name.”

Samuel opened the envelope.

Inside were copies of bank records, invoices, tax documents, and property filings.

“He created companies using Laura as an officer,” Samuel said.

“Some signatures were forged.

Some documents were electronically approved using credentials tied to her identity.”

Laura’s face twisted.

“I didn’t know until I found a bank statement in his office last year.”

Daniel suddenly understood the flash drive.

“You copied the files.”

Laura nodded.

“At first I thought I could confront him.”

Samuel gave a humorless laugh.

“So did I.”

He pointed toward the bruise on his own temple.

Daniel had not noticed it before.

Samuel continued.

“When I questioned the numbers, Grant told the board I’d developed a drinking problem.

Then he threatened to accuse me of embezzlement unless I resigned.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police?” Daniel asked.

Samuel looked at Laura.

“Because I was afraid.”

The honesty of the answer silenced everyone.

Samuel swallowed.

“And because Grant made it clear he knew where my daughter lived.”

Laura shivered.

“He does that.

He never says exactly what he’ll do.

He just tells you enough to imagine it.”

Daniel’s anger sharpened into something colder.

“What happened tonight?”

Laura closed her eyes briefly.

“I was packing.”

She had planned to leave while Grant attended a donor dinner.

Samuel arranged to meet her nearby with updated records proving Grant had recently transferred almost two million dollars through another shell company.

But Grant came home early.

“He saw my suitcase,” Laura said.

“He asked where I was going.”

Daniel waited.

“I lied.”

“What did you say?”

“That Mom needed me.”

Grant had smiled.

Then he asked why Laura’s mother needed a suitcase.

Laura ran upstairs and locked herself in a bathroom.

That was when she called Daniel.

After the line disconnected, Grant broke the lock.

“He took my phone,” she said.

“He kept asking what I’d told you.”

Daniel’s fists tightened.

Laura noticed.

“Danny.”

He forced his hands open.

“Go on.”

“He shoved me.

I hit the vanity.

Then his security alarm notified him that someone had opened the side gate.”

Samuel had arrived.

Grant panicked.

Laura used the distraction to reach the garage.

Samuel got into the SUV and told her to drive.

“I thought Grant would chase us,” she said.

“He didn’t.”

“No.”

Samuel’s voice was grim.

“Because he knew something more important was still in the house.”

Daniel looked at him.

“What?”

Samuel removed one document from the envelope.

It showed a series of payments to a private security company.

Victor read the name and frowned.

“Northline Strategic?”

Samuel nodded.

“Grant used them to monitor employees he suspected of talking.”

Daniel remembered the cameras.

“The house system.”

Laura looked at him.

“What about it?”

“Grant has surveillance everywhere.”

Samuel went pale.

“Then he recorded us.”

Laura stared.

Samuel spoke faster.

“When I entered through the side gate, I used the code you sent me.

If his cameras captured me carrying these documents, he knows exactly what we took.”

Marissa immediately radioed dispatch.

“Get another unit to the Holloway residence.

Preserve the scene.

Do not let anyone remove electronic equipment.”

Daniel checked his phone.

No signal.

The storm had intensified.

Marissa swore softly.

Then her radio crackled.

A deputy’s voice came through in bursts.

“…house…

smoke…

garage…”

Daniel looked toward the distant