Chapter 5 - The Man Who Taught Me EverythingI wanted Martin to be innocent.
That embarrassed me.
Numbers did not care who taught you to read them.
Evidence did not become less true because you admired the person attached to it.
Still, I spent 6 hours trying to prove myself wrong.
I couldn't.
Martin had approved exceptions.
Changed classifications.
Overridden internal flags.
He had personally reassigned 2 junior analysts who questioned Halcyon transactions.
Then I found something worse.
A payment to an LLC owned by Martin's brother.
$640,000.
Olivia stood beside me when I found it.
“Daniel.”
“I know.”
“You don't have to pretend this doesn't hurt.”
“I'm not pretending.”
“You are extremely bad at lying.”
I shut the laptop.
“He gave me my first chance.”
“And then he used your work to hide what he was doing.”
That was the part I couldn't forgive.
Martin had not merely stolen.
He had used my reputation.
My reliability.
My silence.
Everything I considered evidence that I had built myself correctly.
He had turned those things into camouflage.
Rebecca told us not to confront him.
We needed records.
Access logs.
Communication.
Proof strong enough to survive lawyers.
So I went to work every day and acted normal.
Martin acted normal too.
That was terrifying.
Then, Friday evening, exactly 3 weeks after Renner's, he asked me into his office.
“Close the door.”
I did.
He poured 2 glasses of bourbon.
“I don't drink at work.”
“Neither do I usually.”
He handed me one anyway.
I didn't touch it.
Martin sat.
“You're talented, Daniel.”
“Thank you.”
“Too talented to spend your thirties waiting for Holloway to notice you.”
My pulse slowed.
Danger sometimes did that.
It made everything clearer.
“He's noticed me.”
Martin smiled.
“Because you're spending time with his daughter?”
There it was.
“What are you asking?”
“I'm offering.”
He slid a folder across the desk.
Inside was an employment agreement.
Halcyon Capital.
Vice president.
$310,000 base salary.
Bonus potentially twice that.
I earned less than half.
“Why?”
“You've earned it.”
“No.”
Martin's smile vanished.
“You've always been practical.”
“I still am.”
“Then be practical now.”
I understood.
This wasn't recruitment.
It was a purchase.
“What happens if I say no?”
He leaned back.
“Nothing.”
We both knew that was a lie.
I left the folder.
When I reached the parking garage, Olivia was waiting near my car.
“What happened?”
“How did you know something happened?”
“You have your murder face.”
“I have a murder face?”
“You have 4 expressions. I've catalogued them.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
Then headlights appeared behind her.
A black SUV accelerated through the garage.
Too fast.
Straight toward us.
“Olivia!”
I grabbed her and threw both of us behind a concrete column.
The SUV missed us by inches.
It struck the side of my Honda, crushing the driver's door, then disappeared up the ramp.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Olivia was beneath me.
Breathing hard.
Her hands gripped my shirt.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“You?”
“Yeah.”
Then she started shaking.
I pulled her closer without thinking.
She buried her face against my chest.
Police arrived.
Security footage showed the SUV.
Stolen plates.
Driver concealed.
No useful identification.
Charles wanted Olivia moved into his house.
She refused.
Then he wanted armed security outside her apartment.
She argued.
I finally snapped.
“Olivia.”
She turned.
“Someone just tried to run you over.”
“Us.”
“That doesn't improve the argument.”
Charles looked surprised.
Olivia looked furious.
Then she said, “Fine.”
Later, while we waited for a rental car, she sat beside me on the curb.
“You yelled at me.”
“You were being unreasonable.”
“You sound like my father.”
“Take it back.”
She laughed.
Then she rested her head against my shoulder.
I froze.
“Daniel?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for pulling me out of the way.”
“You don't have to thank me every time I stop you from hitting something.”
She lifted her head.
“That has happened twice.”
“It's becoming a pattern.”
She smiled.
Then kissed me.
It was brief.
Soft.
Unexpected.
When she pulled back, my entire carefully constructed life seemed to tilt slightly off its foundation.
“I shouldn't have done that,” she whispered.
I looked at her.
“No.”
Her face fell.
Then I touched her cheek.
May you like
“You should've waited until I could do it properly.”
And I kissed her back.
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