Chapter 2 - The Flash Drive
Daniel completely panicked, tearing the entire closet apart as if the hard drive might have magically fallen out.
He threw expensive Italian suits and leather shoes across the room, cursing loudly.
That drive contained irrefutable proof of corporate espionage, insider trading, and systematic bribery.
If those files ever saw the light of day, Daniel would be spending the next twenty years in a federal penitentiary.
He grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and frantically dialed Claire's number.
It went straight to a sterile, automated voicemail.
He ran downstairs, discovering that her purse, her car keys, and her winter coat were gone.
Daniel quickly threw on a tailored navy suit, skipping his usual morning shower and coffee.
He sprinted out to his luxury sedan and drove recklessly toward downtown Chicago, breaking every speed limit on Lake Shore Drive.
He needed to get to his consulting firm and initiate a massive security protocol before Claire could access the encrypted files.
He practically kicked the glass doors of his corporate office open, rushing past the startled receptionist.
He marched directly toward Sabrina's corner office, desperate for an ally.
Sabrina was the senior vice president of risk management, and the only other person who knew exactly how dangerous those files were.
Daniel burst into her office without knocking, locking the heavy mahogany door behind him.
Sabrina was sitting behind her massive glass desk, staring at her computer monitor with a ghostly pale face.
"She took the drive," Daniel gasped, leaning heavily against the locked door.
Sabrina slowly looked up at him, her eyes completely devoid of the warmth they had shared the night before.
"I know," Sabrina whispered, her voice shaking violently.
Daniel walked toward her desk, utterly confused by her reaction.
"How could you possibly know that?" he asked.
Sabrina simply turned her glowing computer monitor around so Daniel could see the screen.
It was an urgent email sent to the entire executive board of the consulting firm.
Attached to the email were three highly confidential PDF documents detailing the firm's most illegal offshore transactions.
Daniel felt his stomach plummet as he recognized the documents from his missing hard drive.
"She leaked them," Daniel said, rubbing his sweating forehead.
"Claire is trying to destroy the firm just to get back at me."
Sabrina shook her head slowly, a deeply bitter smile forming on her lips.
"Look at the sender's address, Daniel."
Daniel leaned closer to the bright screen, squinting at the small text at the top of the email.
The email had not been sent from an anonymous account or from Claire's personal laptop.
The highly illegal documents had been emailed to the board directly from Daniel's own private corporate email address.
Before Daniel could even process the horrifying implication, the heavy mahogany door rattled violently.
May you like
A loud, authoritative voice demanded that Daniel open the door immediately.
It was the firm's ruthless Chairman of the Board, and he was flanked by two massive corporate security guards.
