Chapter 2 - The Enemy Inside
At 2:41 a.m., Declan returned to Hayes Global.
Elias Ward was waiting beside Sarah’s desk.
Forty-one, broad-shouldered and permanently unimpressed, Elias had been with Declan since before Hayes Global existed.
He was holding a clear evidence bag.
Inside it was a small packet of white powder.
Declan stopped.
“Where?”
“Executive kitchen.”
“Be specific.”
“Behind the false panel underneath the coffee station.”
Declan looked toward the break room.
“Arsenic?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“Thallium?”
“Lab will tell us.”
Declan took the bag.
“How easy was it to find?”
“Too easy.”
Declan glanced at him.
Elias continued.
“If I were poisoning someone for weeks, I wouldn’t leave the poison six feet from the victim’s desk.”
“A plant.”
“That’s my guess.”
“Meaning someone expects us to search.”
“Or expects us to blame whoever has access.”
Declan handed the evidence back.
“How many?”
“Access to this floor?”
“Yes.”
“Permanent credentials? Eleven.”
“Names.”
Elias pulled out his phone.
“You. Sarah. Me. Ronan Burke. Victoria Sloan. Emily Carson. Daniel Cross. Thomas Brennan. Two IT administrators and the night facilities manager.”
Declan frowned.
“Cross?”
“Chief financial officer.”
“I know who Daniel is.”
“You asked for names.”
Declan ignored him.
“Where is Ronan?”
“On his way.”
“I didn’t call him.”
“No.”
Declan looked sharply at Elias.
Elias nodded.
“Exactly.”
The elevator chimed.
Both men turned.
Ronan Burke walked onto the floor.
Forty-three years old.
Former military.
Security chief.
One of Declan’s closest men.
He wore jeans, boots and a black jacket.
His eyes immediately went to the evidence bag.
“What happened?”
Declan studied him.
“Why are you here?”
Ronan looked surprised.
“Security notification.”
“What notification?”
“Motion sensor on the executive floor.”
Elias and Declan exchanged a glance.
Ronan noticed.
“What?”
Declan said, “We’ve been here nearly forty minutes.”
“Yes.”
“And you just arrived.”
“I live in Brookline.”
“That’s not my question.”
Ronan’s expression hardened.
“You want to tell me what this is about?”
Declan walked closer.
“Someone is poisoning Sarah.”
Ronan stared at him.
“What?”
“Thallium. Arsenic.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Ronan looked toward Sarah’s desk.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Hospital?”
Declan did not answer.
Ronan nodded slowly.
“Good.”
Then he noticed the ultrasound photograph still lying beside several documents.
His eyes moved toward Declan.
Declan watched him carefully.
Ronan said nothing.
Declan asked, “You understand what you’re looking at?”
“Yes.”
“Say it.”
Ronan looked uncomfortable.
“She’s pregnant.”
“With my child.”
Elias turned slightly away, perhaps because he already knew what was coming.
Ronan blinked.
Then he looked back toward the report.
“How long?”
“Sixteen weeks.”
Ronan absorbed that.
“Miami?”
Declan’s gaze sharpened.
“How do you know about Miami?”
Ronan almost laughed.
“You disappeared into a safe house with Sarah for three days during a hurricane. Afterward, both of you acted like strangers for a month.”
Elias murmured, “It was not subtle.”
Declan looked between them.
“Apparently, I employ comedians.”
Ronan’s expression became serious again.
“If someone knew about the child—”
“They may have targeted her deliberately.”
Ronan swore.
Declan stepped closer.
“You control security.”
“Yes.”
“So explain how someone has been poisoning my secretary inside my building.”
Ronan stared back.
“You think it was me?”
“I think everyone is a suspect.”
“Even Elias?”
Declan looked at Elias.
“Yes.”
Elias nodded.
“Fair.”
Ronan’s jaw flexed.
“Three years ago, I took a bullet for you.”
“I remember.”
“And tonight that means nothing?”
“It means you survived a bullet.”
Ronan stared at him.
Declan’s voice remained calm.
“Loyalty is not a lifetime exemption from suspicion.”
Before Ronan could respond, the elevator opened again.
Victoria Sloan stepped onto the floor.
She stopped when she saw the three men.
Her blonde hair was tied back. She wore a cream coat over clothes that appeared to have been thrown on quickly.
“Declan?”
No one spoke.
Victoria looked around.
“Why did security call me?”
