Chapter 9 - The File They Couldn’t BurnThe explosion injured six people.
Thankfully, nobody died.
That was the only thought keeping me functional while Andrew and I stood outside Leprince headquarters watching firefighters move through the building beneath flashing emergency lights.
I wanted to go inside.
Everyone told me no.
For once, I did not argue.
The smell of smoke alone was enough to trigger memories of my asthma attack, and Andrew looked one argument away from physically carrying me back to the car.
So I stayed.
Victoria joined us twenty minutes later.
“Archives are destroyed.”
Andrew’s expression did not change.
“All of them?”
“Physical copies, yes.”
“What about digital?”
Nathan arrived before she finished.
“Server segment was damaged.”
My stomach sank.
“Backups?”
“Possibly compromised.”
Andrew swore.
I stared at the blackened sixth-floor windows.
“What exactly was stored there?”
“The Beaumont acquisition file,” Andrew said. “Financial reports, regulatory disclosures, supplier audits, confidential debt records.”
“Everything proving Beaumont lied during acquisition negotiations.”
“Yes.”
Convenient.
Far too convenient.
I turned to Victoria.
“Who knew those files existed?”
“Board.”
“Legal.”
“Senior finance.”
“Beaumont?”
Andrew nodded.
“They knew we performed due diligence.”
“But did they know where physical copies were kept?”
He paused.
“No.”
There it was again.
Inside information.
This conspiracy required someone close enough to know our systems.
That evening, we relocated temporarily to Andrew’s old penthouse because security considered it easier to protect.
I sat on the living-room floor with documents spread around me while Oliver slept in the guest room under the watch of two security officers and one very offended nanny.
Andrew brought me a plate.
“Eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You haven’t eaten since noon.”
“I had crackers.”
“Crackers are not dinner.”
I looked up.
“Are you using the CEO voice on me?”
“Husband voice.”
“Worse.”
He placed the plate directly over the document I was reading.
“Andrew.”
“Food first.”
I glared.
He stared back.
Marriage had taught us which battles were worth fighting.
I picked up the fork.
He looked satisfied.
“What are you reading?”
“Supplier reports.”
“You’re supposed to be resting.”
“I am sitting.”
“That interpretation is criminal.”
I ignored him.
“The explosion destroyed the acquisition documents. But some of the information must exist elsewhere.”
“We’ve checked.”
“Not company records.”
He frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Personal records.”
I looked toward Victoria, who sat across the room speaking with Nathan.
“She copied Beaumont documents once before.”
Andrew followed my gaze.
“You think she kept them.”
“I think people who learn that institutions can erase evidence start making backups.”
We approached her.
Victoria ended her call.
“What?”
“Three years ago,” I said. “When you reported Beaumont.”
Her face changed.
“You said you copied the files.”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“Gone.”
“Are you sure?”
She studied me.
“Yes.”
I waited.
She looked away.
Andrew immediately noticed.
“Victoria.”
“I destroyed them.”
“When?”
“When I resigned.”
“Why?”
“Because possession violated confidentiality agreements.”
I almost believed her.
Almost.
Then I remembered something.
“You don’t trust institutions.”
Her eyes returned to mine.
“You tried reporting contamination and watched the evidence disappear. You would never destroy the only remaining copies.”
Silence.
Andrew folded his arms.
“Where are they?”
Victoria closed her eyes briefly.
“My father’s house.”
That surprised everyone.
“Your father?”
“He died four years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded once.
“His house has been empty since. I stored several drives in a safe there.”
“Location?” Nathan asked.
“Two hours north.”
Andrew shook his head.
“Security retrieves them.”
Victoria stood.
“The safe uses my father’s mechanical lock. No one knows the combination except me.”
“Then you tell them.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“My father designed it.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity.
“Of course he did.”
Victoria looked at me.
“He was an engineer. He distrusted electronic security.”
Andrew was already deciding.
“You go with security.”
“I’m coming,” I said.
“No.”
Two voices answered simultaneously.
Andrew and Victoria.
I stared at both.
“Excuse me?”
Victoria pointed at my belly.
“You’re pregnant.”
“You have known Andrew too long.”
“Elila.”
“Fine.”
I surrendered because, truthfully, I was exhausted.
Victoria left with four security officers.
Three hours later, she called.
Her face appeared on the secure video screen.
Behind her was an old study.
“We found the drives.”
Relief hit me.
“Anything useful?” Andrew asked.
“More than useful.”
She held up a file.
“Supplier falsification reports. Payment records. Internal emails.”
“Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“And Conrad?”
Victoria hesitated.
“Worse.”
My skin prickled.
“What?”
“There are emails involving Leprince.”
Andrew became very still.
“What do you mean?”
“Someone inside your company has been communicating with Beaumont for nearly four years.”
“Who?”
Victoria looked directly into the camera.
“Your Chief Financial Officer.”
The room went silent.
David Mercer.
Andrew’s CFO.
His friend.
The man who had helped Andrew build Leprince Corp almost from the beginning.
“That’s impossible,” Andrew said.
It was the same thing I had said about Martin.
I recognized the pain immediately.
Victoria continued.
“I’m sending copies now.”
Files appeared on Nathan’s computer.
Payments.
Encrypted communications.
Board information.
