Chapter 75: The Second Meeting

Samuel Reed chose a different location for the second meeting: a private room inside a small law office. This time, Louis attended with Derek. Samuel looked noticeably more nervous when Louis entered, and for several seconds he couldn't meet his former employer's eyes.

Louis sat opposite him. "You wanted protection. Before we discuss that, I need to know whether what you're offering is real."

Samuel placed a flash drive on the table. "Copies of access logs, messages from Daniel Mercer, and payment records."

Derek connected the drive to an isolated laptop. The logs matched Samuel's description. Victor Shaw's executive credentials had accessed acquisition forecasts, supplier agreements, and strategy documents far outside the normal scope of his advisory role.

More troubling were several entries from another administrative account. The user identity had been removed from the exported logs.

"Whose account is this?" Louis asked.

Samuel shook his head. "I never found out. It had higher clearance than mine and could view almost everything."

Louis's gaze sharpened. Only a limited number of executives had possessed that level of access.

Samuel continued. Daniel had originally paid him for information through legitimate consulting invoices. When Samuel tried to stop, Daniel showed him evidence of the payments and threatened to expose him as an industrial spy.

"So you kept helping him," Louis said.

Samuel swallowed. "For several months. Then I resigned and left the country."

"You could have told me."

"I was afraid."

Louis's expression remained cold. "Fear explains your decision. It doesn't erase it."

Samuel nodded. "I know."

He then showed them messages containing the phrase "the anchor." Daniel never named the person directly. One message read: "The anchor confirmed Stone will react if Hale enters the logistics deal." Another said: "Do not contact V.S. this week. Anchor wants distance."

Derek looked at Louis. If V.S. meant Victor Shaw, the wording suggested the anchor and Victor were different people.

Samuel requested formal legal counsel before giving a sworn statement. Louis agreed to arrange independent representation rather than using his own lawyers.

When he returned home, Freya was waiting with dinner.

"How bad?" she asked.

"Bad enough that Victor may not be the person at the top."

Louis explained the anonymous high-clearance account and the messages.

Freya frowned. "Who had higher access than Victor?"

"Several people. Board members, senior executives, family-office administrators."

"People you trusted."

"Yes."

Freya placed food in front of him. "Then don't start suspecting everyone at once."

Louis looked at her.

"If whoever did this wanted you isolated, making you distrust every person from your old life would finish the job for them."

The observation was simple but effective.

Louis picked up his chopsticks. "When did you become good at this?"

Freya smiled. "Around chapter seventy-five."

Louis paused.

She immediately realized what she had said. "Figure of speech."

His eyes narrowed slightly, but he let it go.

For now.

Louis ate quietly while Freya returned to her manuscript, but her strange wording remained with him. She had laughed it away too quickly. He had spent his career noticing details other people dismissed. Freya had become the largest collection of unexplained details in his life, and his patience with leaving them unexplored was beginning to run out.

The next move would have to be careful. Too many people were now connected to the investigation, and a careless question could warn the person they were actually searching for. For the moment, patience remained their strongest advantage.