Phase Six: Acquire company assets below market value.
Daniel looked at Sarah.
“This isn't about stealing money.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed toward the final page.
There was one sentence.
Once Morgan is removed, Reed becomes interim chairman.
Daniel felt sick.
Thomas didn't want to steal from the company.
He wanted the company.
But there was more.
Attached to the plan was a series of emails.
Daniel read the first one.
Thomas had sent it to an investment group.
The subject line said:
Morgan Problem — Resolution Strategy.
Another email contained a list of employees who might resist the takeover.
Names.
Personal information.
Even family details.
Daniel's hands tightened.
“He was planning this for years.”
Sarah nodded.
Then she stopped.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Look at this.”
She pointed toward a payment.
$750,000.
Recipient:
Adrian Cole.
Daniel knew that name.
Adrian Cole was a cybersecurity consultant.
And he had worked for Morgan Steel.
But he had been fired eighteen months earlier.
For accessing restricted systems.
Daniel remembered the day.
Thomas had recommended firing him.
Daniel had signed the termination papers.
Now the evidence suggested Adrian had been hired by Thomas.
Sarah whispered:
“We have a conspiracy.”
Daniel looked at the files.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“We have proof of a conspiracy.”
The Witness
Finding evidence wasn't enough.
They needed someone willing to testify.
Adrian Cole disappeared.
His phone was disconnected.
His apartment was empty.
His car was gone.
Sarah warned Daniel.
“He knows we're looking for him.”
“Then we find him.”
“How?”
Daniel thought.
Then he remembered something.
Adrian had once told him about his younger brother.
A boy named Lucas.
Lucas had a rare heart condition.
Daniel searched old employee records.
He found the hospital.
They went there.
Adrian wasn't in the hospital.
But Lucas was.
Daniel waited outside the room.
An hour later, a man approached.
Thirty-eight.
Thin.
Tired.
Adrian Cole.
He looked at Daniel.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Daniel answered:
“Neither should you.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Then his face collapsed.
“I didn't want to do it.”
“Do what?”
“Help them.”
“Who?”
“Thomas.”
Daniel said nothing.
Adrian sat down.
“He paid me.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand initially.”
“And the rest?”
Adrian looked away.
“I never got the rest.”
“What did you do?”
Adrian took a breath.
“I created the digital credentials.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You made it look like I approved the transfers.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“My brother needed surgery.”
Daniel's expression softened.
“But you could have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Thomas?”
Adrian nodded.
“He threatened my brother.”
Sarah asked:
“Do you have evidence?”
Adrian pulled out a small memory card.
“Everything.”
Emails.
Recordings.
Payment instructions.
Voice messages.
And one recording.
Thomas's voice.
Clear.
Calm.
Cold.
“Daniel won't fight back. That's his weakness.”
Daniel listened.
Thomas continued.
“People think quiet men are harmless. They're not harmless. They're predictable.”
The recording ended.
Daniel sat in silence.
Then he said:
“He doesn't know me at all.”
The next morning, Adrian agreed to testify.