Chapter 7: The Server Behind the Wall
Reginald met us outside the Halcyon Hotel with Corvina’s general counsel and a preservation order signed by a judge.
The hotel manager unlocked Suite 814.
The room looked ordinary until Isolde walked to a framed mirror.
“He made me wait outside whenever he opened it,” she said.
“But I saw the code once.”
She entered six numbers into a panel.
The mirror released from the wall, revealing a narrow cabinet filled with drives.
The forensic accountant reached for one.
“Don’t,” Isolde said.
“He installed a remote wipe system.”
Reginald turned to her.
“How do you know?”
“Because he made me test it on an old drive.”
I studied her face.
“How long have you known the money wasn’t legitimate?”
“Two months.”
“You wore my earrings and stood beside him while he humiliated me.”
She removed the diamonds.
“I thought he was leaving you and making me president of a new division.”
“And when you learned the truth?”
“He showed me invoices bearing my initials.
He said if I spoke, I would carry the entire scheme.”
She placed the earrings in my palm.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” she said.
“I’m asking you not to let him do this to anyone else.”
The accountant opened his equipment case.
“If we disconnect the cabinet incorrectly, we lose everything.”
A knock sounded at the door.
“Hotel engineering,” a man called.
The manager frowned.
“I didn’t request engineering.”
Reginald moved away from the door.
“Call security.”
The handle turned.
Fletcher stepped inside using a hotel master card.
He stopped when he saw us.
“Wren,” he said.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“You opened account 0417.”
“I protected Ardent.”
“You moved our acquisition funds through a false account in my name.”
“Desmond said Corvina needed temporary liquidity.”
“You knew about I.A.
Strategic.”
Fletcher’s jaw tightened.
“You inherited an empire.
I built it beside your mother, and she left me a salary.”
“So you sold my name?”
“I took what I had earned.”
Celeste lifted the recorder.
“We heard your call.”
Fletcher lunged toward her.
Mara pulled Celeste back, and Reginald blocked Fletcher’s path.
“Don’t make this worse,” Reginald said.
Fletcher laughed.
“Worse?
Desmond controls Corvina, and by noon Ardent’s lenders will receive evidence that Wren diverted acquisition funds.
Her board will remove her before your order reaches anyone.”
My phone rang.
Desmond’s name appeared on the screen.
I answered on speaker.
“What do you want?”
“Your shares,” he said.
“Transfer ten percent to my holding company and resign from Ardent.
I’ll explain account 0417 as a clerical error.”
“And if I refuse?”
“I send the forged records to every lender and financial reporter in Boston.”
“You just called them forged.”
Silence filled the room.
Then he chuckled.
“Nice try.
A private call without consent won’t save you.”
Isolde stepped toward the phone.
“What about me?”
“You were useful,” Desmond said.
“Don’t confuse that with being loved.”
She closed her eyes.
The accountant pointed to a blinking light inside the cabinet.
“He has started the remote wipe,” he said.
“We have ninety seconds.”
Fletcher smiled.
Then Mara pulled the original payroll ledger from beneath her coat.
May you like
“The server isn’t his only problem,” she said.
“Every transfer is written here.”
