“It was.”
“Because I missed it?”
“No.”
Richard looked directly at her.
“Because I ordered it cancelled.”
Emma blinked.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to offer you a different position.”
Emma frowned.
“What position?”
Richard closed the folder.
“Special investigations.”
Emma almost laughed.
“I don't have experience in investigations.”
“You do.”
“I've never worked in corporate investigations.”
“You investigated my collapse.”
Emma stared at him.
Richard continued.
“You noticed I had no pulse before anyone else did.”
“You checked.”
“You acted while everyone else watched.”
His expression hardened.
“That is what investigators do.”
Emma leaned back.
“Mr. Weston, with respect, I don't know what you're really asking.”
Richard looked toward the window.
“Three weeks ago, my daughter disappeared.”
Emma went still.
“Disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Was she kidnapped?”
“I don't know.”
“Did she leave voluntarily?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what do you know?”
Richard's face changed.
For the first time, Emma saw fear.
Real fear.
“My daughter was named Claire.”
He swallowed.
“She was thirty-two.”
Emma listened.
“She worked at Weston & Co. She was supposed to become president of the company when I retired.”
“What happened?”
“She discovered something.”
“What?”
Richard looked at Daniel.
Daniel stepped forward.
“We believe someone inside the company has been manipulating financial records.”
Emma frowned.
“How much money?”
“Approximately four hundred million dollars.”
Emma's breath caught.
Richard continued.
“Claire found evidence.”
“And then disappeared.”
“Yes.”
Emma looked at Daniel.
“Why me?”
Richard answered immediately.
“Because everyone I trust has a reason to lie.”
Emma felt cold.
“Except me.”
“Except you.”
Richard stood.
“I need someone who isn't part of the system.”
Emma shook her head.
“Mr. Weston, I'm not a detective.”
“No.”
He walked toward her.
“You're something more dangerous.”
“What?”
“Someone who still believes people deserve the truth.”
Emma stared at him.
Richard reached into a drawer and pulled out a photograph.
He placed it on the desk.
A young woman smiled at the camera.
Brown hair.
Blue eyes.
A small scar near her left eyebrow.
Claire Weston.
Emma looked at the photograph.
Then she noticed something.
A necklace.
A silver pendant.
She had seen it before.
Not in person.
In a picture attached to a news article.
“Where was this taken?”
“Cape Cod.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
Emma looked again.
“Who took the picture?”
“Claire's fiancé.”
Emma looked up.
“Fiancé?”
Richard nodded.
“Michael Grant.”
Daniel's face tightened.
Emma noticed.
“What?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Michael is the chief financial officer of Weston & Co.”
Emma slowly put the photograph down.
“So the missing daughter was engaged to the company's CFO.”
“Yes.”
“And she disappeared after discovering four hundred million dollars missing.”
“Yes.”
“And her fiancé is still running the company.”
Richard nodded.
Emma stood.
“I don't think I'm qualified for this.”
Richard looked at her.
“Neither was I when I started my first company.”
“That isn't the same.”
“No.”
His voice became quiet.
“But you have something I lost.”
“What?”
“People still underestimate you.”
Emma frowned.
Richard smiled sadly.
“That's a powerful advantage.”
The File Claire Left Behind
Emma accepted the job the next morning.
Not because of the salary.
Not because she trusted Richard.
And certainly not because she believed she could solve a disappearance.
She accepted because Richard gave her one sentence that she couldn't forget.
“If Claire is alive, someone knows where she is.”
Her first assignment was simple.
Review Claire Weston's financial files.
Nothing else.
No confrontation.
No accusations.
No police.
Just numbers.
Emma worked from a small office on the thirty-sixth floor.
Daniel brought her coffee.
“Welcome to Weston & Co.”
Emma looked at the empty office.
“Does everyone get an office?”
“No.”
“Why me?”
“Richard likes dramatic gestures.”
She smiled.
“Good to know.”
For six hours, Emma reviewed spreadsheets.
Revenue.
Acquisitions.
Consulting fees.
Offshore subsidiaries.
Investment transfers.
At first, nothing seemed wrong.
Then she noticed a recurring payment.
$8.4 million.
Paid every quarter.
The recipient was a consulting company called Northstar Advisory.
Emma searched the internal database.
No employees.
No physical office.
No website.
No tax documentation.
Nothing.
She called Daniel.
“Who is Northstar Advisory?”
Daniel became silent.
“I don't know.”
“You've never heard of them?”
“No.”
“Then we have a problem.”
An hour later, Emma found another payment.
$11.2 million.
Same recipient.
Different subsidiary.
Then another.
$6.7 million.
Another company.
Same bank account.
Emma leaned closer.
She opened Claire's archived notes.
One sentence appeared repeatedly.
Follow the second signature.
Emma stared at it.
“What does that mean?”
She searched every document containing the phrase.
Twenty-seven results.
All written by Claire.
Then Emma noticed something.
The second signature appeared on every transfer.