Chapter 17: The Secret Investigation

The elevator doors closed behind us.

For the first time in three years, I wasn't leaving Carter Global as an employee.

I was leaving as a suspect.

The word alone made my stomach twist.

Lily walked beside me in silence while Adrian and Nora followed a few steps behind.

No one spoke until we reached the underground parking garage.

"This way," Adrian said.

He unlocked his SUV and looked around before opening the rear door.

"Get in."

"Are we... hiding?" I asked.

"Until we know who's watching us, yes."

I exchanged a glance with Nora.

"He's gone into CEO mode," she whispered.

"Meaning?"

"He trusts almost no one."

Adrian heard her.

"Correction."

He started the engine.

"I trust exactly three people right now."

He looked at each of us in turn.

"Emma. Nora. Lily."

For the first time that day, I smiled.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Adrian's penthouse instead of my apartment.

"Why here?" I asked.

"Because whoever framed you may be watching your place."

"That's a little dramatic."

"Maybe."

"But if I'm right, I'd rather be dramatic than careless."

Inside the penthouse, Adrian led us into his home office.

The room looked more like a cybersecurity lab than a study.

Three large monitors.

A wall-sized digital whiteboard.

Stacks of files.

Nora whistled.

"You really do work all the time."

"Unfortunately."

"Now I know why you reply to emails at 2 A.M.," Lily joked.

Adrian ignored the comment.

"Phones."

"What?" I asked.

"Everyone leaves their phones on the table."

"Seriously?"

"If someone installed spyware or remote monitoring, I don't want this conversation recorded."

Without hesitation, he placed his own phone on the table first.

The rest of us followed.

"Okay," he said.

"Let's start with facts."

He wrote on the whiteboard.

1. Morrison files leaked.

2. Emma's credentials were used.

3. Emma has an alibi.

4. Leak continued after Chicago.

"What does that tell us?" he asked.

Nobody answered immediately.

Then I spoke.

"The person didn't just steal my password."

"Go on," Adrian said.

"They also wanted everyone to believe it was me."

"Exactly."

Nora nodded.

"This wasn't random hacking."

"It was a frame-up."

Adrian circled the words FRAME EMMA.

"Question is... why Emma?"

Lily frowned.

"Because she's easy to blame?"

"Maybe."

"Or because whoever did this knows she's close to me," Adrian replied.

The room fell quiet.

He continued.

"Hurting Emma hurts my team."

"Hurting my team hurts the company."

"Hurting the company benefits whoever leaked the documents."

I stared at the board.

"This wasn't personal."

"Maybe not at first," Adrian said.

"But someone definitely knew enough about you to use your account."

"Which means they know me."

"Exactly."

He turned toward me.

"Emma, tell me everything unusual you've noticed over the last month."

"Everything?"

"Even if it feels unimportant."

I closed my eyes, replaying the last few weeks.

"Someone borrowed my charger."

"Already noted."

"Daniel asked whether I still worked late."

"Anything else?"

"..."

Then something clicked.

"Wait."

"What?"

"Two weeks ago... my password stopped working."

Everyone looked at me.

"Explain."

"I came into work Monday morning and couldn't log in."

"Then?"

"IT reset it remotely."

"Who handled the ticket?" Adrian asked.

"I don't remember."

"That's important," Nora said.

"Very."

Adrian immediately opened his laptop.

"Nora, can you access archived IT support tickets?"

"Not legally."

"Can you?"

She smiled.

"Yes."

"Good."

Ten minutes later, Nora looked up from her screen.

"Found it."

"Already?"

"Password reset request... fourteen days ago."

"Who approved it?" Adrian asked.

Nora frowned.

"That's strange."

"What?"

"There's no approval signature."

"Impossible," Adrian replied.

"Every password reset requires manager approval."

"Not this one."

"Who performed it?"

Nora's eyes narrowed.

"Someone using administrator privileges."

"Name?"

"That's the strange part..."

"The employee name has been deleted."

Lily leaned forward.

"Can someone delete audit logs?"

"Only senior IT administrators," Adrian answered.

"Or someone pretending to be one."

I suddenly felt cold.

"So the leak could've started two weeks ago."

"Yes," Adrian said.

"Long before Chicago."

He wrote another note.

PASSWORD RESET = POSSIBLE ENTRY POINT.

"We're getting somewhere," Nora whispered.

"Slowly," Adrian replied.

"But yes."

Just then, Lily looked up from her laptop.

"Guys..."

"What?"

"I searched the leaked article again."

"And?"

"The reporter who published it has written three previous stories about Carter Global."

"Coincidence?" I asked.

"Maybe not."

"Who leaked to them before?" Adrian wondered.

"Exactly."

He immediately called the head of Corporate Communications.

"Michael."

"I need every interaction your department has had with journalist Ryan Brooks over the last year."

"Don't ask questions."

"Just send everything."

He ended the call.

"Who is Ryan Brooks?" I asked.

"The reporter who broke today's story."

"Think he's involved?"

"Reporters don't magically receive confidential board documents."

"Someone handed them over."

"And we're going to find out who."

The afternoon passed with file after file spread across the table.

By evening, we had a timeline.

Password reset.

Suspicious login.

Document leak.

Media publication.

Everything fit together.

Everything except one missing piece.

"We still don't know who had access," I said.

"Not yet," Adrian replied.

"But whoever deleted those IT logs made one mistake."

"What's that?" Nora asked.

"People erase digital footprints."

"Yes?"

"They forget physical ones."

He opened another folder.

"Every late-night employee entering the server floor uses a security badge."

"Badge logs can't be edited without triggering an alert."

My eyes widened.

"You have the badge records?"

"Not yet."

"Then?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"How?"

A confident smile appeared on Adrian's face.

"Because the head of building security owes me a favor."

"And if someone entered that server room using your credentials..."

He looked directly at me.

"Tomorrow, we'll know exactly who they are."