She knew exactly why the office sensor mattered.
I looked at Ryan.
“What did you take from my office?”
He said nothing.
I asked again.
“What did you take?”
Claire turned toward him.
“What is he talking about?”
That was interesting.
Not what did we take.
What is he talking about?
Ryan’s eyes moved between us.
And suddenly I understood something important.
Claire had helped him enter my office.
But she did not know everything he had done once he got inside.
Chapter 4: The Cabinet
I told them to stay where they were.
Ryan started to object.
I looked at him.
“Leave if you want.”
He stopped.
“You are not trapped here.”
I pointed toward the front door.
“But if you leave, tomorrow morning my attorney, our corporate counsel, and every board member will receive the access logs before you get to the office.”
Ryan’s face tightened.
We did not actually have a formal board.
Sentinel Ridge was privately held by the two of us.
But Ryan didn't correct me.
That worried me.
I walked into my downstairs office.
Claire followed.
Ryan followed her.
The filing cabinet looked untouched.
So did the locked corporate drawer.
I opened it.
Inside were client files, ownership records, insurance documents, hardware authentication devices, and an encrypted backup key stored in a small tamper-evident pouch.
The pouch seal had been broken.
I stared at it.
Ryan said:
“Grant.”
I turned.
“What did you use it for?”
“Nothing.”
“Try again.”
“It was a backup.”
“I know what it was.”
Claire looked at him.
“You said you needed something from the office because Grant was hiding information about the company.”
Ryan did not answer.
I looked at her.
“He told you that?”
Claire looked ashamed.
“He said the company was in trouble.”
“What trouble?”
“He said you had been moving money.”
I almost laughed.
“Where?”
“He didn't know.”
“Because I wasn't.”
Ryan interrupted.
“There were liquidity issues.”
I turned toward him.
“No.”
“We nearly missed two vendor payments.”
“Because one client was sixty days late.”
Claire looked between us.
Ryan continued.
“I was protecting the company.”
“By entering my private office at one in the morning?”
“I needed to see the backup records.”
“You have access to company records.”
“Not everything.”
There it was.
I thought about the broken seal.
Then the hardware token.
Our largest contract involved a regional hospital network. Certain high-security design files could only be transferred or reassigned using a dual-authentication process.
One credential belonged to me.
The other belonged to Ryan.
Except the backup device in my house could substitute for mine if I became incapacitated.
I looked at him.
“What did you authorize?”
Ryan remained silent.