Chapter 6 - THE MAN AT THE BOARD TABLE
Damian closed the laptop.
"Put the drive away."
Caitlyn removed it and slid it into the inside pocket of her blouse.
Vincent looked toward the door.
"What do we tell him?"
Damian's face became blank.
"Nothing."
He opened the conference room door.
Malcolm stepped inside with the confidence of a man who had spent decades believing doors opened because he deserved them to.
His eyes moved across the room.
They paused on Caitlyn.
"I'm glad you're safe."
Caitlyn forced herself to smile politely.
"Thank you."
The effort made her teeth hurt.
Malcolm turned to Damian.
"We have a serious problem."
"Several."
"Then perhaps you should join the people responsible for governing this company."
Damian's gaze cooled.
"Are you suggesting I have not been governing it?"
Malcolm smiled.
"I'm suggesting disappearing overnight while our security systems are compromised does not inspire confidence."
Vincent leaned against the table.
"Funny."
Malcolm looked at him.
"What is?"
"You knew the security systems were compromised."
A beat passed.
"Everyone on the executive floor knows."
Vincent nodded.
"Of course."
Caitlyn watched Malcolm's face.
Nothing slipped this time.
He was better than she had hoped.
That made him more dangerous.
Damian walked toward the boardroom.
"Caitlyn, you're with me."
Malcolm raised an eyebrow.
"Is that wise?"
Damian stopped.
"Explain."
"Her personal information was involved in the breach."
Malcolm gave Caitlyn an apologetic look.
"No offense intended."
"None taken," Caitlyn lied.
"Until we know whether her credentials were compromised, perhaps she should not be in a confidential board meeting."
The trap was subtle.
If Damian defended her too strongly, Malcolm would know she mattered.
If he excluded her, Malcolm could control the narrative.
Caitlyn solved it first.
"Mr. Hamilton is right."
Both Hamilton men looked at her.
She meant Malcolm.
That felt unpleasant.
"My credentials were compromised."
Caitlyn kept her voice professional.
"I should remain outside until security finishes reviewing access logs."
Malcolm smiled.
"Sensible."
Damian's eyes held hers for one second longer than necessary.
He understood.
"Fine."
He entered the boardroom with Malcolm and Vincent.
Caitlyn returned to her desk.
For the first time in two years, she did not know what Damian wanted her to do next.
So she did what she had always done best.
She listened.
The boardroom doors were soundproof.
The executive assistants' station outside was not.
Three assistants whispered near the copy room.
Two security officers discussed badge resets.
A junior attorney complained that the internal audit had frozen access to financial servers.
Caitlyn wrote nothing down.
She simply remembered.
Then the chief technology officer came out of the elevator.
Graham Bell was forty-six, bald, nervous, and usually avoided eye contact with Damian.
He saw Caitlyn and stopped.
"You're here."
The surprise in his voice was immediate.
Caitlyn noticed.
"I work here."
"I heard you were..."
He stopped.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"What did you hear?"
Graham looked toward the boardroom.
"That you were being questioned about the breach."
Caitlyn's pulse quickened.
"By whom?"
"Security."
"Who told you?"
He hesitated.
"I don't remember."
"You heard I was being questioned less than twelve hours after my records were stolen, but you don't remember who told you?"
Graham's face tightened.
"I have bigger things to worry about."
He walked away.
Caitlyn watched him enter the network room.
Then she looked toward the boardroom doors.
Someone was already spreading a story about her.
A story Damian had not created.
Her computer chimed.
A bank notification appeared.
Caitlyn almost ignored it.
Then she saw the amount.
$250,000.00 deposit received.
She stared.
Her checking account balance had never contained six figures.
It had rarely contained five.
She opened the transaction.
The sender was a Delaware consulting company she had never heard of.
Her heart began pounding.
A second notification arrived.
An email.
Subject: CONFIRMATION OF SERVICES.
Caitlyn opened it.
Thank you for providing the requested Hamilton Holdings access credentials.
Final payment has been issued according to our agreement.
She went cold.
The email included an attachment.
A contract.
Her name was on it.
Her electronic signature was at the bottom.
The same forged signature used to remove Noah from Silver Pines.
Caitlyn stood.
The boardroom door opened at the exact same moment.
Two security officers stepped out.
Behind them came Malcolm.
His expression was grave.
"Caitlyn."
She knew before he spoke.
"What?"
Malcolm held up a printed report.
"Security traced the breach credentials."
Damian appeared behind him.
His face gave Caitlyn nothing.
Malcolm continued.
"They belong to you."
Every assistant in the hallway went silent.
Caitlyn looked at Damian.
"Someone just deposited two hundred fifty thousand dollars into my account."
Malcolm's eyebrows rose.
"How interesting."
Caitlyn wanted to hit him.
Instead, she turned her monitor toward Damian.
"It happened thirty seconds ago."
He read the screen.
Vincent appeared beside him.
"Nobody touch her computer."
Malcolm gave him a disapproving look.
"Surely you aren't suggesting the evidence should remain in her possession."
"I'm suggesting evidence gets preserved before someone with an agenda decides what it means."
Malcolm's smile disappeared.
The board members began emerging into the hallway.
Caitlyn recognized the setup immediately.
This was not merely about framing her.
It was about framing her publicly.
Damian stepped toward her desk.
"Caitlyn."
She looked at him.
"Did you sell access credentials to anyone?"
The question hurt more than it should have.
He had to ask it.
She knew that.
Still, it hurt.
"No."
"Did you accept payment from any outside company?"
