Tashi went still, then shook her head. “No. That’s impossible. She mentioned no one named Henri. And besides, she died when I was sixteen. If she knew him, it was a lifetime ago.”
But her voice wavered on the last words, uncertainty bleeding through.
I saved the footage of Henri’s reaction and filed it separately from the main security feeds. Something to analyze later when we weren’t in crisis mode.
“We have bigger problems right now,” Leo said, gesturing at the frozen elevator image still on the screen. “Someone deep-faked this footage well enough to fool a Gaming Commission investigation. That’s not amateur work. That’s professional-grade manipulation with serious resources behind it.”
“And they timed it perfectly,” Orion added. “Right when Tashi’s most visible, right when we’re most vulnerable, right when a single scandal could trigger a cascade of investor panic.”
“This is coordinated,” I said, the pattern becoming clearer. “Marcus’s complaint. The fabricated evidence. Wilder showing up immediately with a hearing scheduled. Henri pushing for immediate termination. It’s too synchronized to be coincidence.”
“So, what are you saying?” Tashi asked. “That Henri’s part of it?”
“I’m saying someone with inside knowledge orchestrated this attack,” I said. “Someone who knew exactly when and how to strike for maximum damage.”
The room fell silent again as the implications rolled over us.
“We need to find out who’s behind this,” Orion said. “And we need to do it before the hearing next week.”
“I’ll dig into the metadata on that flash drive,” I said. “See if I can trace where the deepfake was created. Neville can help.”
“I’ll reach out to our remaining investors,” Orion added. “Make sure they don’t panic before we have a chance to explain.”
“And I’ll handle the PR,” Leo said. “Get ahead of whatever story’s about to break.”
They all looked at me, then at Tashi, who sat hunched in her chair like she was trying to disappear.
“What about me?” she asked quietly. “What do I do?”
“You stay close,” I said. “You don’t talk to anyone without one of us present. You don’t leave the executive floor. And you sure as hell don’t resign or do anything that makes you look guilty.”
“But Henri said?—”
“Henri doesn’t get a vote,” Orion cut her off. “We decided this last night. All four of us. And we don’t abandon people we care about just because someone threatens us.”
“Even if it costs you the hotel?”
“Even then,” all three of us said simultaneously.
Tashi’s eyes welled up, but she blinked the tears back. “You’re all insane.”
“Probably,” Leo agreed. “But we’re your kind of insane now. So, you’re stuck with us.”
A small smile flickered across her face, there and gone. “Lucky me.”
“Damn right,” I said.
My phone buzzed.
Neville:Pulled something off Wilder’s flash drive. You need to see this.
I showed the text to my brothers.
“Go,” Orion said. “Find out what he knows. We’ll keep Tashi with us.”
I hesitated, not wanting to leave her when she looked fragile.
“I’ll be back soon,” I told her. “Don’t go anywhere.”
