Chapter 4 - The Traitor at the Table
Theo Grant had worked for Adrian for eleven years.
He had attended birthdays.
Funerals.
Business meetings.
He had taken a bullet protecting Mason six years earlier.
Nobody wanted Evelyn to be right.
Especially Adrian.
They returned to the Halstead Crown shortly after midnight.
Kara was waiting.
“Theo’s gone.”
Adrian stopped.
“Gone where?”
“His apartment is empty.”
Mason cursed.
“When?”
“Security footage shows him leaving at 8:14.”
Evelyn frowned.
“That’s eleven minutes after Daniel asked about the ledger.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You think Reed warned him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Daniel never touched his phone.”
Mason understood first.
“The restaurant.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Someone was watching.”
Adrian immediately turned to Kara.
“Pull street cameras.”
She left.
Evelyn opened her laptop.
Adrian looked down at her.
“What are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“You should go upstairs.”
“No.”
“Evelyn.”
She looked up.
“If Theo betrayed you, he knew we’d eventually discover it.”
“Yes.”
“So why wait until tonight to run?”
Adrian said nothing.
“Because he wasn’t afraid until something happened tonight.”
Mason leaned over the table.
“Daniel confirmed she knew about Rotterdam.”
“Exactly.”
Evelyn typed quickly.
“Which means Theo believes I can connect him to something bigger.”
Adrian watched her.
“Can you?”
“Maybe.”
She opened archived translation notes.
Hundreds of pages appeared.
For four years, Evelyn had recorded unusual phrases, names, dialect variations, and linguistic inconsistencies.
Mason stared.
“You keep all that?”
“I remember words.”
She searched.
Theo Grant.
Nothing.
Then Sokolov.
Several results.
Evelyn opened one.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Adrian moved closer.
“Six months ago, Sokolov used a phrase during negotiations.”
“What phrase?”
“‘The north door remains open.’”
Mason frowned.
“So?”
“I assumed it was Russian slang.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No.”
Evelyn opened another file.
“A Croatian contractor used the same phrase fourteen months ago.”
Another.
“A Serbian broker two years ago.”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“All deals Theo supervised.”
“Yes.”
Mason swore quietly.
Adrian pulled out his phone.
Then Evelyn saw something through the glass wall.
A reflection.
Movement behind them.
“Theo.”
Everyone turned.
Theo Grant stood inside the doorway.
His coat was covered in snow.
His expression looked exhausted.
Adrian slowly lowered his phone.
“You saved us the trouble.”
Theo closed the door.
“You won't find what you're looking for.”
“Sit down.”
“No.”
Mason moved forward.
Theo raised his hands.
“I didn't come to fight.”
“Then why did you come?”
Theo looked at Evelyn.
“Because she needs to leave.”
Adrian stepped between them.
“Careful.”
Theo almost laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Explain.”
“Sokolov doesn't care about Rotterdam anymore.”
Evelyn stood.
“Then what does he want?”
“You.”
Silence.
Adrian’s expression changed instantly.
Theo continued.
“Not because you're a translator.”
“Then why?”
“Because you heard something four years ago.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I hear thousands of conversations.”
Theo looked at Adrian.
“Remember Vienna?”
Adrian did.
Evelyn could see it.
Four years earlier.
Her first month working for him.
A private dinner.
Three Serbian businessmen.
A conversation they believed she couldn’t understand.
Her stomach dropped.
“The numbers.”
Theo nodded.
“What numbers?” Mason asked.
Evelyn whispered, “Account numbers.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You told me they were meaningless.”
“I thought they were.”
“They weren't,” Theo said.
“They belonged to politicians, judges, customs officials. People Sokolov has been paying for years.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“I don’t remember them.”
Theo gave her a sad smile.
“Yes, you do.”
“How would you know?”
“Because Adrian once told me you never forget anything you hear.”
Adrian’s face changed.
For the first time, guilt appeared.
Theo looked at him.
“You made her valuable.”
Evelyn turned toward Adrian.
“You told him?”
“I trusted him.”
Theo laughed bitterly.
“That was your mistake.”
A phone rang.
Not Adrian’s.
Not Evelyn’s.
Theo’s.
He looked at the screen.
Then at Evelyn.
“We’re too late.”
May you like
The forty-second-floor lights suddenly went out.
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