Chapter 34
The First Crack
The office buzzed with a quiet urgency as Jordan led the internal security team through the system audit. Lines of code flashed across multiple monitors in the IT department, each scan bringing them closer to the truth.
Elena stood in her office, arms crossed, staring out the window. The city below was a blur of movement—cars, people, deals being made, trust being broken. It was all a game. And right now, she was playing blind.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Jordan:
“We found something. Meet me in the server room.”
Elena grabbed her blazer and strode out. The server room was secured behind two layers of keycard access, restricted to only five people in the entire company. The fact that something had been found here meant one thing—
The leak was an inside job.
She entered the room to find Jordan and Naomi already there. The air was cool from the hum of the servers, the blue light casting shadows on their faces.
“What do you have?” Elena asked, her voice sharp.
Jordan turned his laptop around, pointing to a timestamp. “At 11:43 PM last night, an external drive was plugged into the system. It accessed the confidential acquisition file.”
Elena’s heart pounded. “Whose credentials were used?”
Jordan hesitated before answering. “Michael Reynolds.”
Elena exhaled slowly, her suspicions tightening around her like a vice.
Naomi’s expression darkened. “CFOs don’t just ‘accidentally’ copy company secrets onto external drives.”
Elena closed her eyes briefly, composing herself. “Where’s Michael now?”
Jordan checked his phone. “His assistant says he called in sick today.”
Of course he did.
Elena turned to Naomi. “Get legal ready. If this is what it looks like, I want Michael out by the end of the day.”
Naomi nodded, already typing on her phone.
Jordan shifted uncomfortably. “There’s one more thing.”
Elena braced herself. “What?”
Jordan pulled up a second access log. “Michael wasn’t the only one in the system last night.”
He clicked the next entry.
11:57 PM – Unauthorized access attempt. Blocked after two failed attempts.
The username? R.Lancaster.
Elena’s blood ran cold.
Ryan.
Her breath hitched for just a second, but she pushed the reaction down.
Was it possible Michael and Ryan were working together? Or was Ryan onto something—and trying to break into the system himself to prove it?
Naomi exhaled sharply. “I told you he couldn’t be trusted.”
Elena’s mind raced. She needed to confront both of them. But first, she needed proof of Ryan’s intentions.
Because if Ryan Lancaster was playing a game—
She needed to know who the real target was.
