Chapter 15 - The Person Charles Feared.
The board call dissolved into chaos.
Directors demanded explanations.
Charles asked security to trace the interruption.
Adrian muted the meeting.
“He didn’t know,” Claire said.
Anna nodded reluctantly.
“No.”
Jonathan looked at Charles’s frozen image on the screen.
“He knew about Meridian.”
“He knew about Vantage.”
“But that voice scared him.”
Simon sat down slowly.
Adrian looked at him.
“Who scares Charles?”
Simon shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel unplugged Simon’s tablet from the wall network.
“I may.”
Everyone turned.
He had been studying the certificate logs during the vote.
“Meridian root access is not controlled from Charles’s office.”
“Where?” Adrian asked.
Daniel enlarged a network path.
“An internal node called SR-01.”
Simon stared.
Claire looked at the initials.
“S.R.”
Simon laughed in disbelief.
“You cannot seriously think that means Simon Reed.”
Daniel held up a hand.
“I didn’t say it did.”
Anna looked at Jonathan.
“Vantage used initials for node owners.”
Jonathan nodded.
Simon stood.
“That could be anyone.”
Adrian remained seated.
“Name another senior person in the company with those initials.”
Simon opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Claire looked at him.
Simon’s frustration became anger.
“I voted to keep you in control thirty seconds ago.”
Adrian nodded.
“You did.”
“If I wanted the company, I could have removed you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would I vote against myself?”
Claire answered.
“Because removing him through the board gives Charles control.”
Simon looked at her.
“And if you wanted Charles blamed, you would need Adrian to stay.”
Simon stared at her.
Claire felt the room change.
It was only a theory.
But it fit too easily.
Simon’s voice lowered.
“You think I built Meridian beneath Charles and used him as cover.”
“I think someone did.”
“And you think that someone killed Martin.”
Claire did not answer.
Simon laughed once.
“This is insane.”
Jonathan walked toward him.
“No.”
“This is familiar.”
Simon’s expression hardened.
Jonathan continued.
“Charles always wanted influence.”
“He liked knowing secrets.”
“But he hated operational risk.”
Anna added, “He would never personally run a node like SR-01.”
Adrian looked at Simon.
“Who would?”
Simon shook his head.
“You have known me for fifteen years.”
Adrian stood.
“That is not an answer.”
Simon’s face tightened.
“I pulled you out of that hotel in Prague when the deal collapsed.”
“I sat outside the hospital when Martin had surgery.”
“I buried your father with you.”
Adrian’s eyes did not move.
“I know.”
Claire stared at the blinking card and felt almost offended by the elegance of the frame.
Her fake identity, her access badge, and the mysterious SR initials all converged in one small object she carried willingly.
Whoever planted the relay understood that the best evidence was evidence the target would transport herself.
Adrian reached toward the badge but stopped before touching it.
He had started asking permission without announcing that he was changing.
Claire noticed.
It made the night feel slightly less hopeless.
If they survived, she knew neither of them could return to the comfortable version of trust they had before.
That trust had been built partly on what they did not know.
The next version would have to survive what they did.
“I built this company beside you.”
“I know.”
“And you can stand there and think I did this?”
Adrian’s voice became quieter.
“I can stand here and think anyone did this.”
Simon looked wounded.
Claire almost believed him.
Then Daniel’s tablet chimed.
A recovered access log appeared.
SR-01 had authenticated five minutes earlier.
The authentication device was inside the room.
Daniel slowly looked around.
“No.”
Claire’s pulse accelerated.
Adrian asked, “What?”
Daniel turned the screen toward them.
“Whoever controls SR-01 is standing within twenty feet of this tablet.”
Everyone froze.
Anna looked at Jonathan.
Jonathan looked at Simon.
Simon looked at Daniel.
Claire looked at Adrian.
Then the conference room door locked by itself.
The ceiling lights shifted to red.
A soft chime came from Claire’s pocket.
She reached inside and pulled out her employee access card.
The card’s tiny indicator was blinking.
Daniel stared at it.
“The signal is coming from you.”
Claire looked at the card in horror.
Adrian stepped beside her.
Simon’s voice came out almost as a whisper.
May you like
“Claire is SR-01.”
DON'T WAKE THE BOSS
