Chapter 2 - The Secret Hidden in Payroll
Nathaniel took me to a penthouse overlooking Pinehaven Harbor.
I had expected something dark and threatening.
Instead, the place was almost painfully quiet.
Modern furniture.
Floor-to-ceiling windows.
Books.
A piano no one seemed to play.
And a kitchen cleaner than any home I had ever seen.
I stood near the entrance, still wearing his coat.
“You can take that off,” he said.
I did.
He took it from me.
“You can stay here tonight.”
“I don't know you.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it matters.”
He put the coat over a chair.
“You don't have to trust me.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Because someone was following you.”
He walked toward a large dining table where several folders had already been placed.
“And because I have information you need.”
I approached.
The top file contained copies of Blackridge payment records.
I recognized the numbers.
My numbers.
My work.
My stomach tightened.
“I shouldn't be seeing this.”
“You've already seen worse.”
“No.”
“You just don't know it yet.”
He opened one folder.
“There were twelve suspicious payroll adjustments over nine months.”
I frowned.
“That isn't unusual.”
“These weren't payroll adjustments.”
He turned the page.
They were payments disguised as employee bonuses.
Small amounts.
Ten thousand here.
Twelve thousand there.
Twenty-five thousand somewhere else.
I had seen them before.
Only I had dismissed them as management corrections.
“That's why I kept getting requests from Daniel.”
Nathaniel looked at me.
“What did Daniel ask you to do?”
“Approve retroactive payroll changes.”
“How often?”
“Maybe three or four times.”
“Did he ever ask you to make a manual transfer?”
I hesitated.
“Yes.”
Nathaniel's expression darkened.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“How much?”
“Seventy-five thousand.”
“Where did it go?”
“I don't know.”
He studied me.
“Did you approve it?”
“I refused.”
“Why?”
“It violated policy.”
Nathaniel almost smiled.
“That may have saved your life.”
He sat across from me.
“Did Daniel get angry?”
“Yes.”
“How angry?”
“He told me I was making things difficult.”
Nathaniel tapped the folder.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The reason Daniel chose Madeline.”
I stared.
He continued.
“Madeline's family owns three of the largest private timber tracts in the region.”
“Yes.”
“The Cross family has been negotiating with Blackridge for two years.”
“Yes.”
“They needed access to an internal account.”
“And Daniel could provide it?”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Marriage would unite ownership.”
I felt sick.
“So he was using me.”
“For information.”
I looked down.
“What about the eleven months?”
Nathaniel didn't answer immediately.
“People can have real feelings and still make selfish choices.”
“That sounds convenient.”
“It isn't.”
He leaned back.
“Daniel may have loved you.”
The words hurt.
“But not enough.”
I looked out toward the harbor.
“I thought he was going to choose me.”
“I know.”
“He told me I was worth waiting for.”
Nathaniel's jaw tightened.
“He lied.”
I looked at him.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I saw his father hand Madeline's father a sealed envelope before the ceremony.”
“What was inside?”
“Shares.”
My heart sank.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The gala wasn't about romance.
It was a business transaction dressed in diamonds.
I had been sitting in the audience while my boyfriend traded love for stock.
Then my phone buzzed again.
This time, it was my supervisor.
“Amelia, report to the office tomorrow morning.”
I showed Nathaniel the message.
“Don't go.”
“I have a job.”
“You had a job.”
“What does that mean?”
He turned the phone toward me.
A termination notice had already arrived.
Effective immediately.
I stared.
“They fired me?”
“They protected themselves.”
“I didn't do anything.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“You refused to participate.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“I did everything right.”
“I know.”
“Then why does it feel like I lost everything?”
Nathaniel stood.
“Because sometimes doing the right thing costs you the illusion that the world is fair.”
He walked toward the balcony.
I followed.
“What happens now?”
“Tomorrow, we go to Blackridge.”
“Why?”
“Because you're going to request your personnel file.”
“They'll never give it to me.”
“They will if I ask.”
I looked at him.
“I don't want favors.”
“This isn't a favor.”
“What is it?”
“A partnership.”
I laughed bitterly.
“A partnership?”
“Yes.”
“Why would a crime boss want me as a partner?”
His eyes met mine.
“Because you are the first person in six years to find the pattern my entire team missed.”
I stared.
“What pattern?”
“The money isn't being stolen.”
He walked back inside.
“It is being moved.”
“Where?”
Nathaniel opened a final document.
To a foundation.
Called the Reeves-Mercer Initiative.
I frowned.
“What?”
“My brother's name was Evan Mercer.”
I looked at him.
“Daniel's middle name is Evan.”
Silence.
“My brother's full name was Evan James Mercer.”
Nathaniel said, “Daniel's legal full name is Daniel Evan Reeves.”
My breath caught.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“They're not related.”
Nathaniel slid another document toward me.
A birth record.
Daniel Reeves had been born Daniel Evan Mercer.
His mother had changed his name when he was six.
I felt physically ill.
“Why?”
“Because someone wanted the Mercer name hidden.”
I looked up.
“From who?”
“The same people who killed my brother.”
The room seemed smaller.
“How does Daniel fit into this?”
“We don't know.”
Nathaniel's phone rang.
He answered.
“Speak.”
A voice said something.
Nathaniel's expression hardened.
He ended the call.
“What happened?”
“One of my men found your apartment door open.”
I stood.
“My apartment?”
“They searched it.”
“For what?”
Nathaniel looked at me.
“The original payroll reports.”
My heart raced.
“I don't have them.”
Nathaniel's eyes sharpened.
“Yes, you do.”
I thought for a moment.
Then I remembered.
A flash drive.
Six months earlier, I'd copied old payroll files to a USB because the Blackridge server kept crashing.
I had forgotten about it.
It was still in a box under my bed.
Nathaniel saw my expression.
“You remember.”
I nodded.
“The drive.”
“Where?”
“My apartment.”
He picked up his keys.
“We're going.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“Why?”
“Because if they're looking for it, they'll expect me to come back.”
Nathaniel stared.
“Good.”
“Good?”
He smiled.
“Then they'll make a mistake.”
For the first time since the gala, I smiled too.
And somewhere deep inside me, something shifted.
Daniel had chosen Madeline.
The Blackridge families had laughed at me.
My job was gone.
My apartment had been searched.
My life was unraveling.
May you like
Yet standing beside Nathaniel Mercer, I no longer felt like the weakest person in the room.
I felt like the person holding the one piece of information everyone else was afraid of.
