Chapter 14 - THE ENEMY WITH AN EMPLOYEE BADGE
Costello Logistics employed 4,800 people.
Daniel Hayes could be any of them.
Or none.
Clara refused to assume the name was real.
“Seventeen years is enough time to become anybody.”
Arthur nodded.
They built a list.
Employees over forty-five.
Executives hired through acquisitions.
Consultants.
Security contractors.
Board members.
People with access to legacy shipping records.
The list contained 312 names.
Gregory stared.
“Wonderful.”
Michael looked over his shoulder.
“We could interrogate everyone.”
Clara looked at him.
Michael sighed.
“Right. Legitimate company.”
“Progress.”
Arthur studied personnel records.
Then Hope called.
He answered immediately.
“Daddy?”
Arthur's expression softened.
“What happened?”
“Anthony put peanut butter in my shoe.”
Across the room, Michael whispered:
“National emergency.”
Arthur glared at him.
Hope continued.
“Mom said not to call you at work, but this is serious.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“I'll address the suspect tonight.”
“Thank you.”
She hung up.
Clara smiled.
“That may be the most legitimate crisis you've handled all week.”
Arthur almost smiled.
Then the security system alerted.
Unauthorized access.
Archive floor.
Clara and Arthur ran.
A figure disappeared through the stairwell.
Arthur followed.
The man was fast.
Two floors.
Three.
Then Arthur tackled him against the landing.
The man's badge fell loose.
THOMAS REED.
Senior compliance director.
Arthur recognized him.
He had worked at Costello Logistics for eleven years.
Clara arrived.
“Who are you?”
Thomas laughed.
“Someone who should have retired.”
Arthur searched him.
A flash drive.
Old keys.
A photograph.
Daniel Hayes.
Thomas shook his head.
“I'm not Hayes.”
“Then why run?”
“Because whoever Hayes is killed Samuel Rourke.”
Arthur's grip loosened slightly.
Thomas explained.
He had worked for Samuel decades earlier.
Samuel had secretly placed several people inside Costello Logistics to watch Dominic.
After Arthur transformed the company, most believed their work was finished.
Six weeks earlier, someone began accessing dormant criminal accounts.
Samuel reactivated the network.
“Why not come to us?”
Thomas looked at Arthur.
“Because Samuel spent seventeen years believing Costello men couldn't change.”
Arthur absorbed it.
“And now?”
Thomas glanced at Clara.
“Then he heard you married the woman who left you.”
Clara blinked.
“That convinced him?”
“No.”
Thomas almost smiled.
“He heard Arthur Costello attended couples therapy.”
Michael laughed so hard he had to turn away.
Arthur's expression could have frozen water.
Clara covered her mouth.
Thomas continued.
“Samuel figured if that was true, miracles were possible.”
Arthur pointed at Michael.
“Stop laughing.”
“I can't.”
Clara regained control.
“What's on the flash drive?”
Thomas handed it over.
Transaction records.
Someone had been siphoning small amounts from Costello Logistics for years.
Nothing large enough to trigger alarms.
Together, the transfers totaled eighty-three million dollars.
Clara studied the authorization trail.
Her face changed.
“Arthur.”
“What?”
“These aren't new.”
She turned the screen.
“The first transfer happened while I was still your assistant.”
Arthur stared.
Clara remembered those years.
Every account.
Every payment.
Every irregularity.
She should have seen this.
“I missed it.”
Arthur immediately understood what she was doing.
“No.”
“I reviewed these accounts.”
“You were managing an entire criminal organization while I yelled about coffee.”
“I should have—”
“Clara.”
His voice softened.
“You do not carry everything anymore.”
She looked at him.
Years ago, he would have blamed her.
Now he was refusing to let her blame herself.
Thomas cleared his throat.
“There is another problem.”
Arthur looked at him.
“The last transfer was approved yesterday.”
“By whom?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Gregory Costello.”
Silence.
Everyone turned.
Gregory stared at the screen.
Then at Arthur.
“I didn't approve that.”
Arthur's expression became unreadable.
Gregory slowly raised both hands.
“Arthur.”
Clara stepped between them.
“Someone cloned his credentials.”
Arthur looked at his oldest friend.
Gregory looked hurt.
Not frightened.
Hurt.
Arthur remembered Michael.
Dominic.
Every betrayal.
Then he did something old Arthur never could.
He chose trust before suspicion.
“I believe you.”
Gregory's hands dropped.
For several seconds, he could not speak.
Then Clara's computer chimed.
Another transfer.
One dollar.
A message appeared in the memo field.
GOOD.
YOU'RE LEARNING.
Arthur stared at the words.
Daniel Hayes was not simply stealing from them.
He was testing Arthur.
May you like
And apparently—
He approved of what he saw.
