Chapter 5 - The Woman in RedEvelyn called security.
I stopped her.
“If Malcolm sees guards coming, we lose whatever Camilla came back for.”
Julian stared at the monitor.
“You want to go down there?”
“No.”
I pointed toward the audio controls.
“I want to listen.”
Camilla's office microphone had been disabled.
But the conference room outside it was live.
We heard the door open.
Then Camilla's voice.
“You said nobody would get hurt.”
Malcolm answered quietly.
“People always say that when they finally realize what business they're in.”
Julian's jaw tightened.
Camilla spoke again.
“You used me.”
“You were remarkably willing.”
“You told me Julian was stealing.”
“He was useful because he was ambitious, vain, and careless.”
Julian closed his eyes.
I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Malcolm continued.
“You put invoices in front of him. He signed them. You transferred the funds.”
“Because you said it was part of the restructuring.”
“And because you enjoyed the lifestyle.”
Silence.
Then Camilla said, “Audrey knows.”
“Not enough.”
My blood chilled.
“What about her mother's files?” Camilla asked.
“We'll handle Audrey.”
Julian moved toward the door.
I grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“He threatened you.”
“And walking into a room where he has a gun solves that?”
Julian stopped.
On the monitor, Camilla opened her desk.
She removed something taped beneath the bottom drawer.
A tiny silver drive.
Malcolm extended his hand.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Camilla.”
“I want protection.”
“You want money.”
“I want both.”
She backed away.
“Richard Mercer copied everything before he died. Daniel Vance helped him. Eleanor found part of it years later.”
Malcolm's voice hardened.
“And where is the rest?”
Camilla smiled.
“For the first time, Malcolm, you don't know something I know.”
Then the office camera went black.
A gunshot cracked through the audio.
Julian ran.
This time I couldn't stop him.
Security followed.
I stayed with Evelyn for approximately three seconds before ignoring my own good judgment and running after them.
When we reached Camilla's office, Malcolm was gone.
Camilla lay behind her desk.
Alive.
The bullet had struck the wall.
Julian knelt beside her.
“Where is he?”
Camilla was shaking violently.
“He took the drive.”
Security sealed the building, but Malcolm had used a private service elevator.
By the time police arrived, he had disappeared.
Camilla spent the next six hours giving a statement.
By morning, the truth was uglier than I expected.
She had been recruited by Malcolm three years earlier.
At first, her assignment was simple: influence Julian.
Flatter him.
Feed his ambition.
Convince him to approve transactions he wouldn't examine closely.
The affair had come later.
“You could have refused,” I told her.
We were alone in the hospital room.
Camilla looked exhausted without her red dress, makeup, or confidence.
“Yes.”
No excuses.
That surprised me.
“You knew he was married.”
“Yes.”
“You came into my home.”
“Yes.”
“You stole my mother's earrings.”
Her eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
I waited.
She whispered, “I wanted something that was yours.”
“Why?”
“Because Julian talked about you even when he was with me.”
I stared at her.
She laughed bitterly.
“Not romantically. He complained that you were too quiet. Too independent. That you never needed him enough.”
That sounded exactly like Julian.
“I hated you before I knew you.”
“And now?”
Camilla looked at the bruises across my shoulder.
“Now I think I was jealous of a woman whose life I didn't understand.”
I turned toward the door.
“Where is Malcolm going?”
“I don't know.”
“You risked your life for that drive. You know something.”
She hesitated.
“Meridian wasn't only about money.”
I stopped.
“What was it about?”
“Control.”
She explained.
Meridian's battery technology had been years ahead of its time. Richard Mercer had discovered that Malcolm intended to sell the research privately while leaving Aurelia with the development costs.
Richard contacted my father.
Together they began collecting evidence.
Then both men died within two years.
My mother inherited the problem without understanding its full scale.
“What was on the drive?”
“The original patent trail.”
“Where did you get it?”
“Richard Mercer.”
I frowned.
“He died nine years ago.”
Camilla looked at me.
“No.”
My skin went cold.
“What?”
“Richard Mercer didn't die.”
Behind me, something crashed.
Julian stood in the doorway.
He had heard everything.
May you like
Camilla stared at him.
“Your father is alive.”
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