Chapter 3 - CLAIRE’S BADGE
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Ethan stared at the screen.
CLAIRE WHITMORE.
1:58 A.M.
EXECUTIVE FLOOR ACCESS.
His first thought was irrational.
Claire.
His second was worse.
Someone had been using her identity.
“Who still has her badge?” Ethan asked.
Daniel looked unsettled.
“I thought security deactivated it.”
“So did I.”
Grace remained silent.
Ethan looked toward her.
“What?”
“This started before she died?”
He frowned.
“What did?”
“The money problems.”
Daniel answered.
“Some overruns began six months ago.”
Grace’s expression changed.
“When Mrs. Whitmore was pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Was she still involved in the company?”
Ethan looked at the table.
Claire had never been a formal executive.
But she had a graduate degree in architecture and an irritating habit of spotting design flaws that expensive consultants missed.
She attended development presentations.
Visited construction sites.
Reviewed plans from home.
Especially during her pregnancy, when doctors ordered bed rest and she needed something to keep herself sane.
“She reviewed projects,” Ethan said.
Daniel’s shoulders tightened.
“Unofficially.”
Ethan noticed.
“Why did you say it like that?”
“Because Claire had opinions.”
“She was usually right.”
“That wasn’t always helpful.”
Grace stepped away.
“I really should leave.”
Ethan looked at her.
“No.”
Daniel laughed softly.
“Ethan, she does not belong in this conversation.”
Grace’s face went blank.
That calm expression again.
The one she wore when wealthy people at charity galas looked through her.
She placed the bottle on the counter.
“You’re right.”
Ethan turned toward Daniel.
“No, he isn’t.”
Grace stopped.
“Grace noticed the date.”
“So?”
“So neither of us did.”
Daniel leaned back.
“You’re seriously allowing household staff into a corporate fraud investigation?”
Ethan’s voice cooled.
“I’m allowing someone who has proven capable of paying attention.”
Daniel stood.
“You need rest.”
“No. I needed rest three months ago. Now I need answers.”
He called corporate security.
Claire’s badge should have been disabled seventy-nine days earlier.
It wasn’t.
A systems administrator had received instructions not to deactivate it.
From Daniel Pierce’s office.
Ethan stared across the breakfast table.
Daniel’s face drained.
“I didn’t send that.”
“Your assistant?”
“No.”
“Then why does the ticket say your office?”
“I don’t know.”
For the first time, Ethan saw fear in the man he had trusted for eighteen years.
Daniel picked up his phone.
“I’m calling IT.”
“No.”
“Ethan—”
“No one touches the system until outside investigators copy the logs.”
Daniel looked offended.
“You think I did this?”
“I think somebody wants me to think Claire did.”
Daniel walked out.
Grace watched him leave.
“You trust him?”
“With my life.”
Grace looked toward the doorway.
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
The sentence felt familiar.
Claire used to do that.
Ask questions Ethan avoided answering.
He rubbed his face.
“Daniel was my college roommate. We built the company together.”
“People can love you and still lie to you.”
He looked at her.
The words sounded personal.
But Grace walked upstairs before he could ask.
That afternoon, an independent cybersecurity firm arrived.
They found Claire’s badge had been used eleven times after her death.
Always late at night.
Always on dates when suspicious financial approvals were issued.
Total unauthorized commitments:
$42.6 million.
Ethan felt physically sick.
Someone had waited until he was drowning in grief.
Then used Claire’s credentials and his exhaustion as cover.
At six, his general counsel called.
“There’s another issue.”
“What?”
“Three board members received anonymous messages.”
“About?”
“Your mental fitness.”
Ethan laughed once.
Of course.
“They’re claiming you’ve become unstable since Claire’s death.”
His jaw tightened.
“Based on?”
“Missed meetings. Incorrect approvals. Sleep deprivation.”
“Approvals I didn’t make.”
“We know that now.”
“Who sent the messages?”
“Anonymous.”
