Chapter 1 - The Empty Museum
The administrative entrance of the Centennial Museum was completely silent on a Saturday morning.
Mara Ellis clutched a thick binder to her chest as she stepped out of the private elevator on the third floor.
Her hands were shaking so badly that the metal rings of the binder rattled against her knuckles.
She had barely slept a single hour after Edward Hale hung up the phone.
The receptionist’s desk was empty, but a pair of heavy mahogany doors stood open at the end of the corridor.
Mara walked slowly toward the glowing light of the executive suite.
Edward Hale was standing by a massive floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the gray waters of Lake Michigan.
He was not wearing the stiff tailored tuxedo she remembered from the high-society donor galas.
Instead, he wore a dark charcoal dress shirt with the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms.
He turned around as she entered, and Mara realized with a sudden jolt that his eyes were a piercing, incredibly calculating shade of gray.
"Good morning, Miss Ellis," Edward said, his deep voice echoing slightly in the vast room.
"Good morning, Mr. Hale," Mara replied, forcing herself to maintain steady eye contact.
She walked forward and placed her heavy binder cautiously on the edge of his massive desk.
"This is the proposal you asked for, though I still do not understand why you care about a rejected exhibit," she said.
Edward walked over to the desk and opened a slim black folder sitting right next to her binder.
"I care because Peter Maddox requested an extra two million dollars in funding last quarter for this exact project," Edward stated calmly.
Mara stared at him in utter confusion.
"That is impossible, because Peter explicitly told me the board rejected the budget and scrapped the entire exhibit," Mara argued.
Edward turned the black folder around and slid it across the polished wood directly toward her.
"The board approved the budget unanimously, and the funds were transferred into your department's accounts three weeks ago," Edward replied.
Mara looked down at the official bank statements neatly organized inside the folder.
Her name was listed as the primary authorized signatory for the immediate transfer of two million dollars to a private offshore account.
She had never signed those documents, nor had she ever seen a single penny of that money.
"Peter forged my signature to steal museum funds," Mara whispered, the blood draining completely from her face.
Edward leaned forward, planting his hands firmly on the desk with a terrifying intensity.
"Yes, he did, and if you resign on Monday morning, the federal auditors will automatically assume you took the money and fled," Edward warned.
Before Mara could even process the terrifying reality of his words, the office door suddenly clicked shut behind her.
May you like
She spun around to see Peter Maddox standing in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee and smiling coldly.
"What a pleasant surprise to see you both here on a weekend," Peter said softly.
