"Would you testify to that?" Silas asked.
Derek hesitated for a long moment. "If it means I don't go down for something I didn't plan," he said. "Yes."
With Derek's cooperation, the digital trail became undeniable. Every falsified request now had a name. A timestamp. A motive.
Midway through that third week, Paige almost caught them. She stopped by Silas's office building on an unrelated errand, coincidentally. Silas spotted her car in the parking lot just in time. He shoved the case file into a locked drawer and met her in the hallway instead. "Everett mentioned hiring some outside consultant," she said, fishing. "Just routine vendor work," Silas told her, keeping his voice flat. She didn't push further, but she lingered a beat too long before leaving. That night, Silas moved every remaining document to an off-site storage unit. He wasn't willing to risk it happening twice.
Everett met with his company's board the following week. He laid out the evidence in full. Piece by piece, without a single note card.
