Chapter 3 - THE DEBT THAT WASN'T HERS
By morning, Chloe had made a decision.
She wasn't going to sit in Roman's penthouse and wait for someone else to determine her future.
She wanted answers.
Roman found her in his private office at seven thirty.
She was standing over a stack of financial documents.
“You're awake early.”
“I've been awake all night.”
He looked at the papers.
“Why are you reading those?”
“Because you said Harrison used my name.”
“He did.”
“I want to know how.”
Roman walked closer.
Chloe pointed at a transaction.
“This account.”
“Yes.”
“This signature isn't mine.”
Roman looked carefully.
“Correct.”
“So Harrison forged it.”
“Yes.”
She looked at another document.
“This one isn't mine either.”
Roman nodded.
Chloe's anger began replacing her fear.
“He used my identity.”
“Yes.”
“To borrow money.”
“Yes.”
“And when he couldn't pay, he left me behind.”
“Yes.”
She slammed the document onto the desk.
“He planned this.”
Roman didn't contradict her.
“He planned for you to absorb the consequences.”
Chloe looked at him.
“Then I want to destroy him.”
Roman studied her.
“That's not revenge talking.”
“No.”
Her eyes were steady.
“That's survival.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Roman pulled a chair toward her.
“Sit.”
She did.
He opened another file.
“Harrison didn't lose eighty-five million gambling.”
“What did he do?”
“He moved it.”
“Where?”
“Multiple shell companies.”
“Whose?”
Roman looked at her.
“That's what we haven't found.”
He placed several photographs on the desk.
Companies.
Bank accounts.
Shipping corporations.
Consulting firms.
All connected to Harrison.
Chloe examined them.
Then she stopped.
“This name.”
Roman looked over.
“Why?”
“I've seen it.”
“Where?”
“In Harrison's office.”
Roman leaned closer.
“Tell me.”
“There was a woman.”
“Vanessa?”
Chloe nodded.
“She worked with him.”
Roman's eyes narrowed.
“Did she have access to his financial records?”
“Yes.”
“Did she travel with him?”
“Several times.”
“Did Harrison trust her?”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
“Apparently more than he trusted me.”
Roman studied the documents.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“Vanessa Cole isn't her real surname.”
Chloe stared.
“What?”
Roman turned the laptop toward her.
A photograph appeared.
The woman she recognized as Vanessa.
But beneath the photograph was another name.
Victoria Voss.
Chloe felt a chill.
“Who is she?”
Roman's face hardened.
“Someone I've been looking for.”
“Why?”
“She disappeared eight years ago after stealing confidential financial records from three families.”
“And she came back as Harrison's assistant?”
“Not exactly.”
Roman pulled up another file.
“She was working for someone.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
“Roman.”
He looked at Chloe.
“That's the problem.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Chloe stared at the screen.
Then something occurred to her.
“If she was working for someone, Harrison wasn't the mastermind.”
“No.”
Roman leaned back.
“I'm beginning to think Harrison was only the middleman.”
“Then who was above him?”
Roman's phone rang.
He answered.
His security chief spoke rapidly.
Roman's expression darkened.
“Lock down the building.”
Chloe stood.
“What happened?”
“Someone tried to access my private server.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Roman walked toward the window.
Then stopped.
“Wait.”
He turned.
“Chloe, where is the ultrasound photograph?”
She blinked.
“What?”
“The photograph you said you brought with you.”
“It's in my handbag.”
“Get it.”
She retrieved the envelope.
Roman opened it carefully.
He studied the image.
His face changed.
Chloe noticed.
“What?”
Roman pointed toward the bottom corner.
There was a faint handwritten code.
Numbers.
Letters.
Chloe stared.
“I didn't write that.”
Roman's voice became quiet.
“Neither did Harrison.”
“What is it?”
Roman looked at her.
“A shipping container number.”
Chloe's heart pounded.
“What does an ultrasound have to do with a shipping container?”
Roman didn't answer.
He called his security chief.
“Find container KX-4419.”
The response came quickly.
Roman's jaw tightened.
“Where?”
A pause.
Then:
“Newark.”
Roman looked at Chloe.
“What?”
He lowered the phone.
“That container was scheduled to be opened tonight.”
“What's inside?”
May you like
Roman stared toward the city.
“We're about to find out.”
