Chapter 3 The Blackwell Name
1577 Words
Adrian Blackwell hated surprises.
They were inefficient.
Surprises meant someone had information he didn't have, and Adrian had built his entire career around making sure that rarely happened. So, when Michael Reed walked into his office at 7:14 on Monday morning carrying a thin black folder, Adrian immediately looked up from his laptop.
Michael didn't usually carry physical files.
That alone was enough to get his attention.
“What is it?”
Michael placed the folder on the desk.
“Amara Vale.”
Adrian's fingers stopped above the keyboard.
The name meant nothing to him.
Not yet.
“Should I know her?”
“Probably not.”
Michael pulled out the chair opposite the desk and sat down.
“But I think you should.”
Adrian opened the folder.
The first page contained a photograph.
A woman in her late twenties.
Dark hair.
Calm expression.
No smile. She looked directly at the camera with the kind of composure Adrian had learned to recognize.
Not confidence.
Control.
He looked down at the information beneath her photograph.
Amara Vale.
Age: twenty-seven.
Occupation: Forensic financial analyst and corporate investigator.
Her professional history was impressive.
Academic records were clean. Her work involved financial investigations, corporate reviews, and forensic analysis.
Nothing immediately stood out.
Then Adrian reached the section covering the previous six years.
He stopped.
There was a gap.
Not a small one.
Six years of her history were almost completely absent.
Adrian looked up.
“What's this?”
Michael leaned forward.
“We don't know.”
“That's not an answer.”
“I know.”
Michael tapped the folder.
“I checked the usual records. Employment history, professional registrations, academic databases, and public financial information. There's very little.”
“People don't simply disappear from their own history.”
“Apparently, she did.”
Adrian looked back at the file. “Why was she looking at Laurent Holdings?”
Michael hesitated.
“That is the interesting part.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Go on.”
“Three days ago, Amara Vale accessed archived financial records connected to Vantage Meridian
Holdings.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“Vantage Meridian.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
“Was she authorized?”
“No.”
Adrian closed the folder halfway.
“Then how did she get access?”
“That's what we're trying to find out.”
He opened it again.
Michael continued.
“Vantage Meridian is connected to Orion Crest Capital. Orion Crest was acquired by Blackwell
International two years ago.”
“I know.”
“And before that acquisition, several transactions involved entities that had indirect connections to Laurent Holdings.”
Adrian became still.
“With the Laurent scandal?”
“Yes.”
The room suddenly felt quieter. For years, the Laurent scandal had been considered closed.
Daniel Laurent had been accused of financial fraud.
His company collapsed.
His reputation disappeared.
Then Daniel himself disappeared.
Most people had eventually moved on.
Adrian never had.
Because his father hadn't.
Richard Blackwell had spent months before his death investigating financial transactions that
didn't make sense.
Adrian remembered one particular evening.
He had been twenty-six when he'd found his father in the study long after midnight, surrounded by documents.
Richard had looked exhausted.
Adrian had asked him what was wrong.
His father had stared at him for several seconds before answering.
“Someone inside our circle is moving money.”
Adrian had laughed at first.
He thought his father was being paranoid.
“What do you mean, inside our circle?”
Richard's expression hadn't changed.
“Close enough to make the trail disappear.”
Adrian remembered the way his father's hand had tightened around a document.
“What trail?”
Richard had looked toward the study door before lowering his voice.
“I'm not sure yet.”
That had been their last serious conversation about it.
Weeks later, Richard died of what doctors called a heart attack. Adrian had never believed it was that simple.
His father had been careful about his health.
He had also been investigating something dangerous.
And after his death, several of Richard's working files disappeared.
Adrian had spent years trying to reconstruct what his father had found.
Now, a woman he'd never heard of was following the same trail.
He looked at Michael.
“What exactly did she access?”
“A transaction record involving a four-point-eight-million-dollar transfer.”
“And?”
“She also accessed an archived authorization reference connected to the same transaction.”
“Blackwell authorization?”
“Yes.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
He looked at Amara's photograph again.
“What else?”
“She seems to know what she's doing.”
