Chapter 16 - What Richid Took in the Dark
Claire arrived at the district attorney's office at 9:10 the next morning.
She had slept for two hours.
Her bruise had darkened beneath her makeup.
Her shoulder still hurt.
But the exhaustion had changed shape.
It no longer felt like weakness.
It felt like a hard edge she could use.
Richid sat in an interview room with his attorney.
He had been released pending further proceedings, but he looked as if he had aged ten years overnight.
The recovered flash drive sat inside an evidence bag on the table.
Claire remained standing.
"Why did you take it?"
Richid looked at the bag.
"The lights went out."
"I know."
"Something hit the floor near my chair."
"The drive."
"Yes."
"And you put it in your pocket."
Richid nodded.
Claire laughed quietly in disbelief.
"While everyone was accusing everyone else."
"I panicked."
"You?"
"Yes."
It was the first time Claire had heard her father admit to panic without turning it into strategy.
"Why?"
Richid looked at her.
"Because I knew one of Eleanor's recordings mentioned Rebecca."
Claire stared at him.
"You were still trying to hide her."
"I was trying to protect her."
"From what?"
"From becoming a scandal attached to my name."
Claire's expression hardened.
"That protects you."
Richid lowered his eyes.
"Yes."
The honesty made Claire angrier, but it also ended the argument.
There was nothing left to expose in that moment.
Richid had stolen the drive for the oldest reason in his life.
Control.
"Did you cause the blackout?"
"No."
"Did you know it was coming?"
"No."
"Did you initiate the trust transfer?"
"No."
The prosecutor sitting across the table spoke.
"We have preliminary evidence the blackout was ordered through a contractor connected to Victor Sloan."
Claire looked at him.
"Victor."
"We are still tracing payment."
Richid's attorney shifted uncomfortably.
"My client has cooperated."
Claire ignored him.
"Open the drive."
The prosecutor nodded to a technician.
The device had already been imaged inside an isolated system.
Its contents appeared on a monitor.
There were only three files.
One was an old photograph of Eleanor.
One was an encrypted text document.
The third was a short audio recording.
Claire pressed play.
Eleanor's voice filled the room again.
"If you found this drive in my cane, it is not the drive everyone is looking for."
Claire almost laughed from disbelief.
Richid stared at the screen.
Eleanor continued.
"It is a test."
Claire looked at the evidence bag.
"A test for whom?" she whispered.
The recording answered as if Eleanor had heard her.
"For the person who takes it."
Richid's face tightened.
"Anyone desperate enough to steal this drive will reveal what they fear most."
Claire looked at her father.
He closed his eyes.
The decoy had worked eight years after Eleanor's death.
Not on Matthew.
On Richid.
Eleanor continued.
"The real archive was removed before I died."
"Julian Cross knows where it went."
The prosecutor made a note.
"Naomi knows where the first lock is."
"Rebecca will have the second key if Samuel's instructions were followed."
Claire thought of the brass key Rebecca had given her.
Then Eleanor said one final sentence.
"Do not open the archive unless all three of you are in the same room."
The recording ended.
Claire frowned.
"All three who?"
Richid looked at her.
"You, Naomi, and Rebecca."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Claire gave him a tired look.
"For once, I believe you."
The encrypted text file contained only a string of numbers.
Naomi arrived twenty minutes later and stared at them.
"I know that number."
Claire leaned forward.
"What is it?"
"A bank routing prefix."
"Which bank?"
Naomi named a private bank in lower Manhattan that Eleanor had used for charitable accounts.
The rest of the digits formed a deposit box identifier.
Claire felt her pulse quicken.
"That's the first lock."
Naomi nodded.
"The location."
Rebecca's brass key was the second.
Claire called her.
Rebecca answered on the first ring.
"I was wondering when you would figure it out."
Claire looked at Richid.
"Bring the key."
Rebecca hesitated.
"Is he there?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm not coming."
Claire's jaw tightened.
"My mother said the archive can only be opened if you, Naomi, and I are together."
Rebecca went silent.
Then she asked quietly, "Did she say my name?"
"Yes."
Another silence.
"I'll come."
Two hours later, the three women entered the private bank under prosecutor supervision.
Richid was not permitted beyond the lobby.
Matthew had not been found.
Victor Sloan had disappeared.
Julian had requested immunity negotiations but had not yet spoken.
The bank manager led Claire, Naomi, and Rebecca into a secure room.
Rebecca inserted the brass key.
The manager used the bank key.
The box slid free.
Claire set it on the table.
Inside was a sealed envelope, a stack of original share certificates, a video card, and another flash drive.
This one was red.
Naomi whispered, "That's it."
Rebecca looked at Claire.
"Open the envelope first."
Claire broke the seal.
Inside was a handwritten note from Eleanor.
May you like
It contained only one line.
CLAIRE, BEFORE YOU DECIDE WHO BETRAYED YOU, WATCH WHAT JULIAN DID FOR ME.
