Chapter 2 - THE THREE MILLION DOLLARS WITH MY NAME ON IT
Norah had never seen Declan Gallagher look afraid.
Angry, yes.
Cold, frequently.
Violent, unfortunately.
But fear was different.
And Row Forty-Two put it in his eyes.
They moved to a secured conference room three floors below while police, private security, and elevator technicians filled the building.
Norah opened her laptop.
“Quarterly operating ledger.”
She navigated to the spreadsheet.
“Row forty-two. Waste management allocation. Three million.”
Declan leaned over her shoulder.
“What company?”
“Bannon Environmental Services.”
His expression hardened.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“You own twenty-seven subsidiaries.”
“I still know who receives three million dollars.”
Norah clicked through the supporting documents.
Vendor authorization.
Banking instructions.
Approval chain.
Then she stopped breathing.
Final authorization:
NORAH BENNETT.
Her employee ID.
Her digital signature.
Her security token.
“I didn’t approve this.”
Declan looked at her.
“Are you certain?”
She turned slowly.
“If you’re asking whether I forgot authorizing a three-million-dollar payment to a company you’ve never heard of, perhaps the head injury is worse than it looks.”
The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Fair.”
IT security arrived.
They reviewed the log.
The authorization happened at 7:06 p.m.
Norah had been sitting at her desk.
“That proves nothing,” she said.
“Correct,” Declan replied.
She looked at him, surprised.
He was not accusing her.
The technician opened deeper authentication data.
“Her physical token was used.”
Norah’s stomach tightened.
“My token was plugged into my computer.”
“Was anyone near your desk?”
“No.”
Then she remembered.
At 6:45, she had gone to the restroom.
Three minutes.
Maybe four.
Her laptop remained locked.
But the token stayed connected.
Declan asked:
“Can someone copy it?”
“With specialized hardware.”
The technician nodded grimly.
“Yes.”
Norah stared at the screen.
Someone had used her identity to approve the payment.
Then another file appeared.
TRANSFER SCHEDULE:
12:01 A.M.
Destination account:
BENNETT CARE SERVICES TRUST.
Norah went completely still.
“No.”
Declan looked at her.
“What?”
“That’s the payment administrator for my mother’s assisted-living facility.”
Silence.
The three million dollars was headed toward an account associated with the place keeping Norah’s mother alive.
If investigators saw this, it would look obvious.
Norah approves a fraudulent transfer.
Money moves toward her family.
Norah dies in an elevator accident beside the company’s CEO.
A thief who panicked after being discovered.
Declan understood at the same moment.
“They weren’t only trying to kill me.”
Norah whispered:
“They were building a story around me.”
Liam O’Rourke entered.
“We identified the badge authorization.”
Declan turned.
“Who issued it?”
Liam hesitated.
“Chief Financial Officer’s office.”
“Martin Keane?”
“Yes.”
Norah knew Martin.
Elegant.
Quiet.
Almost boring.
The kind of executive who corrected comma placement in quarterly reports.
Then Liam continued.
“There’s something worse.”
He placed a surveillance still on the table.
Martin Keane leaving Gallagher Tower at 5:12 p.m.
Beside him was one of the men who had just attacked them inside the elevator.
Declan stared at the image.
“Find Keane.”
Liam’s expression became grim.
“We already tried.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
Then the IT technician whispered:
“Mr. Gallagher?”
Another transaction had appeared inside Bannon Environmental.
Not three million.
Seventeen years earlier.
Amount:
$250,000.
Description:
BENNETT WAREHOUSE CLEANUP.
Norah stared at her surname.
Declan closed his eyes.
May you like
And somehow, before he spoke, Norah knew the payment had nothing to do with her mother.
It had something to do with the father who died when she was nine.