“I assumed that.”
“No. I mean she isn't searching randomly.”
Michael placed another page on the desk.
“She accessed the records in a specific sequence. Vantage Meridian first. Then Orion Crest. Then
Blackwell's acquisition records.”
Adrian studied the page.
“She’s following a trail.”
“Exactly.”
“Which means someone gave her the first piece.”
“Or she found it herself.” Adrian's expression hardened.
“Find out which.”
Michael nodded.
“There's another problem.”
Adrian looked up.
“What?”
“The six-year gap.”
“Find out what happened during it.”
“We're trying.”
“Try harder.”
Michael gave him a knowing look.
“You're interested.”
Adrian ignored the comment.
“Pull everything we have on Vantage Meridian.”
“Already doing it.”
“And Laurent Holdings.”
“We have the old acquisition records.”
“I want all of them.”
Michael stood.
“Anything else?”
Adrian looked at the photograph once more.
“Don't approach her.”
Michael paused.
“Why?”
“I want to know how far she'll go without knowing we're watching.”
Michael nodded.
“Understood.” He turned toward the door.
“Michael.”
“Yes?”
“If she accesses anything else connected to Laurent Holdings, I want to know immediately.”
“You'll be the first to know.”
The door closed.
Adrian sat alone.
He picked up the photograph again.
Amara Vale.
Six-year gap.
Access to Laurent's records.
Vantage Meridian.
Blackwell's authorization trail.
There were too many questions.
Before he could continue thinking, his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Victor.
Adrian hesitated before answering.
“Uncle.”
Victor Blackwell's voice was warm.
Almost too warm.
“Adrian. I heard about the acquisition review.”
“Which one?”
“Vantage Meridian.”
Adrian leaned back.
“News travels quickly.”
“In this family, it usually does.” Adrian's eyes remained on the folder.
“What do you want?”
A soft chuckle came through the phone.
“Straight to business. You sound like your father.”
Adrian didn't respond.
Victor continued.
“I heard there may be someone asking questions about the old Laurent matter.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Who told you that?”
“I have my sources.”
“Your sources should learn to keep quiet.”
Victor laughed softly.
“Always suspicious.”
“Usually for good reason.”
There was a pause.
Then Victor said, “The woman's name is Amara Vale.”
Adrian's fingers tightened around the phone.
“How do you know her name?”
“I know a lot of things.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“She has been asking questions that could create unnecessary problems.”
“For whom?”
“For everyone.”
Adrian's gaze moved to Amara's photograph.
“Why do you care what she investigates?”
“Because Laurent Holdings was a disaster that damaged more than one family.”
“My father investigated that disaster.” “Yes.”
“He believed something was wrong.”
“I remember.”
“And now you want me to ignore it.”
Victor sighed.
“I want you to protect the company.”
“The company doesn't need protecting from a financial analyst.”
“Perhaps not.”
Victor's voice became quieter.
“But people sometimes uncover things they don't understand.”
Adrian stood.
“Is that a threat?”
“It's advice.”
“I didn't ask for it.”
“You rarely do.”
The call ended.
Adrian remained standing.
Victor knew about Amara.
That wasn't necessarily suspicious.
But it was interesting.
Too interesting.
He returned to his desk and opened the folder.
His eyes settled on the photograph again.
Amara Vale.
Why was she following Vantage Meridian?
Why was she interested in Laurent Holdings?
And why did Victor care enough to call him about her? Adrian had spent years searching for the truth about his father's final investigation.
He had never expected someone else to stumble onto the same trail.
He opened a blank page.
At the top, he wrote:
AMARA VALE
Underneath:
What does she know?
He stared at the question.
Then wrote another.
Who is she really?
Adrian closed the folder.
For the first time in years, the Laurent case didn't feel dead.
It felt awake.
And somewhere across the city, a woman was pulling at a thread that could unravel everything.
Adrian had two choices.
Stop her.
Or follow her.
He already knew which one he would choose.
“I think she knows something,” he said quietly.
His eyes remained on her photograph.
“And I intend to find out what.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD