Chapter 2 - The Man Who Knew About Her DaughterDeclan had the building locked down within seven minutes.
Not visibly.
Not enough to alarm employees.
But every elevator access point changed.
Every exterior door was monitored.
Every security camera was redirected.
Three unmarked vehicles appeared on the street.
Nora watched from the boardroom window.
She felt trapped.
Yet strangely safer.
That contradiction frightened her more than anything.
Declan stood behind her.
“You can leave whenever you want.”
She turned.
“Your men are outside.”
“Yes.”
“That's not leaving.”
“It is if you choose it.”
She stared at him.
He pointed toward the door.
“No one will stop you.”
“You know what will happen if I leave?”
“Yes.”
“They'll find me.”
“Yes.”
“My daughter.”
“I know.”
Nora looked at him.
“How?”
“I had someone pull your emergency contacts.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You investigated me.”
“I investigate everyone.”
“Did you find my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know where she is.”
“Yes.”
Nora stepped closer.
“Tell me.”
Declan hesitated.
“She wasn't at daycare this morning.”
Her blood turned to ice.
“What?”
“She was picked up.”
“By whom?”
“My people intercepted the vehicle.”
Nora's knees nearly buckled.
“Is she safe?”
“She is.”
“Where?”
“On the way here.”
Nora closed her eyes.
Relief hit so hard it hurt.
Then anger replaced it.
“You had no right.”
“I know.”
“You should have told me.”
“I needed to know who had access.”
“My daughter's safety is not your investigation.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“It is my responsibility now.”
Nora stared.
“I never asked you to make it yours.”
“I know.”
The elevator doors opened.
A woman carrying Lily stepped out.
Nora ran.
Her daughter saw her and immediately reached out.
“Mommy!”
Nora caught her.
Lily buried her face against her neck.
Nora winced at the pain but didn't care.
“Are you okay?”
Lily nodded.
“Daddy's lady gave me cookies.”
Nora glanced at the woman.
She was one of Declan's security officers.
“Thank you.”
The woman nodded.
“Mr. Walsh said to keep her comfortable.”
Lily looked past Nora.
At Declan.
She tilted her head.
“Are you the scary man?”
Nora stopped breathing.
Declan raised an eyebrow.
“Apparently.”
Lily studied him.
“Mommy says scary men are usually mean.”
Declan looked at Nora.
Nora wanted the floor to swallow her.
“I didn't say that.”
Lily frowned.
“You did.”
Declan almost smiled.
Almost.
“What do you call me?”
“Mr. Scary.”
Nora covered her face.
Declan looked amused.
“Fair.”
Lily reached toward him.
“Do you have candy?”
He stared.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother would fire me.”
Lily considered this.
“You work for Mommy?”
Nora laughed despite herself.
“No.”
Declan looked at her.
“I don't think anyone works for your mother.”
Lily grinned.
For one impossible second, the boardroom felt normal.
Then Declan's phone vibrated.
The warmth vanished from his face.
He checked the screen.
“Stay here.”
Nora stiffened.
“Why?”
“Because I need to make a call.”
He stepped into the corridor.
Nora watched him.
The moment he disappeared, Lily whispered:
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Are you hurt?”
Nora froze.
“How do you know?”
Lily touched Nora's neck.
“You were crying in the bathroom.”
Nora stared.
“When?”
“Last night.”
Her heart broke.
She had thought Lily was asleep.
Nora knelt.
“Mommy's okay.”
Lily looked at her.
“Is the bad man coming back?”
Nora could not answer.
The boardroom door opened.
Declan stood there.
He had heard.
His eyes went to Lily.
Then Nora.
“Who told her about the bad man?”
Nora swallowed.
“No one.”
Declan crouched in front of Lily.
“Lily.”
The girl looked at him.
“Do you know what the bad man looks like?”
She nodded.
“What?”
She pointed toward Nora's laptop bag.
“There was a picture.”
Nora's heart stopped.
“What picture?”
Lily pointed again.
“The man on Mommy's paper.”
Declan looked at Nora.
“What paper?”
Nora rushed to the bag.
Inside was the ledger she'd been working on.
But one page was missing.
She turned pale.
“Someone took a page.”
Declan immediately understood.
“What was on it?”
“A list of account numbers.”
“Names?”
“No. Just encrypted references.”
Lily touched the page.
“He had a funny watch.”
Nora and Declan stared at each other.
“What kind of watch?” Declan asked.
Lily shrugged.
“Black.”
“Anything else?”
“A red bird.”
Declan's face changed.
He knew the symbol.
The Red Falcon.
A private security firm.
Except the Red Falcon wasn't really a security firm.
It was a covert extraction company used by several powerful criminal organizations.
Declan's rival, Victor Raines, used them regularly.
“Raines,” Declan whispered.
Nora looked at him.
“Who?”
“Victor Raines.”
“The man trying to buy the Atlantic contracts?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he care about my ledger?”
Declan didn't answer.
He looked at Lily.
Then back at Nora.
“Because that ledger doesn't belong to my company.”
Nora frowned.
“What?”
“It belongs to Raines.”
She stared.
“You're saying I discovered his books?”
“No.”
Declan's voice dropped.
“I'm saying you discovered the books of every major organization in Chicago.”
Nora's stomach turned.
“Then why attack me?”
“Because someone thinks you can decode them.”
“I can't.”
Declan studied her.
“Can't you?”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
Nora looked at the ledger.
She had been working on it for months.
She had noticed patterns.
Recurring numbers.
Duplicate routing codes.
Transfers that looped through multiple companies.
She had thought they were accounting errors.
But they weren't.
They were a map.
A financial map.
A system connecting criminal organizations across the Midwest.
She suddenly understood why someone had nearly killed her.
“It isn't a ledger.”
“What?”
“It's a directory.”
Declan stepped closer.
“A directory of what?”
“Everyone.”
She opened her laptop.
“All the people who move money.”
“How many?”
“Hundreds.”
Declan's expression hardened.
“And the page they stole?”
Nora stared.
“That's the key.”
Silence.
Then the boardroom doors opened.
Marcus Reed entered.
He was Declan's security chief.
His face was grim.
“We found the vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Three blocks away.”
“Who owns it?”
Marcus looked at Nora.
“Your ex-husband.”
Nora stopped breathing.
She hadn't seen her ex-husband in almost three years.
His name was Ethan Carter.
Lily's father.
He had disappeared after abandoning them.
And now his vehicle was three blocks from the office.
Declan watched Nora's face.
“Do you know where he is?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Marcus handed Declan a photograph.
Declan looked at it.
Then handed it to Nora.
It showed Ethan entering a building.
Beside him stood Victor Raines.
Nora's hands began shaking.
“I don't understand.”
Declan took the photograph back.
“You will.”
He paused.
“Because your ex-husband isn't just involved.”
May you like
He looked at her.
“He is the person who stole the first ledger.”
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