by K. T. Tomb
“Yeah, they did.”
“Okay. So the question we need to answer as soon as possible is: Who put them there? I could bet big money that whoever did it knows something about who’s behind this nonsense with Zach.”
“Hmmm. You could have something there, Aurora.”
Chapter Six
Carraway Club,
Hamilton, Bermuda.
Aurora ended the call she had placed to Rebecca and pressed the speed dial button for John Thorn’s cell phone. It only rang once.
“Everything is in place for Lu Wei’s visit, Mr. G. They should be out and about in Paris as we speak and they’ll be on their way to Atlanta tomorrow. I’ve got them coming in fairly early so that they have time to recover from any jet lag. Monday’s shaping up to be a busy day.”
Great work as usual, Aurora. Will we be seeing you today?”
Golf’s not really my cup of tea, Mr. G. I’ve got some work to do to help Rebecca and Caplan prepare for chambers on Monday, and there’s the issue of Zach being moved to Alpharetta for holding. He’ll be under house arrest until there’s a ruling.”
“I don’t even want to know what you had to do to get island law enforcement to agree to do that on a weekend, but just know I’m grateful for it. Remember, we meet at the house at 5 pm. I’ll see you then.”
“Yes, sir. See you then.”
***
Thorn Estate.
Hamilton, Bermuda
John Thorn sent shock waves through his company when he revealed his decisions regarding his retirement and the succession plan for the company, which he delivered via tele-conference between the house in Bermuda and the conference room at Thorn Industries.
All the top executives had made themselves available for the Saturday evening meeting to hear what the future held for them. For most, the only changes were in whom they reported to. For others, their worlds came crashing down… particularly in Zach’s case. He was still on his way to Alpharetta under police escort, so he would be the last to know that instead of the expected role of COO of Thorn Industries, he would be the new Managing Director of Thorn Subsidiaries and be required to remain stationed locally where his older brother could keep an eye on him. That meant that for once in his life, Zach would have to use his brain and his hands instead of his mouth to get work done. The expected announcements placed Will as CEO and Zach as CFO but then Mr. Thorn made another strange statement. He was legitimizing a company logistics department where all planning for acquisitions, expansions, projects, events and travel was to be handled. It would be headed up by Aurora Aldridge.
***
Alpharetta, Georgia
I need to see the footage from those surveillance cameras, Rebecca realized as she entered the building through the parking garage. Surely, they must have caught something. She immediately wondered why the footage had not been checked by the police for evidence or why no concern was raised about how the papers they found got there in the first place. Everyone just assumed that since they were found in Zach’s office, he must have put them there.
It seemed as if the entire security staff was awaiting her arrival from the parking garage. There were at least fifteen uniformed men stationed throughout the space, and two were waiting at the elevator door when it opened.
“Good morning, Miss Irvine.” One of the officers greeted her as they stepped off the elevator. “I am Maxwell James, the security manager here at Thorn Industries. I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting before.”
“Good morning, Mr. James,” Rebecca replied, smiling broadly as she extended her hand in greeting.
Mr. James shook it courteously and led the ladies to the main desk in the lobby. Rebecca continued, “We speak rather frequently on the phone, as it regards Mr. Thorn’s movements and such, but you’re quite right, I rarely leave the finance department.”
“I have arranged for you to have full access to the building. Miss Brown here will issue you with the requisite passes. I have also asked one of my officers to accompany you while you are visiting.”
“Oh, how very organized of you, Mr. James. I really do appreciate your help, but I think I’ll be able to find my way around. Thank you.”
Rebecca snapped up the pass card that Miss Brown held out to her and went quickly back toward the elevator bay. She hopped into the first elevator that opened and she pressed the button to close the door, immediately pressing the button for the third floor. As the elevator jolted to life, she took her cell phone from her pocket and quickly dialed Aurora’s number.
“I’m in. First, I’ll try to see if there’s any footage. Try and catch someone planting the papers. Then I’ll go search Zach’s office myself.”
The conversation was short; she had caught Aurora in the middle of something. As she hung the phone up, the elevator stopped.
On the third floor, she discovered the technological bowels of the Thorn empire. There was cubicle after cubicle of abandoned computer monitors, where Rebecca imagined that men and women sat babbling techno-speak into their headsets all week long. It would be busy down there too, but it was Saturday and very few people were at work. A teenager walked passed her, pushing a trolley laden with envelopes, packages and various types of office stationary.
“Hey,” Rebecca said.
“Yeah?”
“Where can I find Centralized M.I.S?”
“Right down this hall. Why don’t you follow me?”
“Sure thing; thanks a lot.”
She followed the boy and his trolley down the hallway to a block of offices with one main door leading into them. There was a security keypad on the door which looked like one of those multimedia access points that were becoming so popular for advanced corporate security. Rebecca looked down at the card that Miss Brown had given her. It was hanging from her neck by a red lanyard. She placed it in front of the keypad and the door made a buzzing sound, signifying that she had been granted access. She stepped in, leaving the trolley pusher outside behind her.