"No."
"Did you authorize Noah's transfer?"
"No."
Damian held her gaze.
"Do you know how the money reached your account?"
"No."
Malcolm sighed.
"Damian, this is becoming embarrassing."
Damian turned his head.
"For whom?"
The hallway chilled.
Malcolm lifted the report.
"The credentials came from her account."
"Credentials can be copied."
"Her electronic signature appears on the transfer documents."
"Signatures can be forged."
"A quarter-million dollars just appeared in her bank account."
"Money can be sent."
Malcolm's eyes narrowed.
"At what point does evidence become evidence?"
Caitlyn watched Damian.
He was walking a dangerous line.
Too much defense would expose their suspicion.
Too little would destroy her.
She made the decision for him.
"Suspend me."
Damian looked at her.
Vincent did too.
Malcolm's face barely concealed satisfaction.
Caitlyn stood straighter.
"My credentials are compromised."
She spoke clearly enough for every board member to hear.
"My personal accounts have been manipulated, and my family is involved."
Her throat tightened at the last word.
"Until the investigation is complete, I should not have access to company systems."
Malcolm nodded approvingly.
"At least someone is thinking rationally."
Caitlyn ignored him.
Damian studied her for a long moment.
Then his face became colder than she had ever seen it.
"Caitlyn Elmore, effective immediately, you are suspended from Hamilton Holdings pending investigation."
The words landed like stones.
Even knowing they were necessary did not make them easier to hear.
"Your badge, company phone, and laptop."
Caitlyn placed each item on the desk.
Damian held out his hand.
She gave him the badge.
Their fingers did not touch.
"Security will escort you out."
Malcolm looked satisfied.
Vincent looked furious.
Caitlyn looked at Damian.
His expression said nothing.
Then his thumb moved once over the back of her badge.
A signal.
Three taps.
Caitlyn remembered a conversation from months earlier when Damian had explained emergency extraction codes to Vincent in front of her.
Three taps meant play along.
Her pulse steadied.
"Understood."
Two security officers escorted her toward the elevator.
Caitlyn heard whispers before the doors closed.
By the time she reached the lobby, three employees were already staring at their phones.
The rumor was spreading.
She had betrayed Hamilton Holdings.
She had sold access.
She had been caught.
Outside, cameras waited.
Caitlyn stopped.
Reporters.
At least six.
Someone had tipped them.
A woman shouted her name.
"Ms. Elmore, did you sell confidential company information?"
Another voice followed.
"Were you working with federal investigators?"
"Did Mr. Hamilton fire you?"
"Is it true money was found in your account?"
Caitlyn looked back through the glass doors.
Security had disappeared.
They had been ordered away.
A black town car pulled up.
The rear door opened.
Caitlyn hesitated.
The driver lowered the window.
"Ms. Elmore."
She did not recognize him.
Every instinct screamed.
She stepped backward.
The reporters pressed closer.
The driver got out.
"Mr. Hamilton sent me."
Caitlyn's hand moved toward her pocket.
Her personal phone was still there.
She texted Damian one word.
DRIVER?
The answer came instantly.
NO.
Caitlyn looked up.
The man was already moving toward her.
She turned and ran.
The reporters shouted.
Someone grabbed her elbow.
Caitlyn twisted free.
A second man appeared beside the town car.
The first reached inside his jacket.
Caitlyn heard the lobby doors slam open behind her.
Vincent's voice cut through the street noise.
"Down."
She dropped.
Vincent crossed the sidewalk at a run.
The first man pulled a weapon.
A Hamilton security officer struck his arm before he could raise it.
The second man ran.
Vincent caught Caitlyn by the shoulders and pushed her behind a concrete planter.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Good."
His face was furious.
"Because the boss is going to kill both of us."
"Why you?"
"For letting you reach the lobby before I got here."
Caitlyn looked toward the town car.
The driver was pinned against the pavement.
"Who are they?"
Vincent checked his phone.
"Fake plates."
"Again?"
"Apparently criminals lack imagination."
The front doors opened.
Damian came outside.
He did not look at the reporters.
He did not look at the man on the ground.
He looked directly at Caitlyn.
Every camera turned toward him.
That was the problem.
They could not reveal the suspension had been an act.
Damian stopped ten feet away.
His face became ice.
"Ms. Elmore."
Caitlyn understood.
She stood.
"Mr. Hamilton."
"Security will arrange transportation."
His voice was cold enough for the cameras.
"Do not return to company property until instructed."
Caitlyn felt the cruelty of the performance even though she knew it was false.
The reporters heard a fired secretary dismissed by a ruthless billionaire.
Only Caitlyn saw Damian's left hand close once at his side.
A signal she now understood.
Stay alive.
She entered a different security vehicle.
Vincent climbed in beside her.
The door closed.
"Where are we going?"
Vincent looked forward.
"Somewhere Malcolm won't expect."
"Where?"
"Damian's home."
Caitlyn stared at him.
"He has a home?"
Vincent looked almost offended.
"What did you think he did at night?"
"I assumed he returned to a cave and hung upside down."
Vincent laughed once.
Then his expression changed.
"Don't say that to him."
Caitlyn leaned back.
Her phone buzzed.
Another unknown message.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRUST A HAMILTON.
A photograph loaded beneath it.
Noah sat propped in a bed.
A man stood behind him.
Only the man's hand was visible.
On one finger was a heavy gold signet ring.
Caitlyn had seen that ring less than ten minutes earlier.
May you like
It belonged to Malcolm Hamilton.