Ethan ended the call.
Grace entered carrying Noah.
“He won’t settle.”
Ethan held out his arms.
Noah immediately grabbed his collar.
Grace noticed Ethan’s expression.
“What happened?”
He told her.
She listened.
Then asked, “Who benefits if you’re removed?”
“Daniel becomes interim CEO.”
Her eyes sharpened.
Ethan felt anger rise.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I was thinking you should investigate everyone.”
“Including Daniel.”
“Including me.”
That surprised him.
Grace continued.
“You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
She shifted Noah gently.
“I told you I work cleaning jobs and restaurant shifts. You never asked why.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Why?”
“My brother.”
“What about him?”
“He’s twenty-six. His name is Owen.”
She hesitated.
“He has epilepsy. Bad seizures. He can’t always work full time, and medication is expensive even with insurance.”
Ethan said nothing.
“I dropped out of nursing school when our mother died. I took care of him. Never went back.”
That explained more than Ethan expected.
The way she held the babies.
The way she watched breathing.
The calm.
“You studied nursing?”
“Two years.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You hired me because I told you your babies were sad, not because you wanted another résumé.”
He almost smiled.
Grace’s phone buzzed.
She glanced at it.
Then went pale.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Grace.”
She locked the screen.
“Spam.”
It buzzed again.
Ethan held out his hand.
“No.”
“Is someone threatening you?”
She looked toward the babies.
That answered him.
“Show me.”
Reluctantly, Grace handed him the phone.
Unknown number.
LEAVE WHITMORE’S HOUSE.
A second message.
YOU ARE BEING PAID TO CLEAN, NOT INVESTIGATE.
A photograph followed.
Grace entering her apartment building in Berwyn.
Then another.
Owen leaving a pharmacy.
Ethan’s face changed.
“When did these start?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me immediately?”
“Because I don’t want you turning my brother into part of your security operation.”
“He already is part of whatever this is.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You don’t get to take over my life because you’re scared.”
The sentence stopped him.
Claire had said something similar once.
During the pregnancy.
When Ethan wanted two security officers following her everywhere.
Grace took her phone back.
“I will protect Owen.”
“How?”
“I’ve been doing it for eight years.”
“And now someone inside my company knows where he gets medication.”
Grace looked away.
Ethan forced himself to lower his voice.
“Let me help without controlling you.”
She looked back.
That mattered.
Finally she nodded.
“Ask first.”
“I will.”
“Every time.”
“Yes.”
They arranged a secure hotel suite for Owen with his agreement.
Not Ethan’s order.
Grace left that evening to explain everything to him.
At 11:40 p.m., Ethan sat alone in Claire’s room with all four babies asleep nearby.
He opened a storage box he had not touched since the funeral.
Claire’s personal things.
Her laptop.
Her journal.
A scarf.
Three architecture books.
At the bottom was a small digital recorder.
Ethan frowned.
Claire had used it when pregnancy swelling made typing uncomfortable.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then Claire’s voice filled the room.
“June fourteen. Whitmore River North project. Daniel says the foundation redesign added eight million. That makes no sense.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
He pressed play again.
Claire continued.
“I checked the subcontractor list. Two companies don’t appear to exist.”
A pause.
Then:
“I’m not telling Ethan yet. He already thinks stress is hurting the babies. But if I’m right, someone close to him is stealing.”
Ethan stared at the recorder.
Claire had known.
Before she died.
He advanced to the next entry.
Her voice sounded more frightened.
“July second. Someone entered the house office while Ethan was in New York. My project notes were moved.”
Another recording.
“July nineteenth. Daniel asked why I was reviewing vendor ownership.”
Ethan’s hand froze.
Then the final recording.
Dated twelve days before Claire went into labor.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“If anything happens to me, Ethan needs to check the Halcyon file.”
A long pause.
Then Claire said the words that made his entire body go cold.
May you like
“And he needs to stop trusting Daniel.”
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