Chapter 2

I returned to the office at nine.

Chloe at reception saw the handprint on my cheek, then the evidence bag in my hand.

"Ms. Shaw, Mr. Parker said you should report directly to the conference room on sixteen."

"Since when does he have the authority to summon me?"

Chloe lowered her voice. "He says you've been suspended as project lead."

I did not argue. I pressed the elevator button.

Grant sat at the head of the table in the small conference room on the sixteenth floor. My company badge and payment security token lay in front of him.

Daniel Brooks, our CFO, stood by the window. My assistant, Maya Reed, waited by the door with her laptop. HR director Karen Blake was reviewing a notice when I walked in. She pushed her glasses higher on her nose.

Grant slid the suspension notice toward me.

"Sign it. You're in no condition to keep running the Southside bid."

"What condition would that be?"

"Your mother-in-law hit you, and your answer was to send her to some abusive institution. This company doesn't need an executive who can't even manage her own household."

Maya spoke up. "Mr. Parker, this notice has neither the chairman's signature nor Compliance's approval."

Grant tossed my badge onto the floor.

"I run this office."

I bent down, picked it up, and brushed off the dust.

"The Southside project's core access is still assigned to me. Did you touch my account?"

"I submitted a freeze request."

"To whom?"

Grant did not answer.

Daniel set a printout on the table. "The system shows that the request came from Mr. Parker's own login. Victor Bennett has not approved it."

Karen looked up. "Under the bylaws, suspending a project lead requires a two-thirds board vote. This notice is invalid."

Grant spun toward her.

"Karen, you're taking her side too?"

"I'm following the bylaws."

His hand went still on the table.

Then he picked up his phone and played a video.

Linda sat in a classroom at Hawthorne with a stack of worksheets in front of her. She was sobbing and pounding the desk while an instructor told her to start over.

"Take a good look," Grant said, setting the phone in the middle of the table. "Lena locked a five-year-old in a boot camp and paid for it with money that belongs to the child. People online are already calling this child abuse."

I glanced at the timestamp in the corner.

6:12 that morning.

"Who did you give the internal security footage to?"

Grant's fingers tightened.

"The family has a right to expose abuse."

"The footage belongs to Hawthorne. You had no authorization to release it."

Maya checked her laptop. "I traced the first post. It came from a verified account registered to Mr. Parker's cousin."

Grant shot to his feet.

"Stop trying to bury me in technicalities. I will represent the company at tomorrow's bid presentation."

"No, you won't."

I placed a printed email on the table.

"Victor Bennett confirmed last night that I remain project lead. He left your system access intact because he wanted to see what else you might try."

Daniel turned to the last page and read the sender's name aloud.

"Victor Bennett, chair of the board."

Grant read the email twice. His fingers crumpled the edge.

His phone rang. The moment he answered, Linda's wail burst through the speaker.

"Grant! I missed eight questions today! They're making me work until tonight! Bring the money and get me out!"

"Mom, hang on a little longer."

"I can't! She's punishing me on purpose. Get the money now!"

Grant ended the call and glared at me.

"This isn't over."

"I've been counting on that."

He pulled the emergency payment token toward himself and stormed out.

Karen waited until the door closed.

"He just took the backup payment token."

I looked at Daniel. "How much can he approve with it?"

"Anything over $70,000 still requires my signature."

I folded Grant's fake suspension notice in half.

"Then preserve every request he submits."

Daniel nodded.

Maya frowned. "Why not remove him now?"

"Because he hasn't taken enough yet."

I looked at the photo of the payment token.

Linda wanted to come home. Grant needed money.

They would try every trick they had.

And I needed him to leave the complete trail in his own handwriting.