Marcus was waiting inside.
He stood when she entered.
“You came.”
Olivia placed her purse on the table.
“You said you found something.”
Marcus nodded.
“I found several things.”
He opened a laptop.
The first file contained payments from the Langford charitable foundation to Serena Vale’s consulting company.
The second showed invoices that appeared legitimate at first glance.
The third made Olivia stop breathing.
A transfer authorization carried Andrew’s digital signature.
Amount: $480,000.
Recipient: Vale Strategic Solutions.
Date: six months earlier.
Olivia looked at Marcus.
“Did Andrew authorize this?”
Marcus shook his head.
“That’s what I wanted to ask you.”
Olivia leaned closer.
“Why?”
“Because the authorization came from an account Andrew wasn’t supposed to have access to.”
Silence filled the office.
Marcus opened another file.
“This account belongs to your father’s old military scholarship trust.”
Olivia’s face changed.
“That account was closed years ago.”
“Exactly.”
He clicked again.
A series of transfers appeared.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Different companies.
Different dates.
But the same destination.
Serena Vale.
Olivia slowly sat down.
“This isn’t an affair.”
“No,” Marcus said.
“It’s theft.”
Marcus nodded.
“And possibly something worse.”
He opened the final document.
It was an email.
The sender was Serena.
The recipient was Andrew.
The subject line read:
Phase Two — Langford Access
Olivia read the first sentence.
Then the second.
By the third, her hands had gone cold.
“They weren’t just taking money,” she whispered.
Marcus said nothing.
Olivia looked up.
“They were trying to get access to my family’s entire network.”
Marcus closed the laptop.
“And now they know you’ve noticed.”
Olivia stood.
“Then we stop reacting.”
She picked up her purse.
“We start documenting.”
Marcus gave her a grim smile.
“That sounds more like you.”
Olivia walked toward the door.
Then her phone rang.
This time, it wasn’t Andrew.
It was an unknown number.
She answered.
A man’s voice spoke quietly.
“Mrs. Whitaker?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know me.”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Daniel Harris.”
Olivia froze.
“The gate guard?”
“Yes.”
He lowered his voice.
“I need to tell you what happened inside that building this morning.”
Olivia looked at Marcus.
“Go on.”
Harris took a breath.
“Serena wasn’t supposed to be there.”
Olivia’s stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“She arrived before Commander Whitaker. She brought documents.”
“What documents?”
There was a pause.
“Documents with your name on them.”
Olivia said nothing.
Harris continued.
“And before you ask—no, I didn’t let her leave with them.”
Marcus immediately reached for a notepad.
Olivia’s voice became very calm.
“Where are they now?”
Another pause.
“Locked in my vehicle.”
Olivia looked at Marcus.
Then back at the phone.
“Mr. Harris, don’t move them.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
“There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
Harris hesitated.
“She wasn’t there to meet your husband.”
Olivia’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why was she there?”
The guard answered in a whisper.
“She was there to meet the commander who replaced him.
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