Confidential projections.
Supplier schedules.
And finally, the acquisition negotiations.
David had been feeding Beaumont information for years.
Andrew sat down slowly.
I moved beside him.
“I trusted him.”
His voice sounded strangely distant.
“I know.”
“He was there when I founded the company.”
I took his hand.
“He invested when nobody believed we would survive the first year.”
This was not CEO Andrew speaking.
This was the man underneath.
Betrayed by someone he considered family.
I suddenly understood why he struggled so desperately to protect the people he loved.
Trust did not come easily to him.
And when he gave it, he gave everything.
Nathan kept reading.
“Andrew.”
“What?”
“There’s something else.”
He opened another email.
The newest communication had been sent four days earlier.
From David to an unidentified address.
The subject line contained only two words.
SUCCESSION PLAN.
My stomach tightened.
Nathan read silently.
His expression became alarmed.
“What does it say?”
He looked at Andrew.
“They intended to force you to resign after the recall.”
“How?”
“Board pressure. Stock collapse. Regulatory investigation.”
Andrew’s mouth became a hard line.
“And if I refused?”
Nathan hesitated.
“They planned to release personal medical information claiming you were mentally unstable.”
I stared.
“Fake?”
“Some fake. Some apparently stolen.”
Andrew looked almost amused.
“That’s their plan?”
Nathan did not smile.
“No.”
He scrolled.
“That was phase two.”
“What was phase three?”
Nathan’s face changed.
“An accident.”
The room seemed to lose oxygen.
I squeezed Andrew’s hand.
“What accident?”
“Vehicle failure.”
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Then I remembered Andrew driving me everywhere during my first pregnancy.
Checking mirrors.
Driving carefully.
Our son riding in the same cars.
Our daughter.
My entire body went cold.
“Which vehicle?”
Nathan searched.
Then froze.
“Andrew’s SUV.”
The same SUV scheduled to take Victoria back from her father’s house.
I stood so quickly the room spun.
“Call her.”
Nathan already was.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Andrew grabbed another phone.
“Security team.”
Static.
Then disconnected.
My heart pounded painfully.
“Track the car.”
Nathan typed.
The vehicle appeared on the screen.
Moving south.
Fast.
Too fast.
“Why are they going eighty-seven?”
Andrew’s face lost color.
“Brake failure.”
He called Victoria again.
This time she answered.
Her voice was filled with panic.
“Andrew, the brakes aren’t responding.”
I covered my mouth.
“Listen to me,” Andrew said immediately, terrifyingly calm. “Is the driver conscious?”
“Yes.”
“Engine?”
“Running.”
“Tell him to downshift manually.”
“I already did.”
“What road?”
Nathan answered.
“Highway 19. Mountain descent in six kilometers.”
Andrew looked at the map.
There was nowhere to stop.
Then I saw something.
“Exit 42.”
Everyone looked at me.
“What?” Andrew asked.
“There’s a commercial agricultural inspection station.”
“How do you know?”
“Koko and I got lost there once.”
I pointed at the map.
“They have a gravel runoff lane for overloaded trucks.”
Nathan zoomed.
“She’s right.”
Andrew spoke into the phone.
“Victoria, listen carefully. Exit 42. Two kilometers. Take it.”
“We’re going too fast.”
“You can make it.”
The next ninety seconds felt like an hour.
Victoria stayed on speaker.
We heard the driver.
Security shouting.
Tires.
Then Victoria screamed.
I grabbed Andrew’s arm.
A violent crashing sound came through the phone.
Then silence.
“Victoria?”
Nothing.
“Victoria!”
Static.
Then coughing.
“I’m here.”
Every person in the room exhaled.
“We hit the gravel barrier.”
“Anyone hurt?”
“Driver’s bleeding. Everyone conscious.”
Andrew closed his eyes.
For one second, pure relief crossed his face.
Then it disappeared.
Nathan stared at the evidence on the screen.
“This confirms someone tampered with the vehicle.”
Andrew stood.
“No more waiting.”
His expression transformed.
“What are you doing?”
I asked.
He looked toward Nathan.
“Bring David Mercer in.”
Nathan hesitated.
“He’s not at home.”
“Office?”
“No.”
“Where?”
Nathan tracked the executive security badge.
Then his face went pale.
“The airport.”
Of course.
Always the airport.
Except this time, Andrew was not willing to let another person disappear.
“Stop him.”
Nathan began calling.
Andrew headed toward the door.
I caught his hand.
“Where are you going?”
“To make sure he doesn’t leave.”
“Police are going.”
“So am I.”
“Andrew.”
He turned.
I knew that expression.
Pain disguised as fury.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret.”
“He threatened you.”
“I know.”
“Our children.”
“I know.”
“He tried to kill people.”
“And that’s exactly why you let police handle him.”
Andrew stared at me.
I stepped closer.
“Oliver needs his father.”
His face cracked slightly.
“Our daughter needs her father.”
I put his hand over my belly.
“And I need my husband.”
The baby moved beneath his palm.
Andrew closed his eyes.
When he opened them, the rage remained.
But control had returned.
He stayed.
May you like
Forty minutes later, David Mercer was arrested before boarding a private flight to Switzerland.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, we had the person who knew exactly how deep it went.
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