Ronan frowned.
“I didn’t.”
Victoria turned.
“Then who did?”
Declan watched her.
“Good question.”
She noticed Sarah was missing.
“Where is Sarah?”
Another question.
Too quickly asked.
Declan walked toward her.
“When did you last see her?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“What time?”
“Maybe four.”
“Did you speak?”
“For a minute.”
“About?”
Victoria frowned.
“Budget reports.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
Declan watched her eyes.
“Her health?”
A brief pause.
Then Victoria said, “She looked sick.”
“You asked about it.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Food poisoning or something.”
“Stomach problems,” Declan corrected.
Victoria went still.
“I don’t remember the exact wording.”
“I do.”
“You weren’t there.”
“No.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“What is this interrogation?”
Declan said nothing.
That frightened people more than shouting.
Victoria looked toward Elias.
Then Ronan.
“What happened?”
Elias placed the evidence bag on Sarah’s desk.
Victoria stared at it.
“What’s that?”
Declan answered.
“Possibly poison.”
Her face changed.
“Poison?”
“Someone has been giving Sarah small doses of heavy metals for weeks.”
Victoria took a step backward.
“My God.”
“Convenient reaction.”
Her eyes snapped toward him.
“Excuse me?”
“Shock. Concern. Confusion.”
“What reaction would you prefer?”
“The truth.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Declan walked around her.
“You have access to this floor.”
“So do dozens of people.”
“Eleven.”
Victoria glanced at Ronan.
He did not help her.
She looked back at Declan.
“You seriously believe I poisoned Sarah?”
“I haven’t decided what I believe.”
“Then decide quickly because I’m not standing here while you threaten me.”
Declan stopped behind her.
“That was not a threat.”
Victoria turned.
“You don’t know the difference anymore.”
Elias stepped between their sight lines.
“Let’s keep everyone alive for five minutes.”
Declan ignored him.
“Did you ever bring Sarah coffee?”
Victoria’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know. Occasionally.”
“Recently?”
“Maybe.”
“During the last month?”
“Yes.”
Ronan shifted.
Victoria noticed.
“Oh, come on.”
She laughed nervously.
“You think because I handed Sarah coffee, I’m poisoning her?”
Declan asked, “Who called you tonight?”
“What?”
“You said security called.”
“Yes.”
“Show me.”
Victoria hesitated.
Declan extended his hand.
“Phone.”
“I don’t have to—”
“Phone.”
She handed it over.
Declan checked the recent calls.
There was one incoming call at 2:17 a.m.
Blocked number.
Twenty-two seconds.
Declan showed Ronan.
“Can you trace it?”
Ronan took a picture of the screen.
“I can try.”
Victoria pulled the phone back.
“You’re all insane.”
Declan’s own phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone became silent.
Declan answered.
“Hayes.”
A distorted voice responded.
“You should have fired her.”
Declan’s eyes darkened.
“Who is this?”
“You noticed the mistakes.”
No one moved.
The voice continued.
“The late arrivals. The exhaustion.”
Declan turned on speaker.
“You should have let her disappear quietly.”
Victoria’s face went white.
Ronan immediately moved toward the security monitors.
Declan spoke calmly.
“You’re calling the wrong man.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“You can’t protect her.”
“You’re making an assumption.”
“What assumption?”
“That I am trying to protect her.”
Silence.
Declan continued.
“I’m hunting you.”
The caller laughed softly.
“You won’t find me.”
“I already have.”
Elias looked at Declan.
The caller stopped laughing.
Declan smiled without warmth.
“You called because you needed to know how much we discovered.”
No response.
“You were worried.”
Still nothing.
“So you contacted Victoria.”
Victoria looked horrified.
“What?”
Declan continued.
“Then you called me.”
The distorted voice finally answered.
“You’re guessing.”
“Yes.”
Declan looked at Ronan.
Ronan was already typing.
“And frightened people make mistakes when I guess correctly.”
The line disconnected.
Ronan cursed.
“Burner.”
“Location?”
“Give me a minute.”
Victoria backed away from them.
“Someone called me because they want you to think I’m involved.”
Declan looked at her.
“That possibility has occurred to me.”
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because someone knows your number.”
“So?”
“Your private number.”
Victoria stopped.
Elias frowned.
Ronan looked up from the computer.
“That’s not publicly registered.”
“No,” Declan said. “It isn’t.”
Victoria swallowed.
