Chapter 6 - THE FIRST BETRAYAL
Leo drove to the city without telling anyone where he was going.
He left Mia with Rosa and two security officers he trusted from before Grant joined the company.
Celeste had gone to meet her attorney.
Leo did not call her.
He took the old phone, Elena's ledger, the flash drive, and the photograph from the wall safe.
He also took the ruined white shirt.
He did not know why.
Maybe because the pink heart on it had started everything.
Maybe because he needed one object in his possession that had not lied to him.
He stopped at a small electronics repair shop owned by Marcus Reed, a former Mercer employee who had left the company after a dispute with Grant.
Marcus took one look at Leo and locked the front door.
“You look terrible.”
“Good to see you too.”
Leo placed the flash drive on the counter.
“I need this opened on a machine that has never touched Mercer systems.”
Marcus stared at it.
“That sentence is exactly why I left your company.”
“Can you do it?”
“Yes.”
“Should I?”
“Yes.”
Marcus studied Leo for a moment, then led him into the back room.
The computer there looked fifteen years old and had no wireless card.
Marcus connected the drive.
A password prompt appeared.
Leo tried Elena's standard passwords.
Nothing worked.
He tried Mia's birthday.
Wrong.
He tried the date he met Elena.
Wrong.
Marcus leaned back.
“Three attempts left before it wipes.”
Leo swore quietly.
“Don't guess.”
“I know.”
Marcus tapped the monitor.
“Whoever set this up expected you to know something personal.”
Leo looked at the ruined shirt draped over a chair.
The pink heart stared back at him.
He remembered Mia's words.
It needs a heart.
Make it a big one.
He also remembered Elena teasing him during their first year of marriage whenever he ordered absurdly large portions at restaurants.
Big one, Mercer.
You always need the big one.
Leo typed BIGONE.
The drive unlocked.
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
“Romantic.”
“Shut up.”
Folders appeared on the screen.
Bank records.
Security logs.
Scanned letters.
Audio files.
And a directory labeled MIA.
Leo opened it first.
Inside were dozens of short video clips of Elena speaking directly to the camera.
Leo's throat tightened.
In the first, Elena sat in the conservatory while pregnant.
“If you're watching this someday, peanut, your dad is pretending not to cry behind the camera.”
Leo shut the clip immediately.
He could not take it.
Marcus looked away respectfully.
Leo opened the folder labeled TRUST.
The documents were clearer than the ledger.
Grant and Daniel had moved money through shell companies for years.
But the transfers had been approved under Celeste's digital credentials.
Leo's anger returned.
“She knew.”
Marcus frowned at the metadata.
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean?”
“These approvals were signed using her credentials.”
“That doesn't prove she personally signed them.”
Leo looked at him.
“Can you tell where they came from?”
“Some.”
Marcus filtered the logs.
Most approvals originated from Mercer House.
Specifically, from a network device assigned to the east wing.
Celeste's private office.
Leo's jaw tightened.
Marcus kept scrolling.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“There's a device clone.”
Leo leaned closer.
“What does that mean?”
“It means somebody created a duplicate security token that impersonated her computer.”
“Who?”
Marcus searched deeper.
The trail led to an administrative account.
GHALE-ROOT.
Leo stared at the screen.
Grant.
Marcus whistled softly.
“Your friend was busy.”
Leo opened the audio folder.
The first recording was dated six weeks before Elena's death.
Elena's voice filled the room.
“Celeste, I found the transfers.”
Celeste answered.
“I know.”
Leo froze.
Elena sounded furious.
“You know?”
“I know someone is using my authorization.”
“Then why haven't you told Leo?”
“Because Leo will confront Grant before we can prove it.”
“He deserves to know.”
“He deserves to stay out of prison.”
Elena went quiet.
Celeste continued.
“Grant has spent years building a file on him.”
“Every argument.”
“Every security incident.”
“Every photograph that makes him look dangerous.”
“He is waiting for Leo to react exactly once in the wrong place.”
Leo sat back.
Elena had written the same warning.
They need you angry.
The recording continued.
Elena said, “Then we take the proof to the police.”
Celeste replied, “Not yet.”
“There's someone above Grant.”
Leo's eyes narrowed.
Marcus stopped typing.
Elena asked, “Who?”
Celeste's answer was muffled by movement.
Then came the same sound Leo had heard on the old phone.
A door opening.
Celeste whispered, “Hide it.”
Another voice entered.
Male.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Am I interrupting?”
Leo stared at the speakers.
It was Daniel Price.
The family lawyer.
The man who had served his father.
The man who had prepared Elena's estate.
The man who was now trying to reduce Leo's parental rights.
The recording ended.
Marcus looked at Leo.
“You need to copy everything.”
“Already planning to.”
“No.”
“I mean right now.”
Marcus pointed to the screen.
A small line of text had appeared in the corner.
REMOTE ACCESS ATTEMPT DETECTED.
Leo felt his pulse spike.
“This computer isn't online.”
“It isn't.”
“Then how?”
Marcus grabbed the flash drive.
“Something on the drive just woke up when we decrypted it.”
He pulled the machine's power cable.
The monitor went black.
For a second, neither man spoke.
Then Leo's phone rang.
It was Rosa.
He answered immediately.
“What happened?”
Rosa's voice was tight.
“Leo, come home.”
“Is Mia okay?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Celeste returned with two deputies and a court order.”
Leo stood.
“What order?”
Rosa hesitated.
“Temporary emergency custody.”
Leo felt the room go cold.
“The hearing isn't until tomorrow.”
“I know.”
Rosa's voice dropped.
“Someone filed new evidence this afternoon.”
“What evidence?”
“A video.”
Leo's mind went instantly to Grant.
“What video?”
Rosa was silent for half a second.
Then she said the words Leo had been trained by Elena's recordings not to react to.
“It shows you threatening Elena three days before she died.”
Leo stared at the black monitor.
“That video doesn't exist.”
May you like
Rosa answered quietly.
“The court thinks it does.”
