Chapter 4 - The Man in the Parking Garage
Michael did not go alone.
He told Detective Morales, who hated the idea, then agreed to follow at a distance.
The address led to a parking garage beneath an abandoned medical office building in Evanston.
At 8:40 p.m., Michael stepped out of his car.
A thin man in a maintenance jacket appeared from behind a concrete pillar.
“Mr. Bennett?”
“Who are you?”
“Owen Pike. I used to manage digital security at your mother’s estate.”
“Why were you fired?”
“Because I asked why cameras kept failing around her private meetings.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed.
Owen held out a flash drive.
“I built an automatic backup after that. The system pushed footage off-site before anyone could wipe it.”
“Does it show the balcony?”
“It shows enough.”
Michael reached for the drive.
Owen pulled it back.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“Your mother has been ordering selective deletions for months.”
“Of what?”
“Nursery cameras. Hallways. The east office.”
Michael’s stomach tightened.
“Why the nursery?”
Owen shook his head. “I don’t know. But a user named CBennett approved the wipe requests.”
“Caleb.”
“Maybe.”
A car engine roared somewhere below them.
Owen looked past Michael.
Headlights appeared at the far end of the garage.
Too fast.
“Move!” Michael shouted.
The SUV jumped the curb line and came straight at them.
Michael grabbed Owen and threw both of them behind a support column.
Metal screamed against concrete.
The SUV clipped Owen’s shoulder and spun him to the ground before racing up the exit ramp.
Michael dropped beside him.
“Owen!”
“I’m okay.” Owen’s face had gone gray. “Drive.”
“You need an ambulance.”
“Drive first.”
Detective Morales’s unmarked car appeared seconds later.
She called for units and paramedics.
Owen pressed the flash drive into Michael’s hand.
“Your mother’s scared of the trust.”
Michael crouched closer. “Why?”
Owen coughed.
“Because your father didn’t just order an audit.”
“What else?”
“He hid a trigger in the company bylaws.”
Michael stared at him.
Owen’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“If the trust activates and the audit finds intentional theft, Diane doesn’t just lose control.”
May you like
He swallowed against the pain.
“She loses every Bennett asset she personally owns.”
