Chapter 2 - The Sixth Name
By midnight, Declan’s warehouse had become a fortress.
Saoirse lay in a private room upstairs while Fontenot arranged discreet medical equipment.
Declan stood downstairs with Remy.
The bloody thumb drive sat between them.
Remy looked at it.
“You want me to open it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because she built it.”
“So?”
“So we wait until she wakes up.”
Remy raised an eyebrow.
“Since when do we wait?”
Declan looked at him.
Remy immediately corrected himself.
“Right. Stupid question.”
Declan picked up the drive.
“Find Petra.”
“Already did.”
“And?”
“She’s home.”
“Put two people outside.”
“Saoirse specifically said no protection.”
“I didn't ask Saoirse.”
A voice came from the stairs.
“You should have.”
Declan turned.
Saoirse stood there.
Barefoot.
Her wet clothes had been replaced by one of Declan’s white shirts and dark sweatpants. A bandage wrapped her thigh.
Fontenot appeared behind her.
“I told her to stay in bed.”
“She doesn’t listen,” Declan said.
“I noticed.”
Saoirse descended carefully.
“Remove whoever you sent to Petra.”
“No.”
“Declan.”
“You were attacked.”
“My sister wasn't part of our arrangement.”
“She became part of it when you said her name before you passed out.”
Saoirse stopped.
“That doesn't give you ownership over us.”
“Protection isn't ownership.”
“With men like you, the distinction gets blurry.”
Remy quietly walked away.
Declan noticed.
Coward.
Saoirse reached the desk.
“Give me the drive.”
“You nearly died delivering it.”
“And?”
“And now I want to know why.”
She plugged it into an isolated laptop.
Folders appeared.
Structural models.
Concrete tests.
Inspection reports.
Photographs.
Saoirse opened three files.
“These are the original calculations.”
Declan leaned closer.
“The Castains substituted lower-grade concrete?”
“Worse.”
She brought up another report.
“They falsified load calculations.”
“How dangerous?”
Saoirse looked at him.
“The Port Mercer bridge could experience critical failure under sustained heavy freight.”
“When?”
“I can't predict that.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Possible.”
“Next year?”
“Also possible.”
Declan’s jaw tightened.
“How many people use it?”
“Thousands every day.”
Remy had returned.
He stared at the screen.
“Castain knows?”
“They all know.”
Declan looked at Saoirse.
“Then why hasn't the city closed it?”
She opened another folder.
Payments.
Transfers.
Names.
“Because Castain bought inspectors.”
She scrolled.
“Department supervisors.”
More names.
“Council staff.”
More.
“And somebody in my office.”
She stopped.
Six names appeared.
Declan recognized five.
The sixth made him go still.
Saoirse noticed.
“You know him.”
Declan said nothing.
“Declan.”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Declan looked at the name again.
Remy Boudreaux.
Silence.
Saoirse slowly turned.
Remy was standing behind them.
He looked at the screen.
Then laughed once.
“That’s inconvenient.”
Declan moved between him and Saoirse.
Remy raised both hands.
“Come on.”
“Explain.”
“You think I took Castain money?”
“Your name is there.”
“My name can be typed.”
Saoirse spoke.
“He’s right.”
Declan glanced at her.
She pointed at the spreadsheet.
“These aren't banking records. They're an internal Castain ledger.”
“So?”
“So this proves someone listed Remy. It doesn't prove Remy received anything.”
Remy nodded toward her.
“I like the engineer.”
Declan didn't move.
“When did you last speak to Victor Castain?”
Remy’s humor disappeared.
“Three years ago.”
“Think carefully.”
“I am.”
Saoirse enlarged the entry.
Then frowned.
“What?”
Declan asked.
“The date.”
“What about it?”
“This payment supposedly happened March fourteenth.”
Remy shrugged.
“So?”
Saoirse looked at Declan.
“Was he with you?”
Declan remembered.
March fourteenth.
Federal courthouse.
A grand jury hearing that had lasted eleven hours.
Remy had been sitting directly behind him the entire day.
“This is fabricated,” Declan said.
Saoirse nodded.
“Someone wanted you to find this.”
Declan stared at the screen.
Not evidence.
Bait.
Someone wanted Declan suspicious of Remy.
Someone wanted his organization fractured.
Saoirse suddenly grabbed the desk.
Declan caught her elbow.
“You're done.”
“I’m fine.”
“You're shaking.”
“Blood loss does that.”
“Bed.”
“Stop ordering me around.”
“Then stop nearly falling down.”
Remy cleared his throat.
“I’ll leave you two to negotiate.”
“Remy.”
He stopped.
Declan pointed at the screen.
“Find out who created that entry.”
Remy nodded.
Then Saoirse said something that stopped him at the door.
“There's another problem.”
She opened the metadata.
The file had been modified forty-eight hours earlier.
After Saoirse had already copied the original records.
Meaning someone had accessed the Castain system after she did.
Someone who knew exactly what she had stolen.
Declan looked at her.
“They weren't trying to kill you.”
Saoirse understood.
“They were trying to get the drive.”
May you like
“And now they know you brought it here.”
---
