Chapter 2 - THE BLUE LEDGER
Nathaniel reached his study before Camille could stop him.
The bottom drawer was locked.
He knew because he had locked it himself three weeks earlier.
Now the lock was scratched.
Nathaniel opened it.
The blue ledger was gone.
Camille stood in the doorway.
“What are you looking for?”
He turned slowly.
“You tell me.”
Her face remained composed.
Too composed.
David entered behind her.
Nathaniel looked at him.
“The blue ledger.”
David’s eyes shifted.
“What ledger?”
Wrong answer.
Nathaniel crossed the room.
“The one containing every private transfer from Vaughn Capital’s acquisition fund.”
Camille frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“No?”
“No.”
Nathaniel studied her.
Then he looked at David.
His CFO had managed those transfers.
The ledger existed because Nathaniel did not fully trust digital records after a cyberattack two years earlier.
Only five people knew about it.
David was one.
“Clara saw it?” David asked.
Nathaniel’s eyes hardened.
“So you do know which ledger.”
David cursed under his breath.
Camille stepped between them.
“Nathaniel, you’re tired.”
He laughed once.
“Do not do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make me doubt what I just heard.”
Her face changed slightly.
Good.
Nathaniel picked up Clara’s note.
“She was afraid enough to leave.”
Camille crossed her arms.
“Maybe she stole it.”
Nathaniel stared.
“You think the housekeeper stole a private financial ledger?”
“She has access to the house.”
“She works nights to pay tuition.”
“That doesn’t make her honest.”
Nathaniel thought of the cameras.
The coffee.
The food in the trash.
The rain.
Then something worse occurred to him.
“Where is she?”
Camille shrugged.
“She quit.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathaniel looked toward the security terminal.
Every exit was recorded.
He opened the archive.
At 9:14 P.M., Clara walked toward the staff entrance carrying a suitcase.
At 9:17, she stopped.
Someone entered the frame.
David.
Nathaniel looked at him.
“What happened?”
David said nothing.
On-screen, David spoke to Clara.
No audio.
Clara’s face changed.
Then a black sedan pulled into the service driveway.
Clara got inside.
The car left.
Nathaniel paused the footage.
“You put her in that car.”
David’s jaw tightened.
“She asked for a ride.”
“Where?”
“The train station.”
“Which one?”
“Greenwich.”
Nathaniel called security.
No record of Clara entering the station.
No ticket under her name.
Her phone had gone offline at 9:31.
Nathaniel stared at David.
“Where did you take her?”
“I didn’t take her anywhere.”
“Then who drove?”
David hesitated.
Camille spoke quickly.
“One of the staff drivers.”
Nathaniel turned.
“Name.”
No answer.
His phone rang.
Elias.
Nathaniel answered immediately.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“I found Clara’s apron in the garage.”
Nathaniel’s stomach tightened.
“So?”
“There’s blood on it.”
Silence.
Camille went white.
Nathaniel looked at her.
Not anger now.
Something colder.
“Tell me where she is.”
Camille shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Then Elias added:
“And sir?”
“Yes?”
“There was something in the apron pocket.”
“What?”
“A flash drive.”
Nathaniel stared at David.
Elias continued:
“It’s labeled with one name.”
Nathaniel’s pulse slowed.
May you like
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
