Chapter 2 - Marcus didn't scream.He wanted to.
Every instinct inside him told him to run.
Instead, he stood perfectly still as the executive office door opened three inches.
Then six.
Then twelve.
The room beyond was completely dark.
Rain tapped against the windows.
Marcus could hear his own heartbeat.
He reached for his phone and turned on the flashlight.
The beam cut through the darkness.
Empty.
The executive office was vacant.
Marcus stepped inside.
"Harris?"
Nothing.
The desk was untouched.
His chair was pushed back.
A glass of water sat beside an open folder.
Marcus moved closer.
The water was still warm.
He touched the glass.
His fingers trembled.
Someone had been there recently.
Very recently.
Then he noticed something on the desk.
A small envelope.
His name was written across it.
MARCUS REED.
He didn't open it immediately.
Something about the handwriting disturbed him.
The letters were Harris's handwriting.
But the ink looked wet.
Marcus opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed the company's parking garage.
Taken from above.
Marcus recognized himself in the picture.
He was standing beside his car.
But the photograph wasn't recent.
It was dated three weeks earlier.
On the back, someone had written:
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO SEE THE LEDGER.
Marcus stared.
The ledger.
He had discovered references to it buried inside encrypted financial files.
A phantom account called the Black Ledger.
Every transaction linked to it had been erased from the company's official database.
But Marcus had found fragments.
Thirty-eight million dollars.
Then seventy-two.
Then more.
Money moved through shell companies across several countries.
Someone was using the company as a machine for disappearing money.
Marcus had assumed Harris was responsible.
Now he wasn't sure.
A noise came from behind him.
He turned sharply.
The office door was closed.
He hadn't heard it shut.
Marcus approached.
Locked.
He tried the handle.
Nothing.
His phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Hello?"
Static.
Then breathing.
Marcus frowned.
"Who is this?"
A whisper.
"Look under the desk."
Marcus froze.
"What?"
"Under the desk."
The call ended.
He looked at the executive desk.
Slowly, he crouched.
There was a compartment underneath.
Marcus had worked six years in this building and had never noticed it.
He pressed the edge.
A hidden panel opened.
Inside was a black metal box.
No combination.
Just a fingerprint scanner.
Marcus stared.
Then the screen lit up.
ACCESS DENIED.
He tried again.
Same message.
Suddenly footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Marcus closed the compartment and stepped away.
The footsteps approached.
Slow.
Measured.
Three people.
He moved toward the door.
Voices drifted through the glass wall.
"...still on the floor."
Marcus recognized one of them.
Daniel Price.
Head of security.
Another voice belonged to Laura Bennett, Harris's executive assistant.
The third voice was unfamiliar.
"We have to find him before he leaves."
Marcus's blood went cold.
Find him?
Why?
He backed toward the window.
There was nowhere to go.
The door opened.
Laura entered first.
She smiled.
But it wasn't a friendly smile.
"Marcus."
He forced himself to remain calm.
"Laura. What are you doing here?"
"Same question."
Daniel stepped behind her.
His hand rested near his jacket pocket.
Marcus glanced at it.
"Is there a problem?"
Laura looked toward Harris's desk.
Then back at Marcus.
"We saw your badge."
Marcus frowned.
"My badge?"
"You used it tonight."
"Of course I did. I work here."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Not the main entrance."
Marcus said nothing.
Laura slowly approached.
"You came through the basement."
That was true.
Marcus had entered through the basement to avoid being seen by security cameras.
But only three people knew that entrance existed.
Harris.
Marcus.
And Daniel.
Marcus's mind raced.
Then he noticed something.
Laura was wearing a small silver necklace.
A tiny pendant shaped like a key.
He had seen the same symbol carved into the black metal box.
Before he could ask about it, the security monitor behind them flickered.
The screen changed.
It showed the lobby.
The timestamp read:
3:14 A.M.
A figure was standing near the front doors.
Marcus stared.
Black suit.
White shirt.
Silver watch.
Harris.
Laura saw him.
Her face went pale.
Daniel stepped backward.
Marcus looked from the monitor to them.
"You see him too."
Neither answered.
Harris turned toward the security camera.
Then he raised one hand.
And pointed directly at the screen.
At Marcus.
The monitor went black.
Daniel whispered:
"That's impossible."
Marcus looked at him.
"You know something."
Daniel didn't answer.
Laura grabbed Marcus's wrist.
"Come with us."
Marcus pulled away.
"Why?"
She looked toward the dark hallway.
"Because if Harris is really alive..."
Her voice shook.
"...then someone else is already dead."
Before Marcus could respond, the office lights came back on.
All three of them looked toward the door.
A single drop of blood landed on the white floor.
Then another.
Then another.
The drops formed a trail.
They came from the hallway.
Laura whispered:
"Don't follow it."
Marcus stared at the blood.
But the trail was already leading toward them.
May you like
And at the end of it lay a silver watch.
Harris's watch.
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