The room changed the instant I said the account belonged to a current employee.
Eleanor took my phone without asking and read the access notification twice.
“Whose account?”
“I don't know yet.”
Samuel was already typing.
“I'm pulling the authentication record now.”
The board members exchanged uneasy looks. Richard had left only minutes earlier, yet his shadow seemed to have remained behind in every computer terminal, every locked cabinet, every unanswered question.
I watched the screen while Samuel traced the login.
The username appeared.
MARTIN.HALE.
I recognized it.
Martin Hale was Horizon's director of procurement.
He had been with the company for fourteen years. He wasn't an engineer, didn't work directly with Meridian, and had never been involved in the original commissioning project.
“Why would Martin access an aerospace contract?” one of the directors asked.
“I don't know,” I said.
Eleanor looked toward Samuel.
“Can you confirm the account wasn't compromised?”
“Not yet.”
“Then do it.”
Samuel pulled the security logs.
The login had occurred at 9:11 a.m.
Martin's office badge showed him entering the building at 8:47.
His computer had been active at the time.
Nothing immediately proved someone else had used his credentials.
Then Samuel frowned.
“That's odd.”
“What?”
“The authentication came from Martin's workstation.”
“So he was physically there?”
“His workstation was.”
I understood the distinction.
“Where was Martin?”
Samuel checked the internal access system.
“Conference room B.”
“At 9:11?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Eleanor.
“That's not possible unless someone was using his computer.”
“Could he have left his workstation unlocked?”
“Maybe.”
Samuel shook his head.
“No. The login required a second authentication.”
The room went silent.
“Who has access to his second factor?” Eleanor asked.
Samuel hesitated.
“Martin.”
“Anyone else?”
“I'd have to check.”
“Check.”
While Samuel worked, I called Martin.
He answered on the fourth ring.
“Ethan?”
“Where are you?”
“Conference room B.”
“Are you alone?”
A pause.
“No. Why?”
“Did you access the aerospace contract file?”
“What?”
“Did you log into the maintenance gateway?”
His voice changed.
“No.”
“Martin, I'm not accusing you.”
“I didn't do anything.”
“I know. I'm trying to understand what happened.”
He lowered his voice.
“I was in a supplier meeting.”
“Who was with you?”
“Claire. Two people from purchasing.”
“Stay where you are.”
He started to ask why, but I ended the call.
Eleanor looked at me.
“You trust him?”
“I don't know him well enough to answer that.”
“That is the correct answer.”
Samuel turned his monitor toward us.
“The second authentication was issued from a device registered to Martin.”
“Where is the device?”
He checked.
“His office.”
I looked at Eleanor.
“Someone had his computer and his authentication device.”
“Or Martin did.”
I shook my head.
“Then why call himself from Conference B?”
Eleanor didn't respond.
The attorney gathered the documents.
“Until we know, we should suspend access to the contract.”
“Do it,” Eleanor said.
Samuel immediately began restricting permissions.
The remote session disappeared.
Then another notification appeared.
A new connection attempt.
Same account.
Same file.
But this time the source was external.
Samuel stared at the screen.
“That's not Martin's workstation.”
“Where?”
“Outside the corporate network.”
The connection lasted eleven seconds.
Then vanished.
I copied the log.
“Can you trace it?”
“I'm trying.”
A minute later, Samuel gave a grim smile.
“It's being routed.”
“Through what?”
“Three different services.”
“Richard?”
“I don't know.”
Eleanor looked toward the conference-room door.
“Find Martin.”
Two security officers went downstairs.
Ten minutes later, Martin entered the boardroom looking confused.
“What is going on?”
Eleanor asked him to sit.
He did.
I watched his hands.
They were shaking slightly.
“Martin,” I said, “did you give anyone your password?”
“No.”
“Your authentication device?”
“No.”
“Did you leave your office unattended?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes.”
“Who knew you were gone?”
He looked at me.
“Everyone in purchasing.”
“Anyone specifically ask where you were going?”
He thought.
“Tyler.”
The room went quiet.
“Tyler Brennan?” Eleanor asked.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Why?”
“He asked whether I was still handling the aerospace suppliers.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I was.”
Martin looked around.
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
I already knew Tyler had been involved with Richard.
But Tyler had admitted it, cooperated, and accepted responsibility.
I had believed that meant he was finished with Richard.
Now I wasn't so sure.
Samuel pulled up another log.
“There's something else.”
He zoomed in.
“Martin's account accessed the contract at 9:11.”
“Then what?”
“It opened a subfolder.”
“What folder?”
Samuel looked at me.
“Parker Precision.”
My stomach tightened.
“What's inside?”
“Copies of your original technical drawings.”
I looked at Eleanor.
She understood immediately.
Richard's case against me had depended on proving those drawings belonged to Horizon.
Someone was still searching for them.
“Open the folder,” I said.
Samuel did.
Most files were untouched.
One was missing.
The original Meridian control architecture.
I stared at the empty directory.
“That's the file they wanted.”
The attorney asked, “Why would someone steal it?”
“Because whoever has it can make it look like I copied Horizon's work.”
Eleanor stood.
“Then we need to know who took it.”
Samuel checked the transfer records.
His face changed.
“It wasn't downloaded.”
“What?”
“It was moved.”
“Where?”
He looked at the destination.
“Another internal server.”
“Which one?”
Samuel read the name.
“Legal archive.”
I frowned.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Eleanor did too.
“Why would someone move the file into legal?”
Samuel opened the archive.
A single document appeared.
A draft complaint against Parker Precision Services.
Prepared three days earlier.
Unsigned.
But the author field showed Richard Cole.
I felt a chill.
Richard had prepared another attack.
And someone inside Horizon had just moved the evidence into the legal archive.
The question was no longer whether Richard had planned another move.
The question was who inside the company was helping him finish it.
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: The Hidden Complaint Carried Richard’s Name, but the Person Who Filed It Had Access to Information He Should Never Have Seen
At 11:07 My Eleven-Year Career Ended, but Five Minutes Later the Machine They Blamed Me For Suddenly Became Their Biggest Problem
Part 9 of 20
