Chapter 8 - The Missing CFO
David Lang disappeared eleven minutes after calling me.
His office was empty when the security team arrived.
His computer was still running.
His coffee was warm.
His car remained in the underground garage.
But David was gone.
So was the portable drive he had mentioned.
The building cameras stopped recording for exactly four minutes.
Nathan stared at the report.
“Celeste.”
My father disagreed.
“Too fast.”
Nathan looked at him.
“She knew the system.”
“She did.”
Dad tapped the screen.
“But this required physical access to the building and control of an enterprise security platform.”
Nathan’s face tightened.
“One of my executives helped her.”
Gerald Knox had joined us again.
He looked uncomfortable.
“There are only six people with that level of access.”
“Name them.”
Gerald did.
Nathan.
David.
Celeste.
Gerald himself.
Chief operating officer Malcolm Reed.
And head of internal security, Peter Sloan.
My father looked toward Evelyn.
“Background all six.”
Nathan scoffed.
“You’re including me?”
Dad did not blink.
“You arranged two hundred lashes for my daughter.”
“I am including you in everything.”
Nathan looked away.
I focused on one name.
“Peter Sloan.”
Nathan looked at me.
“What about him?”
“He was at the charity auction where we met.”
Nathan frowned.
“So were hundreds of people.”
“He stood beside you when you came over.”
Nathan thought.
Then his eyes changed.
I saw memory hit him.
“Adrian introduced us.”
My father became still.
“What?”
Nathan looked at him.
“Peter was using another name.”
“What name?”
Nathan rubbed his forehead.
“Paul.”
“Paul something.”
Dad pulled out his phone.
Within seconds, a photograph appeared.
He turned it toward Nathan.
“Is that him?”
Nathan stared.
“Yes.”
My father’s jaw hardened.
I looked at the photograph.
Peter Sloan was younger in it.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
“Who is he?”
Dad’s answer came slowly.
“Peter Sloan worked security for your mother.”
My breath caught.
“When?”
“The last year of her life.”
Nathan sat down.
Gerald whispered.
“Oh my God.”
I looked at Dad.
“You told me everyone around Mom was investigated.”
“They were.”
“And him?”
“He disappeared two days after the funeral.”
My father handed the phone to Evelyn.
“We never found him.”
Nathan stood abruptly.
“He has been head of my security for seven years.”
Dad looked at him with disgust.
“And you never asked who he was before hiring him?”
“He came recommended.”
“By whom?”
Nathan froze.
Then closed his eyes.
“Celeste.”
No one spoke.
Evelyn began typing.
“She joined three years ago.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“She introduced me to him four years before that.”
I stared.
“You knew Celeste seven years ago?”
Nathan’s face hardened with shame.
“Not as Celeste Monroe.”
“What name?”
“Celia Grant.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity.
“How many lies did you bring into our marriage?”
Nathan did not answer.
Dad looked at the security chief.
“Find Sloan.”
The chief left.
My phone vibrated again.
This time it was David.
A text message.
HELP ME.
Then a location pin.
An industrial district near the river.
Dad immediately shook his head.
“Trap.”
“Maybe.”
“Claire.”
“If David is there, we cannot ignore it.”
“We won’t.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
I looked at my father.
“Do not make decisions for me again.”
His expression tightened.
Then softened.
He hated it.
But he understood.
“You stay in the vehicle.”
“I’ll decide when we arrive.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“I’m coming.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“I know the warehouses.”
“Still no.”
“If the location is where I think it is, you need me.”
Dad looked at him.
“Where?”
Nathan enlarged the map.
His face went pale.
“That building was our first regional warehouse.”
“The one bought with your original investment?”
Dad nodded.
Nathan swallowed.
“It burned down twelve years ago.”
I stared at him.
“Then why does David’s location show it still exists?”
Nathan looked at me.
“Because the public warehouse burned.”
He zoomed in.
“There’s another structure underneath it.”
I felt cold.
“How do you know?”
Nathan’s answer was barely audible.
“Adrian took me there once.”
Dad stepped closer.
“What is underneath?”
Nathan stared at the map.
“A records vault.”
My father’s voice sharpened.
“What records?”
May you like
Nathan looked at him.
“The files Adrian said could destroy Bennett Sovereign.”
