Chapter 5 - The Secretary Discovered a Secret File in His Office That Connected Her Ex-Fiancé to a Dangerous Betrayal
The following Monday, Jenna returned to Blackwood Tower.
Not as my secretary.
Not exactly.
Rachel had advised her to take temporary leave while the identity theft investigation continued.
But Jenna insisted on collecting her personal belongings herself.
I accompanied her.
We entered through the private garage at eight fifteen.
The building was nearly empty.
Marcus met us beside the elevators.
"Morning."
Jenna smiled weakly.
"Morning, Marcus."
He handed her a paper cup.
"Your usual."
She looked surprised.
"How did you know?"
He glanced at me.
"Someone made me memorize your coffee order eighteen months ago."
I closed my eyes.
"Marcus."
Jenna slowly turned toward me.
"Eighteen months?"
"He's exaggerating."
"Am I?" Marcus asked.
I glared at him.
He smiled.
Jenna laughed for the first time in days.
I decided not to fire him.
We reached the executive floor.
Her desk looked exactly as she had left it.
A small plant sat beside her monitor.
Three color-coded notebooks were stacked near the keyboard.
A framed photograph showed Jenna and Matt at a baseball game.
She touched the frame.
"I've spent two years here."
"I know."
"It feels strange."
"You don't have to decide your future today."
She nodded.
Then she opened her desk drawer.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Her name was written across the front.
She frowned.
"That's odd."
I stepped closer.
"What?"
"I didn't leave this here."
She opened it.
Inside was a printed page.
At the top were the words:
"BLACKWOOD TRANSPORT—CONFIDENTIAL AUDIT SUMMARY."
Beneath them was a list of payments.
Westbridge Advisory.
Mercer Financial Holdings.
Shaw Strategic Consulting.
And one unfamiliar company.
HART DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.
Jenna stared.
"My father's company is Hart Construction. Not Hart Development."
I examined the page.
The company name was similar enough to create confusion.
"Someone may be using another version of your family name."
She turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared at the bottom.
"ASK EVAN WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FIRST AUDITOR."
Jenna looked up.
"What does that mean?"
I felt my chest tighten.
Because I knew.
Six months earlier, an internal auditor named Samuel Price had discovered irregularities in our transportation contracts.
He had requested a meeting with me.
Before it could happen, he resigned.
Two weeks later, his car was found abandoned outside Colorado Springs.
He had not been seen since.
At the time, Victor Shaw told me Samuel had taken another job overseas.
I had accepted it.
I should not have.
Jenna watched my face.
"Evan?"
I took a breath.
"Samuel Price."
"Who?"
"An auditor who worked for us."
"What happened to him?"
"He disappeared."
Her eyes widened.
"Disappeared?"
"Six months ago."
"Did you report it?"
"His family did. My company cooperated with the police."
She stared at the note.
"Do you think Ryan had something to do with it?"
"I don't know."
She looked at me.
"Then we need to find out."
We brought the envelope to Rachel.
She contacted the detective assigned to the financial fraud investigation.
His name was Daniel Foster.
He was a methodical man in his forties who seemed unimpressed by my reputation.
I liked him immediately.
Detective Foster examined the documents.
"Who had access to Miss Hart's desk?"
"Several employees," Marcus answered.
"Any cameras?"
"Yes."
"Preserve the footage."
Marcus nodded.
Foster turned toward me.
"Mr. Blackwood, I'd also like to discuss Samuel Price."
I nodded.
"I expected that."
"Your former auditor disappeared shortly after identifying financial irregularities."
"That's what we're learning."
Foster studied me.
"You're telling me you didn't know?"
"I knew he had resigned. I didn't know he had been investigating these particular transactions."
"Convenient."
"Perhaps."
Jenna looked at me.
I continued.
"But I'm not asking you to take my word for it. I'll provide the records."
Foster seemed surprised.
"All of them?"
"All relevant records through counsel, with appropriate legal process."
He nodded slowly.
"That's a start."
Over the next three days, the investigation expanded.
Forensic accountants traced the money.
Rachel obtained records showing that Ryan's company had received payments from Victor Shaw.
The payments corresponded to confidential bidding information.
Westbridge had then sold that information to competing firms.
But the scheme was larger than stolen contracts.
Someone had been using Blackwood Transport's shipping routes to conceal unauthorized cargo.
I learned about it on Thursday afternoon.
Marcus entered my office carrying a report.
His face was grim.
"We found discrepancies in six shipments."
"What kind?"
"Cargo manifests don't match warehouse records."
"Who authorized them?"
"Shaw."
I looked up.
"All six?"
"Yes."
I read the report.
The shipments had moved through distribution centers in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.
Their paperwork described industrial equipment.
But security footage showed sealed containers that had never been inspected by our compliance department.
I felt sick.
My organization had done plenty of things I wasn't proud of.
