The Billionaire's Silence

chapter 1

You have five minutes Elena

Mr Davis' managing editor tossed a thick stack of red-inked proofs onto his messy desk I stood on the other side of the glass wall

I only need three Mr DavisI said stepping fully into his office

You had three weeks he muttered rubbing his tired eyes Look around this newsroom The printers are humming the ink is drying and your column is just a blank square of white space I can’t pay rent on white space

The anonymous tip is real I know it is

An envelope with no return address and a photocopy of a ten-year-old safety report is not a story Elena It’s trash It’s ghost-chasing

It’s not just a report I said leaning over his desk and pointing at the papers It’s the blueprint of the Blackwood Dynamics construction site where Marcus Blackwood died The city ruled it an accidental collapse but this report shows the steel brackets were flagged as defective two weeks before the cave-in Someone signed off on them anyway

Who?

The signature is redacted But the file code matches Damien Blackwood’s private digital archive The one kept in his penthouse office

Mr Davis leaned back in his chair sighing heavily Elena listened to me Read my lips We are a struggling local newspaper We do not poke the sleeping dragon of a multi-billion-dollar tech conglomerate because a nameless voice whispered in your ear

My father worked for a dragon just like him Mr Davis He gave them thirty years and when the factory floor caught fire because they skipped a maintenance check they blamed the night shift They fired him without a pension He died broken because men like Damien Blackwood think human beings are just line items on a spreadsheet

Your father isn’t on the payroll here You are For now

I froze staring at him. Are you threatening to fire me?

I’m telling you the financial reality he said softly looking away The landlord called me twice this morning If we don’t put out a paper that people actually buy tomorrow the front doors get padlocked on Friday I need local crime,I need may moral scandalsI need things that happen on the street I don’t need you drowning in a decade-old corporate conspiracy

If I break this it goes national Syndication fees alone would keep this paper running for five years

If you fail Blackwood’s lawyers will sue us into the stone age before the first edition hits the news stand he countered slamming his hand lightly on the desk I’m killing the draft Elena

Please

No Write the piece on the city council zoning dispute It’s due by midnight

The zoning dispute is fluff

Fluff keeps the lights on Do the job I pay you for or leave the desk for someone who will

Fine I grabbed my purse and turned toward the door

Elena Don’t look at me like that

Like what?

Like you’re planning something that’s going to make me call a bail bondsman

I’m going to go work on the zoning story Mr Davis Have a good evening

I walked out of the editor's office and slumped into my own desk chair Sarah the paper's entertainment reporter and my closest friend at work wheeled her rolling chair over to my cubicle instantly

Hey Elena Wait upSarah whispered looking over her shoulder at Mr Davis's glass walls

Not now Sarah I’m on a deadline I muttered staring blankly at my laptop screen

I saw you coming out of Davis's office Sarah said, leaning in closer so the other reporters wouldn't hear us. He looked ready to chew his own tie. Did he kill the Blackwood piece?

He buried it

I’m sorry I know how much you wanted this one

I don’t just want Sarah. I need it. I whispered, pulling up my banking app. Did my paycheck clear today?

Mine did Barely

Mine didn’t I checked ten minutes ago It’s pending It’s been pending since Tuesday

Oh God Elena How much is left in your account?

Twelve dollars and forty-two cents

Sarah gasped Elena

And my landlord left a neon pink notice taped to my apartment door this morningI interrupted my voice shaking with frustration I have forty-eight hours to pay the back rent or my boxes hit the sidewalk

Take some money from me I can give you a hundred

A hundred doesn’t fix four thousand Sarah But thank you

What are you going to do?

I reached into my purse and pulled out a heavy black lanyard I’m going to write a story that can’t be ignored

Sarah stared at the badge in my hand, her eyes wide with panic. You're still going after him aren’t you? Elena stopped. Look at me. What is that black lanyard? The one with the custodial badge attached to it?

Tommy from the building's night shift lent it to you didn't he?Sarah accused grabbing my wrist

Tommy owes me a favor I kept his cousin's name out of the police blotter last month

This is breaking and entering This is prison time

It’s only breaking and entering if I get caught

And if Damien Blackwood is up there in his office?

He’s at the Waldorf tonight I said pulling up a public press release on my phone It’s the annual charity gala for the children's hospital His company is the primary sponsor He won't be back at his office until tomorrow morning

You’re gambling your entire life on a schedule you found on a public PR website

It’s the only hand I have left to play Sarah If I sit at my desk and write about parking metersI lose my apartment on Saturday and my job on Monday If I go up there and find the proof that he falsified the safety records I change everything

Elena please Just think about this for one second

I’ve thought about it every day since my dad passed away pulling my arm away and standing up Every single day I’m going

An hour later the cold New York rain was hitting my face as I walked through the sleek glass revolving doors of the Blackwood Dynamics headquarters I adjusted the heavy cleaning cart I was pushing and approached the security desk

ID badge please the guard said not looking up from his computer monitor

I pressed the stolen black lanyard against the electronic scanner Here you go

The machine beeped green The guard squinted at his screen then looked up at me Custodial shift doesn't usually start until nine missed

They called me in early for a deep clean on floor sixty I said trying to keep my voice steady Apparently someone spilled red wine on the executive rug during the afternoon meeting

Right Blackwood’s floor the guard sighed sliding a sign-in sheet across the desk Everything has to be perfect for the boss Go on through Sign the log

Thank you Have a quiet night

I stepped inside the massive steel elevator the doors sliding shut with a soft click The elevator ride was silent soaring past fortyfifty and finally stopping at the top floor

Floor sixty the digital voice chimed The doors opened to a dark ultra-modern pent house lobby

The entire floor was dead quiet The walls were dark marble and massive glass windows showed the glowing skyline of Manhattan covered in fog At the end of the long hallway sat a towering set of double mahogany doors in Damien Blackwood’s private office

I wheeled the cleaning cart out my sneakers squeaking against the polished floor I held my breath tapped the custodial badge against the office door's scanner and watched the light turn green

I pushed the heavy doors open stepping into the lion's den Right in the center of the room sat a massive desk and on the bottom right side was a heavy locked drawer

Twelve dollars and forty-two cents I whispered to myself pulling a set of lock picks from my pocket Remember the number Just open the drawer take the photos and get out