Chapter 12 - BEFORE THE TRUCK LEFT
Vanessa snatched up the phone.
The officer identified herself and directed her to stay in the lobby while investigators addressed the threat to the records. Vanessa demanded a lawyer. Nobody asked her another question.
Ruth was already calling the independent directors.
“Suspend the disposal service. Immediately.”
Mara radioed the loading dock. The driver had an authorized pickup order and two sealed document carts. He hadn't opened either one.
“Keep them sealed,” she told him. “There is a hold on company records.”
Daniel watched officers enter through the front doors. The application to search for the specified records had been underway since that afternoon, supported by the affidavit, corroborating files, and warehouse receipt. The signed warrant had now arrived.
For once, the next move wasn't his to command.
Claire stood beside him, gripping the tin.
“You okay?” he asked.
“No.”
“Do you want to leave?”
She looked toward the elevator.
“Not yet.”
Upstairs, Mara accompanied the officers to the executive suite. Daniel, Claire, and Ruth remained outside the secured area.
Through the glass conference-room wall, they saw Martin emerge from the records corridor carrying a black laptop bag.
An officer called his name.
Martin stopped, looked toward the main elevator, then turned sharply toward the service exit.
He made it three steps before another officer appeared in the doorway.
“Set the bag down.”
“I'm the chief financial officer.”
“Set it down.”
His title hung uselessly in the air.
Inside the bag, investigators found folders from the numbered records box. In the locked cabinet, opened with a key recovered during the authorized search, they found the rest.
Claire could see the faded warehouse label when an evidence technician carried the box past the glass.
Her knees weakened.
Daniel moved a chair behind her without making her sit.
“They found it,” he said.
She pressed a hand over her mouth.
But Ruth's expression stayed careful. Finding a box didn't prove what its contents would show.
Martin was escorted past them a few minutes later. His confidence had cracked, but spite still held him upright.
He stopped when he saw Daniel.
“Ask her about the check.”
Claire went cold.
May you like
Martin smiled at the reaction.
“Your innocent little victim took Vaughn money. And I've got her signature too.”
