The first real one I’d ever given her.
Not to control her. But to protect the fragile edges of her sanity from shattering under one more blow.
I demanded she stay home today. Recoup. She wasn’t ready for the world outside that bedroom.
And to my surprise, she’d agreed. Teary-eyed and swollen-faced with a tiny nod of her head.
The image followed me as I slid behind the steering wheel. The engine rumbled to life just as I hit the call button.
“Damien,” Phil answered—no warmth, no ceremony.
“What did you find?”
“I mapped the relay chain,” he said. “Tracked the packet back through every endpoint.”
My fingers pressed harder against the wheel. “And?”
A shuffle of paper.
“It originated from the home network of Gregory Davidson. One of Elion’s investors.”
Of course.
“I expected as much,” I muttered. “Next?”
Another pause.
“There are a couple of routes,” he explained. “Depends how clean you want the ending.”
“Whatever protects Emma and keeps Elion intact.”
Phil inhaled, pages shifting. “All right. Here’s what I can do.”
I stayed silent, my thumb gliding across the leather of the wheel, eyes fixed on the slow pulse of morning traffic.
“First option,” Phil said. “We frame Davidson.”
“We don’t touch the numbers,” he added quickly. “No one rewrites her work. We just alter the story of who sent it.”
“How airtight?”
“Bulletproof. System logs showing he accessed the files earlier than anyone else. IP trails routed to his home network. And the narrative? Davidson intercepted an early audit draft from Elion, manipulated the packet, then forwarded the altered version to the investors. And the kicker—he becomes the leak. The origin point. And only Emma would know the numbers were real.”
“And the second option?”
“That’s the neutralization.” Phil’s tone didn’t shift. “Davidson’s already getting sloppy. He’s got conflicts of interest stacked to the ceiling. I can surface one—just enough to show a lapse of integrity unrelated to Elion.”
I could see it clearly: Davidson imploding. Falkirk redirecting blame. Emma cleared before anyone could lay a hand on her reputation.
“With both options together?” Phil added lightly. “He’s done. Blacklisted everywhere.”
Exactly what the fucker deserved.
“How long?”
“Two weeks.”
My tone lowered—calm and lethal. “Do it.”
