When Daniel returned to his desk that night, Lily had already called twice. He sent her an apology and asked Megan to tell her he would be home as soon as he could. The response came a minute later: a photograph of Lily asleep on the couch with a book open on her chest. Beneath the photograph, Megan wrote, You need to remember what you're doing all this for.
He knew she was right. He closed the files, left a message for Meera about the next day's audit review, and drove home. Lily was still asleep when he arrived. He carried her gently to her room, found the folded drawing inside her book, and noticed she had added a sentence to the back: Don't forget what you promised me.
Daniel sat on the edge of her bed for a moment. He had not promised to make a great deal of money or rise to the top of an organization. His promise had been simpler: be there when she needed him, tell her the truth, and never make her feel that she had to earn his attention. He folded the drawing carefully and put it in his wallet.
The phone rang before he reached the kitchen. Victoria's name appeared on the screen. He considered allowing it to go to voicemail, then answered because her late calls had never been frivolous.
"Richard knows about the contracts," she said without greeting.
"He has known we're reviewing them for days."
"No. He knows what we found. Someone accessed my father's old office tonight and removed boxes from the archive cabinet. Security traced the badge to a vendor approved through his division."
Daniel stood by the sink, looking at the small stack of clean plates he had washed the night before. "Are you safe?"
"I'm still at headquarters."
"Has anyone threatened you?"
"Not directly."
"Then stay with security. Don't confront him alone."
There was a pause. "You sound like you're giving me an order."
"I'm making a recommendation. I happen to think it's a good one."
She gave a brief, tired breath that might have been a laugh. "I found something in the room. It's in a box my father used to keep locked in his desk. I'm coming downstairs."
Daniel checked that Megan could stay with Lily and returned to headquarters. By the time he arrived, security had restricted access to the executive floor. Victoria stood beside the lobby elevator holding a small cedar box. She had left the office after realizing someone might still have access through an internal maintenance corridor, and she looked angrier than he had ever seen her.
"What happened?" Daniel asked.
"Someone tried to clear the last of his records. They missed this because it was behind a filing cabinet."