Chapter 3 - The Trap Inside Carter Logistics
Cindy entered headquarters at 3:26 a.m.
Andrew walked beside her.
Six guards followed.
She stopped.
“Two.”
Andrew stared at her.
“This is not negotiable.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
“Cindy.”
“Six armed men following us will tell Nathan we know.”
Andrew considered it.
Then looked behind him.
“Lucas. Marco. Everyone else stays downstairs.”
They entered the executive floor.
Dark.
Quiet.
Cindy whispered, “My office.”
Her door was open.
Andrew moved in front of her.
She immediately grabbed his jacket.
“Beside me.”
He looked back.
“Not ahead.”
Against every instinct he possessed, Andrew stepped aside.
They entered together.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Cindy approached her desk.
Then stopped.
“My drawer.”
Open.
The emergency access key was missing.
Andrew cursed quietly.
Lucas checked the hallway.
“Nathan’s office is empty.”
Cindy sat at her computer.
“Black Ledger. Where?”
Andrew hesitated.
She glared at him.
“Seriously?”
“Server Seven.”
Her fingers moved.
“I can see someone inside it.”
Andrew leaned closer.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Suddenly the office lights switched on.
Nathan Carter stood in the doorway.
Elegant suit.
Calm smile.
“Working late?”
Andrew stared at his cousin.
“What are you doing here?”
Nathan lifted a folder.
“Tokyo manifests.”
“At three-thirty?”
“Jet lag.”
Cindy turned her monitor away.
Nathan noticed.
Then noticed the bruise near her temple.
“My God. What happened?”
“My apartment was broken into.”
“That’s terrible.”
Cindy watched his face.
No surprise.
Interesting.
“You know David?” she asked.
Nathan blinked.
“Who?”
“My ex.”
“No.”
She smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Andrew knew that smile.
Cindy had caught something.
Nathan looked toward Andrew.
“Can we talk privately?”
“No,” Andrew said.
“Family business.”
“She stays.”
Nathan’s expression changed for half a second.
Cindy saw it.
“Actually,” she said, “I need coffee.”
Andrew looked at her.
She gave him a tiny nod.
Trust me.
Andrew hated it.
But he stepped aside.
Cindy walked toward the break room.
Nathan waited until she disappeared.
“You’re losing perspective.”
Andrew’s eyes narrowed.
“Careful.”
“She’s an employee.”
“Very careful.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“People notice weakness.”
Andrew stepped closer.
“You think she’s mine?”
Nathan smiled.
“I think everyone does.”
Behind the break-room wall, Cindy quietly opened her phone.
Recording.
Nathan continued.
“You crossed Manhattan because she cried.”
Andrew said nothing.
“That makes her valuable.”
Cindy’s blood went cold.
Nathan continued.
“You taught everyone exactly where to put the knife.”
Andrew grabbed Nathan by the lapel.
“You seem unusually interested.”
Nathan smiled.
“Because I’m trying to save you.”
Cindy stepped out.
“From me?”
Nathan’s smile disappeared.
She held up her phone.
“Thanks.”
Nathan moved toward her.
Andrew immediately blocked him.
Cindy returned to the computer.
“I sent you a fake access request twelve minutes ago.”
Nathan froze.
“The emergency key wasn’t missing,” she continued. “I moved it yesterday.”
Andrew looked at her.
“You set a trap?”
“After Marcus told us his credentials were compromised.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
Cindy turned the monitor.
“Someone attempted Black Ledger access thirty-eight seconds after I entered this building.”
Lucas looked toward Nathan.
Nathan laughed.
“That proves nothing.”
“No,” Cindy said.
“This does.”
She clicked.
Security footage appeared.
Nathan entering Server Seven.
Silence.
Andrew looked at his cousin.
Nathan’s smile vanished.
“You have no idea what you’re protecting,” Nathan said.
Andrew’s voice became cold.
“I’m beginning to.”
Nathan suddenly reached inside his jacket.
Lucas moved.
Andrew moved faster.
But Cindy shouted.
“Stop!”
Everyone froze.
Nathan slowly removed—
A phone.
He placed it on the desk.
A video was playing.
David.
Sitting inside an interrogation room.
Alive.
Nathan smiled.
“You think David was the plan?”
Andrew stared at him.
“He was bait.”
“For what?”
Nathan looked at Cindy.
May you like
“For her.”
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