I didn’t reach for my badge. I just stood there, looking at the manila envelope resting on the polished mahogany.
Richard’s smirk widened. He leaned back in his high-backed leather chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “I said, hand it over,” he repeated, his voice dropping an octave. “Don’t make this ugly, Maya. You’re already in enough trouble.”
The board members shifted. Arthur, the older man with the white hair, looked down at his notepad, his jaw tight. The other partners avoided my eyes. They knew. They had to know. But they were too terrified of Richard to speak up. They were complicit, paralyzed by the man who signed their massive bonuses.
“You’re making a mistake, Richard,” I said. My voice was steady. I kept my hands clasped behind my back. “That envelope contains the original server logs. Not copies. The IT director signed off on the extraction himself.”
Richard laughed. A sharp, ugly sound that bounced off the glass walls. “The IT director was fired this morning for gross incompetence. Just like you’re about to be.”
He pressed a button on the sleek intercom embedded in the center of the table. “Send them up. Now.”
He looked back at me, his eyes cold and dead. “You think you’re a whistleblower? You’re a disgruntled junior analyst with a forged paper trail. I’ll have you blacklisted from every firm in this city. You’ll be lucky to get a job filing papers in Queens.”
My stomach twisted. The air in the room felt suddenly thin, suffocating. I looked at the glass wall. Behind it, the junior staff were pressed against the glass, watching. They saw everything.
“I’m not looking for a job in Queens,” I said softly.
The heavy glass doors at the end of the room didn’t open for building security. They swung open for two men in dark, tailored suits. They weren’t wearing the blue uniforms of the lobby guards. They wore silver lapel pins.
FBI.
The room went dead silent. The hum of the air conditioning seemed to roar in my ears. Richard’s smile vanished. He sat up straight, his hands gripping the armrests so hard his knuckles turned white.
“What is the meaning of this?” Richard barked, his voice cracking. “I didn’t call you. I called building security. Get out of my boardroom.”
The lead agent didn’t look at Richard. He walked straight to me. His polished oxfords clicked against the plush carpet. “Ms. Lin?” he asked.
I nodded.
“I’m Special Agent Miller,” he said. “We received the encrypted drop you submitted at 8:00 AM. We’re here to execute the subpoena for the physical servers and the executive terminals.”
Richard’s face went completely pale. The color drained from his cheeks, leaving him looking sickly under the harsh fluorescent lights. He looked at Arthur, but the older man just stared at the table.
“Subpoena?” Richard stammered. He stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. “On what grounds? This is a private corporate meeting!”
Agent Miller turned to him. He pulled a thick document from his briefcase. The paper was crisp, stamped with the heavy, embossed seal of the Department of Justice.
“Wire fraud. Embezzlement of employee pension funds. And obstruction of justice,” Miller said coldly. He slid the paper across the table. It stopped right in front of Richard. “You’re under arrest, Mr. Vance.”
Richard lunged forward. “You can’t do this! I am the CEO! I built this department! I have rights!”
The agents didn’t hesitate. They stepped forward in perfect unison and pulled his arms behind his back. The metallic click of the handcuffs was sharp and final. It echoed off the glass walls, silencing the room completely.
Arthur, the older partner, finally looked up. He didn’t look at Richard. He looked at me. He gave a single, slow nod. “Good work, Maya,” he whispered.
The agents marched Richard out of the boardroom. He didn’t look at the partners. He didn’t look at the glass wall where the junior staff were watching. He just stared at the floor, his shoulders slumped, entirely defeated.
I walked over to the table and picked up the manila envelope. I didn’t need it anymore.
The heavy glass doors clicked shut behind the agents, leaving only the sound of my steady breathing.
1/2