"Too fast," Luc mutters. He's already texting, his thumbs flying over the screen. "I'm telling him to proceed with extreme caution. This feels wrong."
"Wrong how?" Margot asks.
"Wrong like someone wanted us to find it." He pockets his phone. "Professional-grade surveillance equipment, sophisticated relay system, but we trace the signal in under an hour? Either they're sloppy or they want us chasing this location."
"You think it's a trap?" My voice comes out smaller than I intend.
"I think it's too convenient." He pulls up security footage from Dominion's hallway cameras. "Show me everyone who accessed that corridor between four and seven."
Margot works the controls. The footage plays at high speed—club members, staff, the occasional monitor walking past. Nothing unusual. Then at 6:47, a maintenance worker appears, carrying a toolbox.
"Stop." Luc leans closer. "Who's that?"
"Maintenance contractor. We use them for HVAC and electrical work." Margot zooms in on the man's face. "I don't recognize him specifically, but?—"
"Pull the work orders for today. I want to know if we had scheduled maintenance in that corridor."
Margot types rapidly. Her face pales. "No scheduled maintenance. And that's not one of our regular contractors. Wrong uniform, wrong company logo."
There it is. The inside access. Someone posing as maintenance, walking right past security because staff expects to see contractors in the building.
"Get me his face," Luc snaps. "Run it through facial recognition. And pull footage from the exterior cameras. I want to know how he got in and how he left."
Margot's already moving. The tech team swarms the workstation, pulling up additional feeds, running the facial analysis.
Luc's phone rings. "Andy. What've you got?"
I can't hear the other side of the conversation, but I watch Luc's expression shift from intensity to something colder.
"Describe it." A long pause. "No, don't touch anything until forensics gets there. I want chain of custody locked down." Another pause. "Yeah, I know it looks good. That's what bothers me." He ends the call.
"What did he find?" I ask.
"Professional surveillance setup. Multiple monitors, recording equipment, satellite uplink. High-end gear, probably six figures' worth of equipment." His jaw tightens. "But the site's clean. Too clean. No personal effects, no food wrappers, no coffee cups. No one's been actively monitoring from that location."
"Remote operation?" Margot suggests.
"Or a decoy site." Luc pulls up the warehouse photos Andy just sent. Banks of monitors, cables, everything you'd need for a sophisticated surveillance operation. "This is what we're supposed to find. The question is what we're not supposed to be looking at while we're focused on this."
My stomach turns. "You think this is misdirection."
"I think your uncle has the resources to fund a professional operation. I think Julien has the obsession to want this surveillance footage. And I think whoever's running this is smart enough to give us something to chase while they execute the real plan." He turns to me. "What would Armand do with footage of you submitting to me at Dominion?"
The answer makes my throat tight. "Leak it to the board. Frame it as a liability. Use it to force me out."
"When?"
"When I'm most vulnerable. When I can't defend myself." I think about the timing. "The Gulf acquisition closes next week.If he waited until right before the final vote, used the footage to destabilize my position with the board..."
"He'd have leverage to demand your resignation in exchange for keeping it quiet," Luc finishes. "And Julien gets what he wants—you discredited, vulnerable, separated from your power base."
Understanding crashes down. This isn't just stalking. This is a coordinated attack on multiple fronts. Personal and professional. Timed for maximum impact.
"So what do we do?" My voice is steadier than I feel.
"We stop reacting and start controlling the narrative." Luc's already pulling up his phone. "Remy needs to know about the timing. We need to move faster than they expect."
"How?"
