So did Serafina.
“Owen.”
Mercer stopped.
“Ms. Vale.”
He looked at Kellen again.
“Who is this?”
Serafina answered:
“You tell me.”
Mercer’s expression did not change.
“Excuse me?”
“You looked like you recognized him.”
A pause.
“I don’t.”
Kellen smiled without humor.
“Good memory.”
Mercer studied him.
Then:
“Royce.”
Serafina’s face went cold.
“You just said you didn’t know him.”
“I remember the name.”
“From?”
“Old personnel issue.”
Kellen laughed.
“Personnel issue.”
Mercer looked at him.
“You were terminated for falsifying validation data.”
“There it is.”
Serafina stared.
“Owen.”
“He was.”
“According to whose investigation?”
“Corporate compliance.”
“Who ran it?”
Mercer hesitated.
Serafina’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
“I coordinated security support.”
Kellen closed his toolbox.
Serafina looked toward him.
“Kellen.”
“Yeah?”
“Come with us.”
He laughed.
“No.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“We’re talking.”
“Tomorrow.”
“I work tomorrow.”
“Take the day.”
“My boss likes employees to ask before billionaires reschedule them.”
That almost earned a smile.
Serafina glanced toward his truck.
Amara had pressed her face near the glass now, watching.
“You have a daughter waiting.”
“Yes.”
“Then get her home.”
She held up the bag with the severed wire.
“But keep every document you have from Vale.”
Kellen’s expression changed.
“I don’t have much.”
“Whatever survived.”
“Why?”
“Because tomorrow morning I’m opening an investigation that nobody inside Vale gets to control.”
Mercer said:
“Serafina.”
She turned.
“Not now.”
“This is not the place.”
“Apparently neither was my boardroom.”
Mercer’s jaw tightened.
She looked back at Kellen.
“Ten tomorrow.”
He said nothing.
“I’ll send the address.”
“You don’t have my number.”
Serafina held up her phone.
“My car does.”
Kellen stared.
She smiled faintly.
“Ownership has occasional advantages.”
Then:
“And Kellen?”
“What?”
“Thank you.”
“For the repair?”
“For stopping.”
Kellen looked toward his daughter.
“Amara wouldn’t have let me keep driving.”
Serafina looked at the little girl through the rain.
“Then thank her for me.”
She climbed into the security SUV.
Mercer remained outside another second.
He looked toward Kellen.
Quietly:
“You should leave this alone.”
Kellen stared.
“That advice worked really well last time.”
Mercer’s eyes hardened.
Then he got into the SUV.
The vehicle pulled away.
Kellen stood in the rain long after it disappeared.