Chapter 6 - The Blackmail Drive
I waited until nightfall to return to the storage facility.
Using the code from Ryan's shoe, the security gate rolled open.
I found unit 402, my heart pounding in my ears.
I slid the silver key into the padlock. It clicked open smoothly.
I lifted the heavy metal door.
The unit was mostly empty, save for a single folding table in the center.
On top of the table sat a fireproof lockbox.
It was unlocked. Ryan had likely been in a rush the last time he was here.
I popped the latch and lifted the lid.
Inside were three thick ledger books and a black external hard drive.
I opened the first ledger. It was a detailed record of the stolen company funds. But it wasn't just Ryan and Vanessa's names.
There were offshore account numbers, shell companies, and payout schedules.
They hadn't just embezzled money. They had systematically laundered it.
I plugged the hard drive into the laptop I had brought from home.
Files populated the screen. Emails between Ryan and Vanessa, detailing the plan.
But one audio file stood out. It was dated the night of the fire.
I hit play.
"You can't burn it all, Vanessa!" Ryan's voice echoed from the speakers, sounding panicked.
"We have to! The auditors are coming tomorrow!" Vanessa yelled back.
"I hid the main ledgers! We can use them as leverage if we get caught!"
There was a sound of a scuffle, a loud thud, and a groan.
"You idiot," Vanessa's recorded voice sneered. "I'm not leaving loose ends."
Then, the sound of liquid splashing. Gasoline.
The recording ended.
Ryan had recorded their argument on his phone to protect himself from her.
Vanessa had knocked him out, started the fire, and left.
Ryan only survived because I went back for him.
And now, instead of turning her in, he was using the drive to blackmail her into taking him to Denver with her.
May you like
I transferred the files to my secure cloud account.
Then, I heard a car pull up outside the unit.