“Employees have it.”
“Five employees.”
“And your security department.”
Ronan looked sharply at her.
Victoria turned toward him.
“You have access to everyone’s information.”
Ronan stepped closer.
“Choose your next sentence carefully.”
Declan raised one hand.
Both stopped.
His phone vibrated.
A message from Bell.
Sarah’s treatment started. Baby’s heartbeat strong. She is stable.
Declan read it twice.
For the first time in the past hour, his shoulders loosened slightly.
Elias noticed.
“Good news?”
“She’s stable.”
Victoria’s eyes widened.
“The baby?”
Declan looked up.
Nobody spoke.
Then Elias slowly turned toward Victoria.
Ronan did the same.
Declan’s face became unreadable.
Victoria realized what she had said.
“What?”
Declan approached her.
“You asked about the baby.”
She stared at him.
“Yes.”
“I never told you there was a baby.”
Victoria went completely still.
Elias reached beneath his jacket.
Ronan did the same.
Victoria raised both hands.
“Wait.”
Declan’s voice was low.
“How did you know Sarah was pregnant?”
“I—”
“How?”
“She told me.”
Declan’s expression hardened.
“She told me she told no one.”
“She lied.”
“Sarah does not lie to me when she believes she may die.”
Victoria’s breathing accelerated.
“I saw the ultrasound.”
“When?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“Where?”
“Her purse.”
“You went through her purse?”
“No. It fell out.”
Declan stared at her.
“That is your explanation?”
“It’s the truth.”
Ronan’s computer beeped.
He turned.
“I have the call.”
Declan glanced toward him.
“Location?”
Ronan stared at the screen.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
“It didn’t originate outside.”
Elias moved closer.
“Where?”
Ronan looked directly at Declan.
“The call came through our internal relay system.”
Declan’s eyes narrowed.
“Meaning?”
“Whoever called you was either inside this building…”
He paused.
“…or has administrator access to our communications network.”
Victoria looked toward the hallway.
Elias grabbed her arm.
“Don’t.”
“I wasn’t moving.”
“You were thinking about it.”
Then every light on the executive floor went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Sarah’s computer went black.
The elevator display disappeared.
Emergency lights failed to activate.
Declan immediately drew his weapon.
“Down!”
A gunshot exploded through the darkness.
Glass shattered.
Victoria screamed.
Another shot.
Declan dropped behind Sarah’s desk.
“Elias!”
“I’m good.”
“Ronan!”
No response.
“Ronan!”
A grunt came from the hallway.
Then Declan heard running footsteps.
He moved toward the sound.
Elias shouted, “Declan, wait!”
Declan ignored him.
He reached the corridor.
A shadow disappeared through the emergency stairwell.
Declan fired once.
The shadow stumbled but kept moving.
He followed.
Two floors down, a fire door slammed.
Declan reached it seconds later.
Empty stairwell.
Blood on the concrete.
No shooter.
His phone rang.
Declan stopped.
Another unknown number.
He answered.
The same distorted voice spoke.
“You should stay with the pregnant girl.”
Declan’s hand tightened around the gun.
“Because next time…”
A pause.
“…we won’t poison her.”
The call ended.
Declan stood in the dark stairwell.
Blood slowly dripped down the concrete steps ahead of him.
Then his own phone vibrated again.
Doctor Bell.
Declan answered instantly.
“What happened?”
Bell sounded tense.
“Declan, we have a problem.”
His stomach tightened.
“What problem?”
“Someone just called the clinic asking for Sarah Mitchell’s room number.”
Declan became completely still.
“Did you give it to them?”
“Of course not.”
“Lock the building.”
“Already done.”
Declan started climbing the stairs.
“Bell.”
“Yes?”
“Do not let anyone near her.”
“Declan—”
“Anyone.”
He reached the executive floor.
Elias was helping Ronan sit against the wall.
Blood covered Ronan’s shoulder.
Victoria was crouched behind the desk, shaken but alive.
Declan looked at all three.
Someone inside Hayes Global knew about the pregnancy.
Someone had access to the executive floor.
Someone knew Sarah’s private medical location within an hour of Declan taking her there.
And someone had just tried to turn Victoria into the obvious suspect.
Declan stared across the dark office.
The enemy was not outside his empire.
May you like
The enemy was already inside it.
And before sunrise, Declan Hayes intended to find out exactly how close that enemy had been standing to him.
