The car ride from the gala back to Voss Tower was nothing like the one that had taken them there. The air was thick with a different kind of tension. Xander was on his phone the entire time, his voice low and sharp as he barked orders at his PR team and his head of legal. When they pulled up to the curb, the lobby was already swarming with security.
They took the elevator up to the executive floor, and as soon as the doors opened, chaos hit them. It was after midnight, but the office was brighter than midday. People were running between desks with stacks of papers, and the phones were ringing off the hooks.
"In my office. Now," Xander said, not looking back to see if Evelyn was following.
Inside, the CFO, a nervous man named Marcus, was already waiting. He was sweating despite the air conditioning.
"Xander, it's bad," Marcus said, pacing in front of the desk. "The audit wasn't just leaked. It was annotated. Someone added notes explaining the offshore accounts. Notes that only someone with Level 5 access would have."
"I know that, Marcus," Xander snapped, tossing his tuxedo jacket onto a chair. "I want to know who had the keys. Sit down, Evelyn. Take notes on everything."
Evelyn sat in her usual chair in the corner, her notebook open, but her mind was elsewhere. She watched as Xander and Marcus went back and forth for nearly an hour. They talked about server logs, encryption keys, and a list of employees who had been fired in the last six months. It was a lot of corporate jargon, irrelevant to her case, but she wrote it all down to keep up the appearance.
"It has to be Julianne," Marcus said, wiping his forehead. "She's been gunning for your seat since the day you took it."
"Julianne is ambitious, but she isn't a hacker," Xander replied.
Just then, Julianne Vane herself walked into the office, looking like she hadn't slept either. "I heard the news. We need to talk, Xander. Alone."
Xander looked at Marcus, then at Evelyn. "Marcus, go to the server room. See if IT has found the point of entry. Evelyn, stay here."
"No," Julianne said, her eyes flashing. "This is board business. Your assistant can wait in the hall."
Xander sighed and signaled for Evelyn to leave. This was her chance. She walked out of the office and waited until the glass door clicked shut. Instead of sitting at her desk, she walked toward the breakroom. Victor was standing by the main elevators, his back to her.
She didn't go into the breakroom. She kept walking past it, toward the service elevator used by the cleaning staff. She pressed the button, her heart hammering. The doors opened, and she slipped inside.
She almost ran into a security guard on the ground floor.
"Hey! You aren't supposed to be down here," the guard said, putting a hand on his belt.
Evelyn put on her best frustrated-assistant face. "Mr. Voss forgot his heart medication in the car, and Victor is upstairs with the board. If I don't get it to him in five minutes, he's going to fire me. Do you want to be the one to tell him why he didn't get it?"
The guard hesitated, then stepped aside. "Go on, then. But be quick."
Evelyn burst out into the cold, rainy London night. The transition from the warm, polished tower to the wet, dark streets was jarring. She hailed a taxi and gave the address of St. Jude's Pharmacy.
The pharmacy was in a part of town that hadn't seen a coat of paint in twenty years. The sign flickered, buzzing with a dying neon light. Inside, the air smelled like damp cardboard and old medicine. An older man with thick glasses sat behind a glass partition.
"Can I help you?" he asked, not looking up from his newspaper.
Evelyn pulled out the picture of Mia. "I'm looking for information about this woman. She was here six months ago."
The man looked at the photo, then at Evelyn. He stayed quiet for a long time. "We get a lot of people in here, girl. I don't keep a guest book."
"She had a receipt from here. It was important," Evelyn said, leaning in. "Please. She's missing."
The man sighed and pushed his glasses up. "I remember her. Not because of her, but because of what she was buying. She wasn't picking up for herself. She was picking up a heavy-duty sedative. The kind used for long-term care."
"For who?"
"The name on the prescription was Austin," the man said. "I remember because he used to come in here himself years ago. Then she started coming instead. Said he couldn't get out of bed anymore."
Evelyn felt like the floor had dropped out from under her. Austin. Austin Voss was supposed to be dead. Ryan had told her his brother died years ago.
"Thank you," she whispered, turning to leave.
The rain was coming down harder now. She stepped out onto the sidewalk, looking for a cab, but the street was empty. She started walking, her heels splashing in the puddles. She felt a presence behind her, a shadow moving in the dark.
She ducked into an alleyway, reaching for the small knife she kept in her bag.
"Don't," a voice said.
Victor stepped out of the shadows. He was soaking wet, his suit ruined by the rain.
"You followed me," Evelyn said, her heart racing.
"I'm the head of security, Evelyn. It's what I do," Victor said. He didn't look angry. He looked tired. "You shouldn't be here."
"Austin is alive, isn't he? Mia was helping him."
Victor looked down the street, then back at her. "Austin was the one who crashed the car. Everyone thinks Xander was the one driving, but it was Austin. He didn't die. He's been in a private facility for three years. He can't move, he can't talk. Xander pays for everything. He keeps it a secret because if the board knew Austin was alive and that Xander lied to the police about the crash, he'd lose the company and go to jail."
Evelyn stared at him. "And Mia?"
"Mia found out. She wanted to help him. She thought she could find a way to wake him up," Victor said. "Come on. I'll take you back before he realizes you're gone."
The drive back was silent. When they walked back into the tower, the chaos had died down. Most of the board had left. They went up to the top floor and walked into Xander's office.
He was sitting behind his desk in the dark, the only light coming from the city skyline behind him. He looked up as they entered.
"Where was she?" Xander asked Victor.
"Getting air, sir," Victor lied.
Evelyn didn't wait. She walked straight to the desk and leaned over it. "Austin."
Xander's face went pale. The cold, controlled billionaire disappeared, replaced by a man who looked absolutely terrified.
"What did you say?" he whispered.
"I know he's alive, Xander. I know about the pharmacy. I know Mia was taking care of him."
Xander looked at Victor, who gave a small, defeated nod. Xander sank back into his chair, his hands shaking as he ran them through his hair.
"You weren't supposed to find out," he said. "Nobody was."