Chapter 10 - THE MISSING SERVER
Daniel led Reed to the restricted records room.
The door showed no damage.
Vanessa's temporary card had granted her access to the executive floor but not the secure archive.
Yet the electronic log showed the archive had opened at 2:19 a.m.
Using Daniel's credentials.
“I was asleep at home.”
Daniel's voice was flat.
Sarah looked toward the ceiling camera.
“Then she copied your access.”
Technicians reviewed footage.
At 2:18 a.m., Vanessa appeared in the hallway wearing a baseball cap and dark coat.
She carried a small silver case.
At 2:19, she opened the archive.
At 2:52, she left.
One server module was missing.
Daniel stared through the glass at the empty slot.
“What was stored there?”
His IT director checked.
“Legacy transaction backups.”
“How far back?”
“Twenty-two years.”
Sarah felt sick.
That period covered her father's death.
Michael's death.
And every financial transfer they had uncovered.
Vanessa had not come to erase recent evidence.
She had come to steal the history.
Reed asked, “Was there another backup?”
The IT director hesitated.
“Yes.”
Everyone turned.
“Off-site cold storage.”
Daniel said, “Where?”
The director looked uncomfortable.
“Only three people know.”
“I'm one of them.”
“Yes.”
“Who are the others?”
“Richard Hales.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And?”
The director looked at him.
“Your father.”
Daniel froze.
Charles Bennett had died four years earlier.
Officially from complications following surgery.
Sarah immediately understood why Richard had remained at the company so long.
He had been embedded inside Bennett Development before Daniel became CEO.
“Did your father ever investigate Richard?” she asked.
Daniel remembered something.
Near the end of Charles's life, he had become distrustful.
He had ordered several internal audits.
Richard called it paranoia.
Daniel believed him.
Now Daniel walked toward an old filing cabinet.
His father had kept handwritten notes because he distrusted digital systems.
Daniel searched until he found a folder labeled H.
Inside was a single envelope.
RICHARD HALES.
Daniel opened it.
His father's handwriting filled several pages.
Unexplained transfers.
Duplicate vendors.
Private meetings.
Then one sentence underlined twice.
RICHARD IS NOT WORKING ALONE.
Sarah read further.
Charles had identified a woman.
V.C.
Daniel whispered, “Vanessa Cole.”
His father had known about her four years ago.
The final page had been written three days before his surgery.
If anything happens to me, Daniel must never trust Richard Hales.
Daniel sat down hard.
His father's death suddenly looked different too.
Reed quietly said, “We'll review the medical file.”
Daniel barely heard him.
His phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared from another unknown number.
Vanessa stood in front of a gray metal door.
Behind her was a familiar company logo.
Bennett Cold Storage.
The off-site backup facility.
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Below the photograph was a message.
COME ALONE OR TWENTY YEARS OF TRUTH BURNS TONIGHT.
