Chapter 5 - The Man Who Called Him Son
Richard Maddox closed the hospital door behind him.
“Adrian.”
No response.
“I came as soon as I heard.”
“You were at the board meeting this morning,” Adrian said.
Richard paused.
“Of course.”
“You suspended Claire.”
“A temporary precaution.”
“You don’t have authority to suspend anyone reporting directly to my audit investigation.”
Richard’s eyes moved toward me.
“I wasn’t aware Ms. Bennett reported directly to you.”
“She does now.”
I hadn’t known that either.
Richard smiled thinly.
“How touching.”
Martin stepped forward.
“Mr. Maddox, Detective Ortiz would like to speak with you.”
“I’ve already spoken with police.”
“Not about Northstar.”
The name changed everything.
Richard looked at Daniel.
Then at me.
Then at Adrian.
“Northstar?”
Adrian watched him.
“Interesting.”
“What is?”
“I didn’t explain what it was.”
Richard’s face remained calm.
Too calm.
“You’ve discussed it with the board.”
“No. I haven’t.”
For the first time, Richard looked trapped.
Only for a second.
Then he sighed.
“You’re concussed and medicated. This isn’t the time.”
He turned toward the door.
Martin blocked him.
Richard’s voice cooled.
“Move.”
“No.”
“You’re a corporate employee.”
“Today I’m cooperating with Chicago police.”
Richard stared at him.
Then Detective Ortiz appeared in the doorway with two officers.
“Mr. Maddox, we’d like a conversation.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not yet.”
“Then schedule it through counsel.”
He walked out.
No one stopped him.
I looked at Ortiz.
“Why let him leave?”
“Because nervous people make mistakes.”
“You think he’ll run?”
“I hope he tries.”
She turned to Adrian.
“We executed a warrant on Northstar’s registered office.”
“And?”
“Empty.”
Of course.
“But we found financial records in cloud storage.”
She glanced at me.
“Ms. Bennett’s analysis was accurate.”
“Sixty-seven million?” I asked.
“Seventy-two-point-three.”
Daniel whispered a curse.
Ortiz continued.
“Money moved from Blackwood through six shells, then into private investment accounts.”
“Whose?”
“Still tracing.”
Adrian looked exhausted.
“This could destroy the company.”
Ortiz’s expression remained neutral.
“Then perhaps somebody should have stopped stealing from it.”
He nodded.
Fair.
The next thirty-six hours moved faster than the previous year of my life.
News leaked.
BLACKWOOD CEO HOSPITALIZED AFTER MEDICAL EMERGENCY.
Then:
SOURCES: POSSIBLE INTERNAL FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION.
Then:
BLACKWOOD INDUSTRIES SHARES FALL 11%.
My name appeared online.
EMPLOYEE QUESTIONED AFTER CEO COLLAPSE.
Nobody said I had saved his life.
That detail apparently generated fewer clicks than suspicion.
By Thursday morning, strangers online had decided I was his secret girlfriend, assassin, whistleblower, or all three.
Tessa printed one comment and stuck it on the refrigerator.
“‘Mysterious woman in yellow.’ That’s branding.”
I threw a pillow at her.
Adrian was discharged Thursday afternoon.
Against everyone’s advice, he went directly to Blackwood Tower.
I went too.
So did Martin.
The building felt different.
People stared.
Whispered.
Elevator conversations stopped when I entered.
When we reached forty-five, Adrian paused exactly where I had found him.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he looked at the marble.
“I remember your voice.”
“What?”
“During CPR.”
“You were unconscious.”
“Mostly.”
“What did I say?”
His mouth curved slightly.
“Something about me being inconsiderate.”
“That came later.”
“Then I don’t remember correctly.”
I smiled.
The elevator opened.
Inside the executive conference room, the board waited.
Vanessa.
Richard.
Seven directors.
Company counsel.
Ortiz and two federal agents.
Richard stood.
“This is inappropriate.”
Adrian walked to the head of the table.
“My company. My meeting.”
“You have been medically advised to rest.”
“I rested.”
“For thirty-six hours.”
“It was tedious.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
Adrian placed a folder on the table.
“Northstar Strategic Services has received over seventy-two million dollars from Blackwood Industries through fraudulent contracts.”
Murmurs.
One director looked physically ill.
Richard leaned back.
“Allegedly.”
“Correct.”
Adrian looked directly at him.
“Which is why we’re preserving evidence.”
Vanessa suddenly spoke.
“I have something.”
Every head turned.
She placed a phone on the table.
“I received messages three months ago.”
“From whom?” Ortiz asked.
“I don’t know.”
She opened them.
Threats.
Instructions.
Photographs of Vanessa leaving her home.
One photograph showed her teenage son.
“I was told to authorize vendor changes,” she said.
Richard scoffed.
“How convenient.”
Vanessa’s voice shook for the first time since I’d met her.
“I didn’t steal the money.”
“But you helped.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Adrian asked.
“Because they knew where Ethan went to school.”
Daniel stared at her.
The same tactic.
Children.
Families.
Fear.
Ortiz collected the phone.
“Why come forward now?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Because someone tried to kill Adrian.”
Her eyes filled.
“And because they framed her.”
She pointed toward me.
“I knew Claire wasn’t the person in that maintenance jacket.”
I stood.
“How?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Because I saw who was.”
Nobody moved.
Adrian’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“Who?”
She looked at Richard.
Then beyond him.
Toward a gray-haired board member named Elliot Crane.
Crane stood suddenly.
His chair crashed backward.
He ran.
Martin moved first.
Crane reached the door.
An officer caught him in the hallway.
The room erupted.
Richard shouted.
Directors stood.
Vanessa began crying.
Crane struggled against the officer.
“You don’t understand!”
Ortiz stepped toward him.
“Then explain.”
Crane looked directly at Richard.
And Richard slowly shook his head.
A warning.
Crane saw it.
So did I.
His face changed.
Pure fear.
“No,” he whispered.
Ortiz grabbed his arm.
“Mr. Crane?”
Crane started speaking.
“Maddox told me—”
The lights went out.
Total darkness.
Someone screamed.
Glass shattered.
Then came a single gunshot.
May you like
When the emergency lights came on, Richard Maddox was gone.
And Adrian Blackwood was lying on the floor.
