Chapter 4 - THE LAWYER WHO SOLD THEM

Alex wanted to hang up.

Maya stopped him.

She pointed toward the phone and mouthed:

Keep her talking.

Alex swallowed his anger.

“Why?”

Elise breathed shakily.

“Because Victor knew about the audit before I did.”

“That doesn't answer me.”

“He showed me what would happen if the deal collapsed.”

“What?”

“My firm would be destroyed.”

Alex laughed once.

“So you sold us instead.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I thought they only wanted the backups deleted.”

“You gave them access to Maya's account.”

Silence.

That was the answer.

Noah leaned forward.

“You almost got me killed.”

Elise heard him.

“Noah?”

“Congratulations. I'm alive.”

She started crying harder.

“I'm sorry.”

Alex closed his eyes.

“Stop saying that.”

“I can fix this.”

“How?”

“I have documents.”

Maya looked at Alex.

“What documents?”

Elise answered immediately.

“Internal Meridian communications. Victor's team discussed the acquisition before they ever contacted you.”

“So?”

“They didn't discover Lattice during due diligence.”

Alex frowned.

“They knew what our software could find before they made the offer?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I don't know.”

“Then what do you know?”

Elise lowered her voice.

“Meridian didn't choose your company because Lattice found their transactions.”

Alex waited.

“They chose Lattice because someone inside Meridian wanted those transactions found.”

Nobody spoke.

Maya finally said:

“A whistleblower?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“I don't know.”

A car appeared behind them.

Black Mercedes.

Maya checked the mirror.

Once.

Twice.

Then turned sharply.

The Mercedes followed.

“We've got company,” Noah said.

Elise heard him.

“Alex?”

“Where are the documents?”

“My office.”

“Send them.”

“I can't. They're paper.”

“Why?”

“Victor monitors our document system.”

Maya cut across two lanes.

The Mercedes stayed with them.

Alex tightened his seat belt.

“Elise, leave your office.”

“I can't.”

“Why?”

A sound came through the phone.

A door opening.

Elise stopped breathing.

“Elise?”

A man's voice spoke in the background.

“Who are you talking to?”

The line went dead.

Alex stared at his phone.

Maya accelerated.

The Mercedes rammed them from behind.

Noah shouted.

Maya fought the wheel.

Another hit.

Alex looked toward the approaching intersection.

Red light.

Cars crossing.

“Maya!”

“I see it!”

She jerked right.

The SUV mounted the curb, tore through a row of plastic barriers and dropped into an underground garage.

The Mercedes overshot the entrance.

Maya killed the lights.

They sat in darkness.

Nobody spoke.

Then Noah's phone beeped.

One message.

From Elise.

A photograph.

A sheet of paper.

At the top:

PROJECT LANTERN — TARGET IDENTIFICATION

Below that were three names.

Maya Chen.

Noah Briggs.

Alex Carter.

Beside Maya's name:

POTENTIAL LEVERAGE

Beside Noah:

CONTAINMENT RISK

Beside Alex:

PRIMARY ASSET

Alex zoomed in.

Under his own name was one final instruction.

ACQUIRE FIRST. TERMINATE AFTER TRANSFER.

Noah looked at him.

“Terminate?”

Maya went pale.

Alex kept reading.

Beneath it was a handwritten note.

Three words.

Father remains vulnerable.

Alex stopped breathing.

His father was still recovering from heart surgery.

May you like

2 THAT AFTERNOON, I CLAIMED MY HOSPITAL ROOM—A SICK CHILD CALLED ME GRAN...

I walked into a private Boston hospital room and found a frightened seven-year-old where I expected an empty bed. Angry, I picked...

64 THE WRENCH THAT EXPOSED A MILITARY CONSPIRACY

PART 1The chrome wrench was still warm from the engine when Chief Warrant Officer Dale Rusk threw a heavy toolbag at Specialist Le...

SHE THREW HIS BABY OFF THE BALCONY—THEN HIS DEAD WIFE'S SECRET RECORDING...

“PLEASE! HE'S JUST A BABY!” Maria screamed as the billionaire's fiancée held his eight-month-old son over a second-floor balcony.T...

And Alex's mother was home alone with him.