Chapter 9 - FIRE ON WACKER DRIVE
Smoke was already rolling between downtown buildings when Nathaniel’s convoy reached the Cross Foundation.
Carol jumped from the SUV before Arthur could stop her.
“Carol!”
She ran toward the entrance.
Firefighters blocked the sidewalk.
Glass covered the street.
A blast had destroyed the foundation’s first-floor reception area, but sprinklers prevented flames from spreading.
Carol recognized employees clustered behind emergency vehicles.
“Melissa!”
Her assistant turned.
“Carol!”
They embraced.
“Is everyone out?”
Melissa coughed.
“Almost.”
Carol pulled away.
“Almost?”
“James is missing.”
James Porter was the foundation’s sixty-three-year-old maintenance supervisor.
Carol turned toward the building.
Nathaniel appeared beside her.
“No.”
“He’s inside.”
“The firefighters will get him.”
“They said third-floor smoke is too heavy.”
Carol started forward.
Nathaniel caught her.
“You are not going inside a burning building.”
“My office keeps the emergency staff list.”
“Carol.”
“If James went upstairs looking for anyone, he won’t know everyone evacuated!”
Nathaniel looked at the smoke.
Then at Arthur.
Arthur cursed.
“Absolutely not.”
Nathaniel removed his coat.
“Tell the fire captain we’re going in.”
Arthur stared.
“Boss.”
“Do it.”
Carol shook her head.
“You don’t have to—”
Nathaniel took her hand.
“You think I’m letting you go alone?”
Minutes later, wearing emergency breathing masks provided by firefighters, Nathaniel and Carol entered with a rescue team.
The lobby looked like a battlefield.
The explosion had originated near the records office.
Carol’s heart sank.
“That’s where our Hale investigation files were stored.”
Nathaniel understood immediately.
“Julian wasn’t trying to destroy the building.”
“He wanted evidence.”
They climbed the stairs.
Smoke thickened.
“James!” Carol shouted.
A faint sound answered.
Third floor.
They found him collapsed near a supply closet.
His ankle was trapped beneath a fallen cabinet.
Carol dropped beside him.
“James!”
His eyes fluttered.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
“We’re getting you out.”
Nathaniel and a firefighter lifted the cabinet while Carol pulled James free.
Then Nathaniel noticed something.
A small black device attached beneath the hallway desk.
“Everybody back!”
Arthur, monitoring through Nathaniel’s earpiece, heard him.
“What?”
“Secondary device.”
The firefighter swore.
They moved toward the stairwell.
A bomb technician rushed upward.
The device was disabled twelve minutes later.
It wasn’t explosive.
It was a transmitter.
Arthur examined it outside.
“Network sniffer.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“Julian used the evacuation to breach our servers.”
Carol looked toward the building.
“He wanted financial records.”
“Or personnel files.”
Arthur’s phone rang.
His face darkened.
“He downloaded employee addresses.”
Carol’s blood ran cold.
“How many?”
“More than four hundred.”
Nathaniel stared at the burning entrance.
Julian wasn’t attacking assets.
He was attacking trust.
That night, everyone gathered at Cross Tower.
Dozens of employees had received threatening emails.
QUIT CROSS INDUSTRIES OR YOUR FAMILIES PAY.
Carol stood before them in the conference hall.
People looked terrified.
Nathaniel prepared to speak.
Carol touched his arm.
“Let me.”
He stepped aside.
She walked to the microphone.
“One year ago, I would have run.”
The room quieted.
“I know what it feels like to believe powerful people control your life.”
Some employees recognized the reference to Vanessa.
“I also know fear gets stronger when we face it alone.”
Carol looked around.
“No one will be required to work until this threat is resolved. Everyone will continue receiving full salary.”
Whispers spread.
Nathaniel watched, surprised.
“The foundation will pay for temporary relocation for any employee who feels unsafe. Security will be provided.”
Carol’s voice grew stronger.
“But understand something.”
She looked toward the windows.
“Whoever did this expects us to turn against one another.”
A maintenance worker nodded.
“We won’t.”
Others joined.
Carol smiled.
Nathaniel felt pride swell in his chest.
After the meeting, Arthur approached.
“We found something.”
He placed a laptop on the table.
“The network breach originated from a cloned Cross executive credential.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“Whose?”
Arthur displayed the name.
MALCOLM CROSS.
Nathaniel stared.
“My father’s credentials were deactivated.”
“They were supposed to be.”
Carol looked between them.
“Julian still has access.”
Arthur nodded.
“And that means someone at the highest level of Cross Industries reactivated Malcolm’s account.”
Nathaniel looked toward the executive floors above them.
May you like
His enemy wasn’t merely outside the walls.
Julian had an ally inside the boardroom.
