Chapter 5 - THE RECORDING BEHIND THE WALL
Theodore opened the study door.
The hallway was empty.
At the far end, a curtain shifted beside an open window.
Amelia moved quickly down the corridor and checked the adjoining rooms.
No one.
When she returned, Theodore had locked the flash drive inside a metal case.
“You should leave tonight,” he said.
“I just arrived.”
“If Cassandra saw you, she will wonder why.”
“She always wonders.”
“This is different.”
Amelia studied her father.
Fear sat badly on Theodore Hart. He had built a global company through recessions, hostile takeovers, and political crises. Amelia had once watched him dismiss a boardroom full of angry investors without raising his voice.
Now he checked the hallway twice before speaking.
“What exactly did you find?” she asked.
“Payments routed through dormant Hart Meridian subsidiaries. Consulting contracts without services. Equipment purchases at inflated prices.”
“Where did the money go?”
“Some accounts lead to Vale Capital.”
“Cassandra’s company?”
“She established it two years ago.”
“And Julian?”
“His signature appears on the approvals.”
Amelia folded her arms.
“Why do they still have access?”
“Because I cannot remove them without alerting them.”
“You are allowing them to continue stealing.”
“I am allowing them to believe I have not noticed.”
“For how long?”
“Until I know who else is involved.”
Theodore looked toward the bookshelves.
“This is larger than Cassandra.”
He pressed a hidden switch beneath the desk.
One of the bookcases moved outward several inches.
Behind it was a narrow compartment containing recording equipment.
Amelia stared.
Her father almost smiled.
“Your mother insisted on installing this during a kidnapping threat in 1998.”
“What does it record?”
“Only this room.”
He removed a memory card.
“Three nights ago, Cassandra and Julian came in after they thought I was asleep.”
“You recorded them?”
“I recorded part of the conversation. Then the system failed.”
Amelia inserted the card into Theodore’s computer.
The recording opened with static.
Cassandra’s voice came first.
“He is suspicious.”
Julian answered, “Then we stop.”
“We cannot stop now.”
“We have enough.”
“There is no such thing as enough when Amelia can return at any time.”
Julian lowered his voice.
“She does not care about the company.”
“She cares about winning.”
“She has never challenged the trust.”
“Because she does not know what Theodore changed.”
A pause followed.
Then Julian said, “What about the bridge?”
The recording cut to static.
Amelia replayed it.
“What bridge?” she asked.
Theodore looked pale.
“I don’t know.”
“You heard this three days ago and did nothing?”
“I questioned Julian yesterday. He claimed they were discussing a construction contract.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
Amelia removed the memory card.
“I am taking this.”
Theodore gripped her wrist.
“No police yet.”
“I will give it to Nathaniel.”
“That is why I showed you.”
A knock sounded.
This time Cassandra called through the door.
“Theodore? Are you in there?”
He released Amelia’s wrist.
“Put the card away.”
Amelia slipped it inside the lining of her uniform jacket.
Theodore opened the door.
Cassandra stood in the hallway holding a tray of tea.
Her gaze moved immediately to Amelia.
“I didn’t know you were visiting.”
“I arrived an hour ago.”
“How lovely.”
Cassandra entered and placed the tray on the desk.
Julian followed behind her.
He stopped when he saw Amelia.
“Colonel,” he said.
“Julian.”
Cassandra poured tea.
“Theodore has been overworking again,” she said. “I keep telling him stress is dangerous.”
Amelia watched her add a spoonful of honey to Theodore’s cup.
Theodore always drank tea without honey.
Before he could lift it, Amelia took the cup.
Cassandra looked at her.
“I’ll have this one,” Amelia said.
Theodore understood.
Cassandra smiled.
“Of course.”
Amelia raised the cup but did not drink.
Julian remained near the door.
“What were you discussing?” he asked.
“My marriage.”
The word slipped out before Amelia decided to use it.
Cassandra’s hand stopped above the teapot.
Julian stared at her.
Theodore looked sharply toward Amelia.
She continued calmly.
“I married several years ago.”
Cassandra set down the spoon.
“To whom?”
“That is private.”
“You announce a secret marriage and then refuse to name your husband?”
“I did not announce it. I told my father.”
Julian’s face had changed.
Jealousy was not the emotion Amelia expected.
But it was there.
“You married someone while deployed?” he asked.
“After our engagement ended.”
Cassandra laughed lightly.
“Whoever he is, he must enjoy long separations.”
Amelia looked at her.
“He understands duty.”
Julian glanced away.
Cassandra’s smile tightened.
“When will we meet him?”
“When it becomes necessary.”
Amelia placed the untouched tea on the desk.
“I have to leave.”
Theodore walked her to the front door.
As she stepped outside, he pressed an envelope into her hand.
“I wrote this before your last deployment,” he said quietly.
Amelia recognized the handwriting.
It matched the burned fragment in her wallet.
“Why didn’t you send it?”
“I did.”
She stared at him.
“Then how do you have it?”
“This is a copy.”
Theodore looked over his shoulder.
“Read it somewhere safe.”
Amelia left Hart Manor and drove directly to a secure Blackwood property.
Nathaniel arrived shortly after midnight.
She showed him the financial files, the recording, and Theodore’s letter.
The letter was six pages long.
In it, Theodore apologized for believing Cassandra’s claims that Amelia no longer wanted contact. He described finding bundles of unopened letters inside an unused fireplace in the east wing.
Letters Amelia had sent from deployment.
Some had been burned.
Others had never been opened.
Theodore also admitted that Cassandra had persuaded him to transfer temporary voting control of Hart Meridian shares to a trust managed jointly by Cassandra and Julian.
At the bottom, he had written one warning.
If anything happens to me, do not trust the official account until you find the original bridge report.
Nathaniel read the line twice.
“What bridge report?” Amelia asked.
“I don’t know.”
He opened his laptop and accessed Blackwood’s secure intelligence network.
Within an hour, he found three Hart Meridian projects involving bridges.
Two were overseas.
The third was a private reconstruction project forty miles north of Hart Manor.
Nathaniel enlarged the map.
The bridge crossed a deep river gorge.
Amelia stared at the screen.
Theodore drove across that bridge every Friday to visit a rural Hart Meridian plant.
Nathaniel looked at her.
“The project safety inspection was approved by Vale Capital.”
Cassandra’s company.
A second file appeared.
The approval signature belonged to Julian Cross.
Before either could speak, Amelia’s phone rang.
Theodore’s number flashed on the screen.
She answered.
At first, she heard only breathing.
Then her father whispered, “They know.”
May you like
A crash sounded.
The line went dead.