It didn’t seem that Mr. James had alerted his team that Rebecca would be coming to get their assistance with gathering evidence to defend Zach Thorn. Finally, one of the interns volunteered to assist Rebecca. The intern took her into the surveillance room and showed her the entire system for the building. There had to be at least twenty five monitors set up at each of the fifteen workstations. There was one workstation for each zone and each zone, which covered one floor of the building. At a glance, Rebecca could see that the entire place seemed to be under video surveillance and, based on the wide coverage, she started to wonder how they could have missed anything that had happened in the building that night.
“Where are the recordings from the last time that Zach was here?” she asked.
“They should be accessible from the main recording files on the security server. I can retrieve them from this unit.”
The girl started by typing her password into the secure system and then browsed to the video files. She opened the file bearing the date of Zach’s last visit and then brought up the footage from the office area. She pushed the button for the playback but there was nothing. As the static danced across the screen, both women stood rooted to the spot in shock and dismay.
“What happened? Where is the video?” Aurora asked frantically.
“I don’t know, Miss,” the intern squealed. “I think the file is corrupted.”
“Or deleted,” Rebecca added.
She left the third floor offices still in shock from the discovery of the deleted files. Rebecca wondered whether the police had found the same when they had checked the video, or if they had even checked it at all. In any case, there was no mention of either scenario in their reports. On the tenth floor, she pushed open the doors to Zach Thorn’s office. Since it was usually kept locked, the office looked exactly how he would have left it on the day he departed for Hong Kong. She had noticed that only one of the workstations in the surveillance room covered the executive offices. None, however, covered the pr
esident’s floor. In fact, it was the only floor that wasn’t watched. Probably to protect the identities of their high profile clientele, as well as to discourage any espionage on the many confidential meetings that no doubt took place there.
Rebecca took a look at Zach’s desk and computer, then around the rest of the room. As she searched through a pile of mail on a coffee table, a book on the impressive bookshelf caught her eye. As she looked closer, she realized why it had.
There were special edition hard cover versions of the company’s annual report on one of the shelves, but something was off. All of them were in chronological order, starting from the year he began working there. Rebecca looked closer at the out of place book. It was an annual report from Xaoping Exports. “What is that doing here?” Rebecca asked herself out loud.
She picked the book from its spot and held it in her hands, turning it over to see if there was anything else to notice about it. When she opened the book, there was a cut out in the pages and nestled inside the groove was a slim computer flash drive. Rebecca took her phone from her pocket and dialed Aurora’s number again.
“Aurora, I’m sending you a flash drive I just found in Zach’s office. It was in a copy of Xaoping’s annual report. I don’t know what to think about the whole thing now. You’ll have to decide based on what you find on it.”
Chapter Seven
Thorn Estate.
Hamilton, Bermuda
“That went very well, Aurora,” Will exclaimed, reaching to grasp her hand tightly again. “I’m impressed and rather intrigued. I still can’t believe the old man’s decision.”
Aurora shuddered at the open display of emotion Will was showing and especially how it evoked such disdain and chagrin from Robin, who stood in a corner, sipping a cocktail and licking his wounds.
Apparently, he hadn’t liked what his father had said. Perhaps he had hoped for a more challenging role and a chance to do something more than monitor expense accounts and sign checks. Aurora thought he was being petty; after all, CFO of a company like theirs was not a position to sniff at. He was an accountant; what more did he expect?
“I’m glad we’ll be working together on the Tsang Wei deal, Will. I hope you realize we haven’t got a lot of time to work Lu Wei.”
“I was thinking the same thing. It might be prudent for us to head to Georgia as soon as possible.”
“Me too.”
“When were you thinking of?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Why not tonight?”
“I have a package arriving from Alpharetta that I need to get to a buddy of mine here in Bermuda tonight. I’m hoping that by morning, he’ll have the information I need to help Caplan make this thing with Zach go away good.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you come by Carraway Club later? I should have more details by then. Perhaps we could talk some more about our strategy with the Chinese.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Okay then. Say around seven? We were supposed to be having dinner here tonight anyway, so I’ll just let them know it will just be Mr. G and Robin.”
“Sounds good. Thanks.”
Aurora nodded and headed for the door. Will wasn’t turning out to be as much of a prick as he had led her to believe. In fact, she was beginning to think that with him as CEO of Thorn Industries and she in her new position as head of the brand new logistics department, they could actually make a great team. At the very least, it didn’t hurt to stay in her new CEO’s good books for the moment.
The drive over to Carraway Club was uneventful, but Aurora knew that they would be in for a long night. When she stepped into the lobby, the concierge caught her attention and mentioned that there was something waiting for her at the front desk. She picked up the tiny box and went straight up to her room.
***
Carraway Club,
Hamilton, Bermuda
At exactly 7 pm., there was a knock on the door. Aurora sighed and went to answer it. It was Will. She let him in and gestured toward to the small sitting area indicating for him to take a seat.
“Would you like a drink, something to eat maybe? I was just about to order some room service.”
“Room service, huh?” he replied, mockingly.