But I had never authorized the use of legitimate transport routes for unknown cargo under forged manifests.
I called our general counsel.
Then I called Detective Foster.
The investigation could no longer remain a private matter.
Jenna was sitting in Rachel's office when I arrived that evening.
She looked exhausted.
I sat beside her.
"How are you?"
"Angry."
"Understandable."
"Ryan used my identity to hide money. My mother helped him without asking questions. Someone broke into my apartment. And now an auditor is missing."
I nodded.
"That about covers it."
She looked at me.
"You're making jokes."
"Badly."
She almost smiled.
Then she became serious.
"Evan, there's something I haven't told you."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"Three weeks before Ryan moved to Dallas, he asked me to copy a file from your company."
I stared at her.
"What file?"
"He said he was interviewing for a consulting position and wanted to understand how large transportation companies structured contracts."
"Did you give it to him?"
"No."
I exhaled.
"He was angry," she continued. "He said I cared more about my boss than my fiancé."
I closed my eyes.
That sounded familiar.
"Then he apologized. He said he was stressed."
"Did he ask again?"
"Once."
"What happened?"
"I told him I would never share confidential company information."
I looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She looked ashamed.
"Because I thought it was a personal argument. I didn't realize it might be connected to anything criminal."
I took her hand.
"You did the right thing."
She nodded.
Then she said, "There's more."
I waited.
"After we broke up, he sent me a message saying I'd regret choosing Blackwood over him."
I felt my expression harden.
"Do you still have it?"
"Yes."
She showed me.
The message was dated two years earlier.
It read:
"One day you'll learn what your precious boss really is. And when that happens, don't expect me to save you."
I read it twice.
Then I looked at Jenna.
"Ryan was already connected to Shaw."
She nodded.
"That's what I think."
Rachel entered the room.
She had news.
Investigators had located Samuel Price.
Alive.
He had been living under another name in a small town outside Santa Fe.
He had contacted authorities after learning that the financial investigation had reopened.
According to Rachel, Samuel had fled because he believed Victor Shaw intended to kill him.
He claimed to possess evidence connecting Shaw and Ryan to the unauthorized shipments.
But he wanted protection before providing it.
Detective Foster was arranging an interview.
For the first time, we had a witness.
That evening, Jenna and I returned to my house.
She was unusually quiet during dinner.
Afterward, she found me in the library.
"Evan?"
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
She sat across from me.
"How much of your organization is criminal?"
The question landed like a stone.
I could have avoided it.
I could have given her the polished answer I used with investors.
Instead, I told her the truth.
"Too much."
She looked down.
I continued.
"I inherited parts of this organization from my father. Some businesses were legitimate. Others weren't. I expanded the legitimate companies, but I also kept relationships and operations I should have ended."
"Why?"
"Power. Fear. Habit."
She looked at me.
"Do you regret it?"
"Some of it deeply."
"Then why haven't you stopped?"
I stared at the fireplace.
For years, I had told myself that leaving would create a power vacuum.
That worse men would take over.
That I needed to maintain control to protect my employees.
Some of those concerns were real.
But they were also convenient excuses.
"Because changing would cost me," I admitted.
Jenna was silent.
Then she asked, "And what would staying cost you?"
I looked at her.
She wasn't threatening to leave.
She wasn't trying to manipulate me.
She was asking me to consider the future.
I thought about Samuel Price.
About the missing shipments.
About the account opened in Jenna's name.
About the people who had suffered because I believed control was the same thing as responsibility.
"Maybe everything that matters."
Jenna stood.
She approached slowly.
Then she took my hand.
"I don't need you to be perfect."
I looked up.
"But I need you to be honest. And I need to know that the man I'm falling in love with is willing to become better."
My heart stopped.
"Falling in love?"
She smiled nervously.
"That was the part you heard?"
"It's the only part my brain is currently processing."
She laughed.
I stood.
"Jenna."
"Yes?"
"I love you."
Her eyes widened.
"I've loved you for longer than I should have allowed myself to."
Tears filled her eyes.
I continued.
"I don't expect that to erase my past. And I won't ask you to accept things that violate your values."
She touched my face.
"I love you too."
I kissed her.
For several seconds, the world became simple.
Then my phone rang.
Marcus.
I answered reluctantly.
"Yes?"
His voice was urgent.
"Evan, Samuel Price never made it to the interview."
I went still.
"What happened?"
"His protection detail found his hotel room empty."
"Any signs of violence?"
"Yes."
I looked at Jenna.
Marcus continued.
"And someone left a message on the mirror."
"What message?"
He hesitated.
Then he said, "Tell Blackwood the secretary is next."
Jenna saw my expression change.
"Evan?"
I pulled her into my arms.
For the first time, I understood that this was no longer merely a financial conspiracy.
May you like
Someone was willing to destroy lives to keep it hidden.
And the woman I loved had become their next target.
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