Chapter 2 - THE MESSAGE ON THE SCREEN
Dominic read the message without speaking.
I watched his face.
Nothing moved.
That was what frightened me.
Other men shouted when they were angry. Dominic Falcone became quieter.
“Who has access to your computer?” he asked.
“Me. The systems administrator. Sometimes Dante, if there's an emergency.”
“Who knew what you were reviewing?”
I thought about the previous forty-eight hours.
Sal's disputed payments.
The federal raid.
The discrepancy I had noticed between the payroll figures and the container insurance records.
“Almost everyone at the meeting knew I was reviewing the east-dock accounts.”
“Not what you found.”
“No.”
He closed the laptop carefully.
“Tell me what was in the file.”
I rubbed my eyes.
“There were payments leaving the east-dock operating account. At first, they looked like normal shipping expenses.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars over three weeks.”
His eyes sharpened.
“That's more than Dante claimed was missing.”
“Because Dante was looking at the container revenue. I was looking at the insurance reimbursements.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Explain.”
“The same containers were being charged for storage twice. Once through Sal's operation and again through a company called Grayhaven Risk Solutions.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Neither had I.”
I swallowed.
“Then I found the registered address.”
“And?”
“It belongs to a building demolished twelve years ago.”
Dominic stared at me.
“Someone invented a company.”
“Yes.”
“Who authorized the payments?”
“That's what I was trying to find.”
He looked at the threatening message again.
“And someone found out.”
My stomach tightened.
“I think so.”
Dominic reached for his phone.
“Dante. Come back upstairs. Bring our general counsel and the head of information security.”
I grabbed my bag.
“Mr. Falcone, I should go home.”
He ended the call.
“Gemma.”
I froze.
“Someone has accessed your work computer and threatened you. I need you somewhere safe until we understand how.”
I wanted to argue.
But the truth was that my legs felt unreliable.
My vision had blurred twice during the meeting.
And the words on the screen were still burning behind my eyes.
Dominic stood.
“There's a private suite on this floor. You can rest there.”
I looked toward the windows.
Rain slid down the glass.
“What about my brother?”
Dominic paused.
“Your brother?”
I regretted speaking immediately.
“Nothing.”
He studied me.
“Gemma.”
I closed my eyes.
“My brother, Owen, is twenty-four. He's been working at the east docks for six months.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“Under Sal?”
I nodded.
“And he called me yesterday.”
“What did he say?”
My voice trembled.
“He told me not to trust the numbers.”
Dominic became very still.
“Where is he now?”
I looked at my phone.
Three missed calls.
One unread message.
I opened it.
The text was from Owen.
Gem, if anyone asks, you haven't heard from me. Don't go home.
The message had arrived eleven minutes earlier.
I showed Dominic.
He read it once.
Then looked at me.
“Your brother knows something.”
May you like
I nodded.
“And someone knows he told me.”
