Chapter 3 - The Secret I Brought From Boston
"I was twenty-four."
That was how I began.
Nolan stood near the window while I sat at the small dining table.
Outside, snow drifted across Zurich.
Inside, the photograph remained between us.
"You don't have to explain if—"
"Yes, I do."
His expression changed.
I folded my hands.
"Before Rivers Meridian, I worked for Carroway Capital."
Recognition appeared immediately.
"They collapsed."
"Yes."
"Accounting fraud."
"That's what the newspapers called it."
"What do you call it?"
"Theft."
Five years earlier, Carroway had been a rising investment company with offices in Boston, London, and Toronto.
I was a junior operations analyst.
Too inexperienced to matter.
Which was exactly why nobody noticed me.
"I started seeing payments that didn't make sense," I explained. "Small consulting contracts. Then larger ones. Different company names, same addresses."
"Shell corporations."
I nodded.
"I told my supervisor."
"What happened?"
"He told me to stop asking questions."
"So you didn't."
"Have we met?"
Despite everything, Nolan almost smiled.
"I copied records."
"Elena."
"I know."
"That could have gotten you arrested."
"It almost did."
His face hardened.
I continued.
"The payments totaled twenty-two million dollars. I planned to report everything to the board."
"What stopped you?"
"My supervisor disappeared."
The room became silent.
"Disappeared?"
"He didn't come to work. His apartment was empty. Phone disconnected."
"Police?"
"Nothing."
"And then?"
"Someone entered my apartment."
Nolan's expression changed instantly.
"They didn't steal anything. They moved things."
"What things?"
"A photograph. My laptop. A chair."
"To make sure you knew they'd been there."
"Exactly."
His jaw tightened.
"I resigned the next morning."
"And Carroway collapsed six weeks later."
"Yes."
"Who was responsible?"
I hesitated.
"I never had enough evidence."
"Who did you suspect?"
I looked directly at him.
"Victor Hale."
For the first time, Nolan seemed unable to speak.
His CFO.
His friend.
The man who had worked beside him for nearly a decade.
"Victor worked for Carroway?"
"Consultant."
"That's not on his résumé."
"I know."
Nolan walked away.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"When I joined Rivers Meridian, I didn't know he worked here."
"And after?"
"I panicked."
"You worked beside him for three years."
"I had no proof."
"You could have told me."
"Would you have believed your new assistant over the CFO who helped build your company?"
He stopped.
Neither of us needed to answer.
A knock came.
Marcus entered.
"We found Victor."
Nolan turned.
"Where?"
"Airport."
"Trying to leave?"
"No."
Marcus hesitated.
"He was found unconscious in a parking structure."
My stomach dropped.
"Alive?"
"Yes. Hospital."
Nolan grabbed his coat.
We arrived twenty minutes later.
Victor lay beneath white sheets with a bruise along his temple.
When he saw Nolan, relief flooded his face.
"Thank God."
Nolan remained near the door.
"What happened?"
"Someone attacked me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Victor's eyes found me.
Then widened.
"Why is she here?"
Nolan noticed.
"So did I," I said.
Victor stared.
"Boston," I continued.
His face drained of color.
Nolan stepped closer.
"What happened in Boston, Victor?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Carroway Capital."
Victor's monitor began beeping faster.
"I consulted for dozens of companies."
"Your résumé doesn't mention Carroway."
"It was short-term."
"You were connected to twenty-two million dollars that disappeared."
"That's insane."
I watched his hands.
One thumb rubbed repeatedly against the blanket.
Nervous habit.
Not proof.
But fear.
Then Victor said something strange.
"You shouldn't have brought her to Zurich."
Nolan went still.
"What?"
Victor realized his mistake.
"I mean—the storm. The deal."
"No," Nolan said. "You meant something else."
Victor closed his eyes.
"I can't."
"Can't what?"
"They're watching."
Marcus stepped closer.
"Who?"
Victor shook his head.
"Northstar isn't Graham's."
My pulse accelerated.
"Whose is it?"
Victor looked toward the hospital door.
Then whispered.
"Daniel."
"Daniel Cross?"
"He never left Europe."
Nolan leaned in.
"Where is Graham?"
"I don't know."
"Victor."
"I swear."
A nurse suddenly entered.
"Visiting time is over."
Marcus showed credentials.
"Security investigation."
She hesitated.
Then left.
Victor looked terrified.
"Listen to me. The acquisition is a trap."
"What kind?"
"The money isn't the objective."
"What is?"
Victor swallowed.
"Control."
Before he could explain, every light in the room went out.
Darkness.
The monitor alarm screamed.
Marcus shouted.
I heard movement.
Glass breaking.
Nolan grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Victor's bed was empty.
The window stood open.
Impossible.
We were on the third floor.
Marcus rushed forward.
A service door beside the bathroom swung slowly.
Someone had taken him.
Within seconds.
Police locked down the hospital.
Nothing.
No Victor.
No attacker.
Only one thing remained.
A folded piece of paper beneath his pillow.
Nolan opened it.
A list of names.
Graham Morrison.
Victor Hale.
Daniel Cross.
Two others.
And mine.
Beside every name was a date.
Mine was tomorrow.
"What does that mean?" I whispered.
Nolan folded the paper.
"You're leaving Zurich tonight."
"No."
"Elena."
"I'm done running."
"This isn't Boston."
"Exactly. In Boston I ran."
I stepped closer.
"And people lost everything."
"That wasn't your fault."
"It was still my choice."
His eyes searched mine.
"I won't let them hurt you."
"You don't get to make that promise."
"I just did."
"Nolan—"
"I love you."
Silence.
The words stunned both of us.
He looked almost angry at himself.
But he didn't take them back.
"I love you," he repeated. "And apparently I've loved you long enough to become terrible at pretending otherwise."
My throat tightened.
"That is unbelievably inconvenient."
"I know."
"This isn't the time."
"I know."
I almost laughed.
Instead, I touched his hand.
"We survive this first."
His fingers closed around mine.
"Then?"
"Then you can say it again."
For a moment, hope softened his face.
Marcus returned.
"We found something."
He held up Victor's phone.
A hidden file.
Video.
Recorded two nights earlier.
Victor appeared on screen.
"If you're watching this," he said, "something has gone wrong."
He looked exhausted.
"Northstar was created as part of a hostile takeover strategy. The acquisition contract contains hidden voting provisions. If Nolan signs it, a group of investors gains enough convertible rights to force him out."
Nolan's face hardened.
Victor continued.
"Graham discovered it last week. That's why they took him."
My heart pounded.
Then Victor looked directly into the camera.
"The person behind everything is someone Nolan trusts."
A pause.
"Someone who has been inside Rivers Meridian since the beginning."
Nolan whispered, "Who?"
Victor answered.
"His father."
The screen went black.
I stared at Nolan.
His father, Richard Rivers, had supposedly retired twelve years ago.
He'd vanished from public business life after a devastating family scandal.
Nolan hadn't spoken his name once in the three years I'd worked for him.
Now his face had gone completely white.
"My father is dead," he said.
Marcus looked at him.
"No, sir."
He turned the phone around.
On the screen was a surveillance image captured that morning.
An older man walking through Zurich Central Station.
Same eyes as Nolan.
Same posture.
Same unmistakable face.
Marcus spoke quietly.
"Richard Rivers is very much alive."
And suddenly the conspiracy around us wasn't just corporate.
May you like
It was personal.
Because the man Nolan had mourned for eleven years had apparently returned to Zurich—and tomorrow, according to the list under Victor's pillow, he was coming for me.
