Norah exhaled, steadying herself. “I’ve been doing due diligence for an acquisition. And I found something strange in their ledgers.”
She explained the basics—not the technical details, not yet.
“Oh, well. That happens. That’s what we’re here for. Can I ask who it is?”
“NorthBridge Energy.” She went on to explain enough to sketch the outline. Numbers that didn’t align, patterns that bent probability, the kind of distortion you couldn’t wave away with sloppy bookkeeping.
Melissa listened in silence, her expression frozen on the screen. The quiet stretched long enough that Norah wondered ifthe connection had frozen. She shifted, ready to check the Wi-Fi, when Melissa finally exhaled and leaned closer.
“Norah,” she said, her face an eerie blue in the glow of her own laptop. “Listen to me carefully. Don’t pursue this.”
Norah blinked. “What?”
“I mean it.” Melissa’s mouth tightened. “Drop it. Shred your notes, forget you saw it, and move on with the acquisition.”
Norah sat up straighter, the camera catching the sharp tilt of her chin. “That’s not—Melissa, that’s not how this works. If NorthBridge is hiding fraud, it’s material. The deal could collapse. People could get hurt.”
Melissa’s image flickered slightly as she shook her head. “You think I don’t know that?” Her voice was sharper now, though her eyes softened as if she wished she didn’t have to say it. “I know how the system is supposed to work. But I also know how it actually works. And if you’ve stumbled onto what I think you have...the best thing you can do is back away.”
Norah leaned forward until her reflection overlapped Melissa’s on the black edge of her laptop screen. “You’re not even going to look? I’m not asking for a whistleblower hotline. I just want someone with authority to confirm what I found.”
Melissa sighed, resting her cheek briefly against her fist. The gesture made her look tired, older. “Norah, you’re smart. Smarter than me. Smarter than most of the people in these marble offices.” She glanced off-screen, then back. “But you’re also still clinging to this idea that the rules are there to protect you. They’re not. They protect themselves.”
Norah’s hands curled on the edge of her coffee table, the polished wood reflecting her tense posture. “So you’re telling me to ignore it.”
Melissa’s eyes met hers through the grainy connection. “I’m telling you to stay far away.”
The word hit like a stone dropped into her stomach.
Melissa’s tone softened again, her shoulders slumping. “Look, I shouldn’t even be talking about this. But there are cases—files—whole investigations—that never see daylight because someone higher up says they won’t. NorthBridge is one of those. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
A chill prickled across Norah’s skin. “You’re saying it’s bigger than me.”
Melissa’s jaw tightened. “Yes. And I’m saying it’s not just messy. It’s dangerous.”
Norah couldn’t answer.
On screen, Melissa hurried to fill the silence. “Please. Just...do your job. Close the books. Let it go.”
“I’ll think about it,” Norah lied.
Melissa gave a humorless laugh, shaking her head. “That means you won’t. You never could walk away once you had the scent of something.”
Norah’s throat ached with words she couldn’t force out.
“Listen,” Melissa added more gently, her background shifting as a child’s voice squeaked somewhere out of frame. “I should go. Lily’s bedtime story awaits.Goodnight Moon, for the hundredth time.”
Norah managed a small, brittle smile. “Thanks for picking up. Really.”
Melissa’s gaze softened. “Of course. And Norah?”
“Yeah?”
Melissa leaned closer, her face filling the frame. “Be careful.”
The screen went dark.
Norah sat motionless for a long minute, phone heavy in her hand. The hum of the fridge in the kitchen was suddenly too loud.