Aurora laughed at his demeanor, as if he wasn’t the heir to a million dollar empire and probably had room service at home.
“I’m going to get some sushi. You in?”
“Sure. I’m starving.”
Aurora dialed room service and placed the order.
“Hi, how are you doing? Great. I’m going to need some sushi from Pearl? Yes. I’d like a tuna special, a maki and a spicy roll combo. Yes, thank you. Could I also have a bottle of the Massotina Rive di Ogliano? Okay wonderful. Thank you.”
“Impressive. Didn’t know they ate much sushi in Alpharetta.”
“You’d be surprised what we get up to in Alpharetta, Mr. Thorn.”
“You only ever call me Mr. Thorn when you think I’m being persnickety.”
“Aren’t you?” she asked. “By implying that we live in some one horse, country town. Just because you spend all your time on the South American Riviera these days?”
“Oh, Aurora, there’s no need for you to be so sensitive.”
Aurora smiled at his expression. He really did seem hurt by her response. She decided to lighten the mood a bit by taking their minds back to the work at hand.
“I want you to know that I only put on that horse and pony show about us having so much to plan for Lu Wei’s visit so that your brother would drop his guard and go back to living a normal life.”
She had Will’s full attention with that statement.
“I have Rebecca busy in Alpharetta trying to gather some more information, but otherwise, I think we’re on the right track with Zach’s case. Caplan will have all he needs to get it sorted out on Monday. In the meantime, it really is best we get back over there and spend tomorrow planning our shock value tour of Thorn for Lu Wei. If we lose him and Tsang Wei Electronics, we might as well have handed Zach over to the Hong Kong police.”
“That’s all I was hoping for. What made you decide to do that?”
“We found something in his office.”
Aurora went over to the desk and retrieved the flash drive. She showed it to Will.
“I tried to see what was on it, but all the files are encrypted and password protected. Just as Rebecca said.”
“You couldn’t get into any of them?”
“Not one and believe me when I tell you that I tried. I have a guy up in Tucker’s Beach who does this type of stuff. I contacted him and told him I’d bring the drive to him tonight.”
“Wow, this is getting interesting. Any chance I could tag along with you? We could have some coffee and maybe even dessert there while he looks at the files.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door and someone called out ‘room service.’ Aurora answered it and let the porter in. He laid out the meal on the dining table and set the bucket with the sparkling wine on the side table. At the door, Will tipped the man and shut the door behind him. Aurora picked the conversation back up seamlessly.
“Despite all the underlying connotations of that offer, I am inclined to accept. If we move on to Tucker’s Beach now, it’s possible we could get the information from Milo and get back with plenty of time for me to check out and we could head straight to the airport to get back to Alpharetta. Then we could spend tomorrow briefing Rebecca and getting ready for Lu Wei.”
“This is getting rather exciting,” he quipped.
The meal was delicious but light and hardly filling. They decided against opening the bottle of wine and drank Pellegrino instead. It didn’t take Aurora long to put all her things together in preparation to leave and she placed the cold bottle of Prosecco into a traveling cooler bag she always had in her suitcase.
“I’m going to grab a shower and change for the drive. You should go back to the estate and get a f
ew things together yourself, right?”
“What things, Aurora? I’m going home, remember? I have everything I need in Atlanta.” He smiled as if she had been caught making a weak attempt to get him out of her hotel room.
“Sure, you would have everything there. And of course you had a driver bring you over here.”
He nodded with a broad smile on his face, but she just rolled her eyes and locked the bedroom door behind her. When Aurora came out of the shower, she could hear Will on the phone in the living room. He seemed to be talking heatedly to someone before hanging up suddenly. She tiptoed to the door to listen. He was placing another call.
“Hey Robin, has Dad gone to bed yet? Okay, great. When he gets up in the morning could you just let him know that I’ve already left for Georgia? Yeah, Aurora too. We really need to get this stuff with Zach squared away and then move on to the Lu Wei thing. It’s been so tense these last few days. I just want everything to be perfect when I meet with him Okay, bro. Oh, and could you have Liz sort out my luggage? Yeah, just bring it back with you on Monday. Thanks. See you soon.”
There was a long pause as he seemed to be listening for the sound of the shower.
“Aurora, are you almost ready to go?”
“I’m getting dressed, Will. Why don’t you go on ahead?”
“Okay, lets meet at Tucker’s Point Club; it’s the perfect place to hang out if we end up having a long wait for your hacker. We can hang out at my apartment at the club until we decide our next definitive move.”
“That sounds great, Will. See you in about a half hour then.”
“Really, Aurora? I doubt it’s gonna take you that long in that dragster you’ve been driving. Bye.”
She listened for the sound of the door closing before opening the bedroom door to have a look around. The flash drive was still in her laptop on the table and her handbag hadn’t moved. She just couldn’t help feeling suspicious. That initial telephone call he had made didn’t sound like it went very well on either end. Who had he decided to call before he even called his brother to let him know he was leaving the island? She decided that staying one step ahead of him could prove useful and packed in readiness to check out of the room.
