Chapter 5 - THE EMPTY DESK
Eli’s desk was cleared by nine the next morning.
Human Resources told Maya he had taken personal leave. His coat was still hanging behind his chair.
She called him three times. No answer.
Claire found her in the hallway outside the finance department.
“You look tired,” Claire said. “Late night?”
“Where’s Eli?”
“Who?”
“You know who.”
Claire gave her a slow smile. “People leave jobs all the time.”
Maya walked past her.
By noon, Maya had found a public listing for L. Harper. Laura Harper was now a partner at a small law firm in Evanston. Evelyn called her office and arranged a meeting that afternoon.
Laura was in her sixties, with silver hair and the blunt manner of someone who had spent decades reading contracts.
“I remember Samuel Reed,” she said. “I was a junior attorney then. He came in with a copy of an agreement that didn’t match the one Whitmore filed.”
“Do you still have it?” Maya asked.
“I tried to get it from storage this morning. The box was checked out six months ago.”
“By whom?”
Laura hesitated. “Someone using my old firm’s authorization.”
Evelyn leaned forward. “Did you authorize it?”
“No.”
Laura opened a drawer and took out a thin notebook. “I kept my own notes. The royalty provision wasn’t the only difference. Samuel retained rights to certain later versions of the software unless Whitmore met specific payment terms.”
“Did they?” Maya asked.
“According to Samuel, no.”
Maya felt the room narrow around her. “Northline Medical is buying Whitmore partly for that software.”
Laura nodded. “That’s what I read.”
When Maya left the office, she checked her phone again. A message from Eli had finally arrived:
I’M SAFE. DON’T CALL. LOOK AT THE SUPPLIER LIST. LAST PAGE.
Attached was a grainy photo of a spreadsheet.
Near the bottom was a vendor called Lakeshore Advisory LLC. Its payments added up to more than sixty million dollars.
May you like
The listed owner was a woman named Dana Vale.
Martin Vale’s wife.
