signal.

He tried calling again.

The call failed.

Richard looked toward the entrance.

"We should leave."

"Not yet."

"What do you mean, not yet?"

"If someone is waiting outside, walking straight toward the car may be exactly what they expect us to do."

Richard stared at him.

"Are you saying we're trapped?"

"I'm saying we should not make assumptions."

Daniel secured the digital storage device and returned the original folders to the briefcase.

He photographed the most important documents and sent a short message to his supervisor when the signal briefly returned.

The message contained the warehouse address and a request for immediate assistance.

He received no confirmation.

A metallic sound echoed through the building.

Richard flinched.

Daniel looked toward the loading entrance.

A moment later, a man stepped into the light.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing a dark jacket over a black shirt.

His name was Michael Turner.

Daniel recognized him immediately.

Michael was the retired construction worker whose complaint had started the investigation.

But the last time Daniel had seen him, Michael had been a nervous man sitting in a small interview room, struggling to explain why he believed a respected property developer had stolen his retirement savings.

Now Michael looked exhausted and angry.

Daniel lowered his hands.

"Michael?"