Chapter 163: A Little Consideration with a Cup of Dark Roast

Chapter 163: Chapter 163: A Little Consideration with a Cup of Dark Roast

Daisy dropped her bag onto her desk. Her shoulders ached from staring at a monitor until two in the morning.

A paper cup sat right next to her keyboard. Steam curled from the small opening in the plastic lid.

She picked it up. Dark roast. No sugar. It was the exact order she used to drop on Ben’s desk every morning for two years.

She looked across the partition. Ben was typing. His eyes remained locked on his screen.

"What is this?" Daisy asked.

"Coffee."

"I can see that."

"You look tired." Ben did not stop typing.

Daisy held the warm cup. She let the heat seep into her palms. "You remembered?"

Ben finally stopped. He looked at her over the rim of his glasses. "I remember things."

A genuine smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She took a sip. It was perfect.

"You are becoming strangely considerate," Daisy noted.

"Don’t get used to it," Ben warned, turning back to his keyboard.

"Too late."

She sat down and pulled up the digitized ledger they had salvaged the night before. The warning message on her phone was still fresh in her mind, but she ignored it. A threat just meant they were looking in the right place.

"We are looking at the wrong question," Ben said.

Daisy looked up. "Which is?"

"Who is M.C." Ben pointed his pen at the printed authorization sheet resting between their desks. "The better question is why someone needed Mason’s name on the records six months later."

Daisy traced the timeline on her notepad. She thought about the sequence of events.

"If the initial Kessler transaction was legitimate, they wouldn’t need a cover story," Daisy reasoned aloud. "If it was already hidden, why bring Mason into it later?"

"Exactly," Ben said. "Someone realized they had a loose end. But we cannot prove anything without the original piece of paper. The digital scan is too degraded to verify the signature."

Daisy tapped her keyboard. She logged into the central archives registry. She ran the document reference number.

The routing history popped up on her screen.

"The digital copy shows the original was never stored with the standard financial records," Daisy said, reading the routing path. "It bypassed the normal system. It went straight into an Executive Administration special archive."

Daisy looked right at Ben. "Miles."

Ben shook his head. "Not yet."

"It says Executive Administration."

"It says the department. It does not say the man. Do not jump to conclusions."

Daisy sighed. "Fine. But I am keeping him on the suspect list."

She kept digging through the old transfer logs. Most of the files in that specific batch were marked as permanent storage. But the authorization document had a different status code.

"Ben."

He rolled his chair over.

"The original authorization was removed," Daisy said. "But it wasn’t destroyed. Someone checked it out."

She pointed to the checkout record on the screen. The destination was listed as Executive Review Storage.

Ben looked at the date stamp next to the signature box.

It was not 2019. It was not the day the cover-up happened.

The date was Tuesday. Three days ago.

They both stared at the screen. Someone accessed the original authorization after their investigation started.

"They know we are looking," Daisy said quietly.

"Yes."

The warning on her phone no longer felt like something they could dismiss. Someone was actively moving the evidence right now.

Daisy stood up and grabbed her coat. "Let’s go."

"Where?" Ben asked.

"Executive Review Storage. It is in the basement of the old annex."

Ben checked his watch. "Not tonight."

Daisy paused with one arm in her sleeve. "Why?"

"Because it is pitch black outside. We are both exhausted. I am not sending you into an isolated archive annex at midnight."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning to come with me?"

Ben gave her a flat look. "Obviously."

A quiet warmth settled in Daisy’s chest. She hid it by adjusting her collar. "You really are changing."

"I am still deciding whether that is a compliment," Ben muttered.

Daisy sat back down. She pulled a foil-wrapped sandwich from her bag. She unwrapped it, broke it exactly in half, and pushed one piece across the desk.

"Eat."

Ben looked at the sandwich. Then he looked at her. "You don’t even like sharing."

"I don’t."

"Then why?"

Daisy shrugged. "You looked hungry."

She took a bite of her half and turned back to her screen. The reversal was unspoken but clear. For years, she chased him. She managed his moods and brought him food. She stopped trying, and now he was the one paying attention. It felt balanced.

Ben picked up the sandwich. "Thanks."

"Don’t make it weird," Daisy said around a mouthful of turkey.

Ben smirked.

The next morning, they walked into the old annex building.

The Executive Review Storage was a climate-controlled concrete room filled with uniform gray boxes. The air was cold and dry, carrying the faint smell of old paper and cardboard. The security guard at the front desk had barely glanced at their credentials before waving them through.

Daisy checked the reference number on her phone. She walked down aisle four. She traced the barcodes with her finger until she found the matching label.

She pulled the box off the shelf and carried it to a small metal viewing table under a flickering fluorescent bulb.

Ben stood next to her.

Daisy popped the lid. She sifted through the files. Memos. Board meeting minutes. Expense reports.

She reached the bottom folder. She opened it.

The original authorization was not there.

Daisy let out a frustrated breath. "They beat us to it."

Ben reached into the folder. "Maybe not."

He pulled out a single sheet of bright yellow paper. It was a formal replacement request. Standard procedure dictated that if a sensitive document was permanently removed from a classified box, a replacement sheet had to be filed in its place to maintain the chain of custody.

Someone requested the original document be removed and replaced with a digital scan.

Daisy looked at the signature line.

It was not signed by M.C.

It was not signed by Miles Calloway.

Ben read the printed name below the messy signature. His jaw tightened.

Daisy read it at the exact same time.

REQUESTED BY: ADRIAN COLE.

Daisy stared at the name.

"Adrian Cole," she whispered.

Ben nodded slowly. He looked at the empty space in the folder.

"He isn’t just connected to Kessler."

Daisy stared at the request.

Ben’s expression hardened.

"Adrian Cole requested the original to be removed."

Daisy looked at the empty folder.

"Which means he knew exactly what was in it."