Chapter 3 - The Blue Car
The next morning, Jonathan quietly activated the private security division of Hayes Meridian.
He didn't tell the foundation.
He didn't tell his board.
He didn't tell Daniel Mercer.
He told only his head of security, Marcus Reed.
"Find out who owns a dark blue sedan that's been outside St. Mary's."
Marcus looked at the photograph.
"What are we dealing with?"
"A witness."
Marcus's expression changed.
"Against the company?"
"Possibly."
"And you trust her?"
Jonathan looked toward the hospital room.
"I trust what I've seen."
Marcus nodded.
"Then I'll protect her."
Catherine spent three days undergoing tests.
Emily refused to leave her side.
Jonathan arranged a private room without telling Catherine about the cost.
When Catherine discovered it, she was angry.
"I told you I don't want charity."
"This isn't charity."
"What is it?"
"An apology I haven't figured out how to say yet."
She looked at him.
"You didn't fire me."
"But my name was on the door."
Catherine softened slightly.
"That doesn't make you guilty."
"No. But it makes me responsible for finding out what happened."
She looked away.
Emily wandered into the room carrying a coloring book.
"Mr. Hayes?"
Jonathan smiled.
"Yes?"
"Can billionaires cook?"
Catherine laughed for the first time in days.
Jonathan looked offended.
"I can cook."
Emily raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"No."
She giggled.
That tiny sound changed the atmosphere.
For a few minutes, they felt almost normal.
But normal did not last.
That afternoon Marcus arrived with news.
"The blue sedan belongs to a private security company."
Jonathan frowned.
"Which one?"
"Blackstone Protective Services."
Catherine's face changed.
"They worked for Daniel Mercer."
Jonathan stood.
"How do you know?"
"They were the people who came to my apartment after I was fired."
"What did they do?"
"They searched it."
"Legally?"
"No."
"Did they find anything?"
"No."
Jonathan's eyes narrowed.
"Then what were they looking for?"
Catherine whispered.
"A USB drive."
Jonathan looked at Emily.
"Where is it?"
Catherine didn't answer.
That evening, she finally told him.
The drive was hidden in Emily's stuffed rabbit.
Clover.
Emily looked horrified when she heard.
"But that's mine."
Catherine reached for her hand.
"I'm sorry, baby."
Jonathan stared at the toy.
"What's on it?"
"Copies of financial records. Audio recordings. Shipment logs."
"Enough to prove the theft?"
"Enough to start."
Jonathan called Marcus.
The rabbit was taken to a secure room.
The files were copied.
Within minutes, the truth began unfolding.
There were invoices.
Payment schedules.
Company approval signatures.
And dozens of transactions routed through three shell corporations.
Jonathan's own digital authorization appeared on several.
His stomach turned.
"I didn't approve these."
Marcus looked at him.
"Someone used your credentials."
"Can we prove it?"
"We can prove the system was accessed from a secondary terminal."
"Whose?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Daniel Mercer's."
Silence.
Jonathan stared at the screen.
Daniel had worked for him for eleven years.
He had stood beside Jonathan at funerals.
He had negotiated billion-dollar contracts.
He had been trusted with the company when Jonathan traveled.
Jonathan had defended him more than once.
"There's more," Marcus said.
A spreadsheet listed payments to certain officials.
Jonathan didn't know whether the entries were legitimate or fabricated.
He refused to assume.
"We need forensic confirmation."
Marcus nodded.
"And we need to know what those shipments were."
Catherine spoke from the doorway.
"I think I know."
Jonathan turned.
She was wearing a hospital robe and looked exhausted.
"Before I was fired, I noticed unusual nighttime loading."
"Where?"
"Warehouse nine."
Jonathan frowned.
"That facility has been closed for two years."
"Officially."
A chill passed through him.
"What's inside?"
"I don't know."
Marcus looked at Jonathan.
"I can find out."
Jonathan shook his head.
"Not yet."
Catherine stepped forward.
"They'll know we're onto them."
"They already know."
As if summoned by the words, Jonathan's phone rang.
Daniel Mercer.
Jonathan answered.
"Daniel."
"Jonathan."
Daniel's voice was calm.
"You disappeared from the office."
"I had personal matters."
"Everything okay?"
Jonathan looked at Catherine.
"Fine."
"Good. We have investors arriving Monday."
"I know."
A pause.
Then Daniel said something unexpected.
"I heard one of your foundation schools had a security issue."
Jonathan's hand tightened.
"What did you hear?"
"Nothing important."
"Who told you?"
"People talk."
Jonathan ended the call.
Catherine was staring at him.
"He knows."
Jonathan nodded.
Later that night, Jonathan drove to Warehouse Nine with Marcus.
The building looked abandoned.
But the electronic gate opened with an active security code.
Jonathan's stomach turned.
Inside were shelves of sealed containers.
Food labels.
School meal packaging.
But behind a false wall were boxes with completely different markings.
Jonathan opened one.
Inside were documents.
Equipment manifests.
Cash ledgers.
And a list of names.
Marcus photographed everything.
Then footsteps sounded behind them.
A door slammed.
Jonathan turned.
Nobody.
Only darkness.
Then the fire alarm went off.
Smoke began filling the corridor.
"Move!"
Marcus pulled Jonathan toward the exit.
They barely escaped before flames erupted in the storage wing.
Jonathan stood outside as firefighters arrived.
The building burned.
And before dawn, the official company system recorded Warehouse Nine as an "unoccupied storage facility destroyed in an electrical fire."
Jonathan stared at the notice.
An electrical fire.
May you like
Convenient.
Too convenient.
