Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Green Dress
Daniel watched the woman disappear through the revolving glass doors of Global Tech Solutions.
He did not know her name.
Not yet.
But something about the way the security guards immediately straightened told him she was important.
One guard even hurried to open the interior door for her.
“Good morning, Ms. Whitmore.”
Daniel heard it clearly.
Whitmore.
He quietly wrote the name in the little notebook hidden beneath his cleaning cloths.
He had expected arrogance during his experiment. His father’s company employed nearly twelve thousand people across the United States. Any organization that large would contain generous people, selfish people, ambitious people, frightened people, and people who had learned to hide cruelty behind expensive clothes.
What Daniel had not expected was how quickly people revealed themselves.
Within two hours, he had learned more about Global Tech Solutions than he had learned from six months of executive reports.
A junior accountant named Marcus stopped for a shine and gave Daniel ten dollars.
“Keep the change.”
“You sure?”
Marcus smiled.
“Absolutely.”
A senior manager stepped around Daniel as though he were garbage blocking the sidewalk.
Two interns bought him coffee.
A vice president snapped his fingers to get Daniel’s attention.
Then, shortly before noon, a young woman came through the revolving doors carrying two paper bags.
She wore a simple navy dress and an employee badge.
Unlike everyone else, she did not ask for a shoe shine.
She held out one of the bags.
“You hungry?”
Daniel looked up.
“Excuse me?”
“I bought two sandwiches.”
He studied her face.
“Why?”
She laughed softly.
“Because sandwiches are generally more useful when somebody eats them.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“What’s your name?”
“Emily Carter.”
She sat on the stone planter beside his stand.
Daniel glanced at the building.
“You work there?”
“For now.”
There was something in the last two words.
“What does that mean?”
Emily hesitated.
“I probably shouldn’t complain to a stranger.”
“Strangers are sometimes safer.”
That made her look at him differently.
Finally she handed him the sandwich.
“My department has problems.”
“What kind?”
“The kind everyone knows about but nobody wants to put in an email.”
Daniel’s attention sharpened.
“What department?”
“Community Partnerships.”
Daniel knew it well. Global Tech Solutions allocated more than twenty million dollars annually to educational programs, workforce development, and grants for low-income communities.
His father considered the program one of the company’s proudest achievements.
“What problems?”
Emily looked toward the entrance.
“Forget I said anything.”
Before Daniel could respond, a black Mercedes stopped at the curb.
The woman in the green dress emerged from the building.
Ms. Whitmore.
Her expression changed the moment she saw Emily sitting beside Daniel.
“Emily!”
Emily stood immediately.
“Yes, Ms. Whitmore?”
Whitmore approached.
“What are you doing?”
“Having lunch.”
“With him?”
Daniel said nothing.
Whitmore stared at the sandwich in his hand.
Emily’s shoulders tightened.
“I had an extra.”
“Inside. Now.”
Emily’s cheeks reddened.
“My lunch break isn't over.”
Whitmore stepped closer.
“That wasn't a request.”
Daniel finally spoke.
“She hasn't done anything wrong.”
Whitmore slowly turned toward him.
Her expression showed genuine disbelief that he had spoken.
“Did I ask you?”
“No.”
“Then stay out of conversations that don't concern you.”
Daniel met her eyes.
Emily touched his arm gently.
“It’s okay.”
“No,” Daniel said. “It really isn't.”
Whitmore gave a humorless laugh.
“You cleaned my shoes this morning. Don't confuse that transaction with relevance.”
Daniel felt anger rise inside him.
But he remembered his father’s warning.
Do not reveal who you are.
Whitmore looked at Emily.
“My office. Five minutes.”
Then she walked toward the Mercedes.
Emily waited until the car disappeared.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel frowned.
“You're apologizing to me?”
“She’s my boss.”
“Who is she?”
Emily looked surprised.
“Vanessa Whitmore. Senior Vice President of Corporate Development.”
Daniel knew the position.
He also knew something Emily apparently didn't.
Vanessa Whitmore was one of the executives being considered for the newly created role of company president.
His father had praised her numbers repeatedly.
Daniel looked toward the tower.
Numbers.
That was precisely the problem.
A spreadsheet could tell you how much money someone made.
It could not tell you who they became when they believed the person standing before them had nothing to offer.
“Why did you say ‘for now’ when I asked if you worked here?”
Emily looked down.
“Because Vanessa wants me gone.”
“Why?”
“I found something.”
Daniel became still.
“What?”
“Money that was supposed to go to community programs isn't reaching them.”
“How much?”
“I don't know yet.”
“Thousands?”
Emily shook her head.
“Millions.”
Daniel’s fingers tightened around the sandwich bag.
“Have you reported it?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“My supervisor told me the discrepancy was an accounting adjustment. Two days later, he was transferred.”
“And Vanessa?”
“She told me to stop asking questions.”
Daniel looked through the glass facade.
His father’s name was nowhere on the building.
That had always been intentional. Richard Mercer preferred the corporation to stand on its own reputation.
But Daniel suddenly wondered what else was hiding behind that reputation.
“Emily.”
She looked at him.
“Don't stop asking.”
“You don't understand.”
“Maybe I understand more than you think.”
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed.
Emily looked at the screen.
The color drained from her face.
“What?”
She showed him.
It was an email.
MANDATORY HR MEETING — 1:00 P.M.
Emily swallowed.
“I think I’m being fired.”
Daniel looked at his watch.
12:38.
Twenty-two minutes.
He could end the experiment now.
Walk through those doors.
Call his father.
Expose his identity.
Stop whatever was about to happen.
Instead, he remembered why he had come.
If he revealed himself too early, everyone would start performing.
He needed the truth.
“All right,” he said.
Emily stared at him.
“All right?”
“Go to the meeting.”
“And get fired?”
“Maybe.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“But before you go, send copies of everything you found somewhere they can't delete.”
Emily studied him.
“Why do you care?”
Daniel paused.
“Because somebody should.”
She stared at him another second, then hurried inside.
Daniel remained beside his stand.
At exactly 1:17 p.m., Vanessa Whitmore crossed the lobby toward the elevators.
At 1:24, two security officers appeared.
At 1:31, the revolving doors turned.
Emily emerged carrying a cardboard box.
Her eyes were wet.
Her employee badge was gone.
Daniel stood.
She gave him a broken smile.
“You were right.”
“What happened?”
“They fired me.”
“For what?”
“Insubordination.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Emily laughed bitterly.
“Apparently asking where three million dollars went is a personality problem.”
Then the revolving doors opened again.
Vanessa stepped outside.
She looked directly at Emily.
Then at Daniel.
And smiled.
“Some people,” she said calmly, “never learn their place.”
Daniel stared at her.
This time, he did not look away.
Because Vanessa had just made a mistake.
She thought she had fired the only person asking questions.
She had no idea the man holding a shoe brush beside Emily could walk into the chairman’s office whenever he wanted.
May you like
And Daniel had just decided his test was no longer about manners.
It was about three million missing dollars.
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