"Is that okay? Me being essential?"
"It's more than okay. It's what partnership looks like. You contributing your skills. Being valued for what you bring to the table." He kissed me softly. "I'm proud of you."
The words hit harder than they should have. My father had never been proud. Had only ever seen me as useful or disappointing. Never valuable for my own sake.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"Come on. We've got mole hunting to do."
We spent the next four hours in Elio's security office reviewing financial records.
Jake Byrne's records specifically.
The senior accountant had been with Inferno for five years. Worked closely with Stefan on the books. Had access to financial systems and records. Would know exactly what information the FBI would find interesting.
And his records showed irregularities.
"There," I said, pointing to a series of transactions on screen. "Small transfers out of operating accounts. Five hundred to a thousand dollars each. Dozens of them over the past year."
"Could be legitimate expenses," Elio said. But he was leaning in, interested.
"Except they're not coded to any expense category. They're showing up as miscellaneous transfers. No documentation. No receipts. Just money moving out of accounts Jake has access to into external accounts."
"Whose accounts?"
I traced the receiving accounts through three layers of corporate structure. "Shell companies. Same pattern as the money going to the three moles. Different companies but same structure. Someone's using the same laundering method."
Elio pulled up another screen. "What about Bennett and Greene? Are we seeing similar patterns with them?"
We spent an hour checking. David Bennett's IT records showed normal operations. No unexplained access logs. No suspicious activity. Patricia Greene's operations records were clean too. Everything documented. Everything accounted for.
But Jake's records showed a pattern.
"He's good," I said. "The amounts are small enough not to trigger automatic fraud detection. The timing is irregular enough not to establish an obvious pattern. If I wasn't specifically looking for this, I'd miss it completely."
"But you were looking. And you found it." Elio made notes. "What else?"
I pulled up access logs. "Jake's been accessing files he shouldn't need for his job. Security protocols. Meeting schedules. Employee records. Always late at night when fewer people are monitoring. Always from his personal terminal so it's logged to him but easy to claim he was just working late."
"That's not normal accounting work."
"No. It's intelligence gathering." I felt cold certainty settle in my chest. "It's him. Jake Byrne is the mole."
"We need more before we act. Circumstantial evidence isn't enough. We need proof he's been feeding information to the FBI. Proof he coordinated with the moles. Proof that stands up to scrutiny."
"So we keep watching?"
"We keep watching. We document everything. We wait for him to make contact with his handlers. And then we move." Elio's expression was grim. "But yes. I think you're right. It's Jake."
We worked until early afternoon. Building the case. Documenting evidence. Creating a timeline that showed Jake'saccess patterns correlating with information the FBI had acted on.
The picture was damning. Not conclusive yet. But getting there.
"We should present this to Sandro," I said finally. "Let all the partners see what we've found."
"Agreed. I'll set up a meeting for tomorrow. Give us tonight to refine the presentation. Make sure it's airtight."
We were organizing files when Matteo knocked on the door.
