The black SUV arrived twelve minutes later.
Investigators pulled traffic cameras.
The security officer who approached the CEO entered the SUV at corporate headquarters at 1:37.
He was accompanied by a contractor not listed on the CEO’s protective detail.
That contractor had worked for a private investigations firm.
The firm had received six payments over nine months from a consulting company.
The consulting company’s registered manager was a lawyer.
That lawyer represented the investment consortium trying to buy the division.
The CEO read the chain at 1:14 in the morning from her outside attorney’s conference room.
“Who owns the consulting company?”
“Still tracing.”
“Chairman?”
“No evidence.”
“CFO?”
“Nothing direct.”
“Then who?”
“We don’t know.”
She rubbed her eyes.
The father sat across the room because agents had not released him from interviews until after midnight.
His daughter slept curled on a sofa beneath his jacket.
The CEO looked at her.
“You should take her home.”
“I’m waiting for my lawyer.”
“I can arrange a driver.”
He looked at her.
“From whose security team?”
She stopped.
Fair.
“I’ll call a rideshare.”
“I have truck.”
“Police still have it?”
“Parking lot.”
He looked exhausted.
The CEO did too.
She said:
“I owe you more than a tow fee.”
“No.”
“You lost an entire day.”
“No.”
“You found a sabotage device.”
“Pay the invoice.”
“I am serious.”
“So am I.”
She studied him.
“Why?”
“Because money complicates witness relationships.”
She almost smiled.
“You sound like counsel.”
“My wife was a paralegal.”
“That explains some things.”
“Many.”
He looked toward his daughter.
The CEO asked:
“What was she like?”
The father’s expression softened.
“Better at people than me.”
“That is a low bar.”
He laughed quietly.
“She would like you.”
The CEO looked surprised.
“Why?”
“You ask uncomfortable questions.”
“She loved uncomfortable questions.”
“Also shoes.”
The CEO glanced down at her white heels.
Dusty now.
Scratched.
“Then maybe.”
The father stood.
“I’m taking my daughter home.”
“Call if investigators need anything?”
“They have my number.”
He hesitated.
Then:
“You should not sleep alone tonight.”
The CEO’s eyebrows rose.
“That came out—”
“I mean security.”
He rubbed his face.