CHAPTER 9
THE SOURCE WHO VANISHED
The word together stayed with Mara long after Adrian left the office.
She sat alone at his desk, staring at the evidence on the monitor.
Her father's company.
The coded payments.
The missing ledger.
Naomi.
The pieces were finally touching.
That should have made her feel better.
Instead, it made everything worse.
Mara opened her notebook and began writing.
ELLISON FINANCIAL.
Underneath it:
Original ledger.
Then:
Naomi knew.
She stopped.
The pen hovered above the page.
There was something she was missing.
A connection.
A reason.
She hated not knowing.
Her phone buzzed.
She looked down.
A message from Lena.
You alive?
Mara typed.
Unfortunately.
Three dots appeared.
Good. I need you alive for the next episode. Also, your security guy is terrifying.
Mara smiled.
He's not my security guy.
The reply came immediately.
He literally is.
Mara locked the phone.
She looked toward the office door.
Adrian had been gone for almost twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes was nothing.
She knew that.
Still, she noticed.
She was beginning to notice everything about him.
That was becoming dangerous.
The door opened.
Adrian stepped inside.
His expression told her something had changed.
Mara straightened.
"What happened?"
"Naomi."
Her stomach tightened.
"What about her?"
"Marcus traced her last confirmed location."
"And?"
"She disappeared yesterday."
Mara stood.
"What do you mean disappeared?"
"Her apartment was cleared."
"Cleared?"
"No personal belongings."
"Maybe she left."
"Her passport is still there."
Mara went still.
"Then she didn't leave voluntarily."
"We don't know that."
She glared at him.
"Stop."
"Stop what?"
"Saying that."
"Why?"
"Because every time you say we don't know, I know you think something worse."
Adrian looked at her.
"Sometimes the worst possibility is also the most useful one to prepare for."
Mara grabbed her coat.
"Where are we going?"
"Nowhere."
"Adrian."
"I need you here."
"Naomi is missing."
"Exactly."
"You expect me to sit here?"
"Yes."
She stared at him.
"No."
His jaw tightened.
"Mara."
"I need to find her."
"We're going to find her."
"How?"
"Marcus is tracing her movements."
"From where?"
"Her apartment."
"I can help."
"You can help from here."
"How?"
He hesitated.
That was all it took.
Mara stepped closer.
"You found something."
"Maybe."
She pointed at the screen.
"Show me."
He turned the monitor toward her.
A map appeared.
A red marker blinked near the Chicago River.
Mara frowned.
"What is that?"
"Naomi's phone last connected to a network here."
"Where?"
"Near the Riverwalk."
"How long ago?"
"Yesterday afternoon."
Mara looked at the time.
"Before she disappeared."
"Yes."
"Then let's go."
"No."
She stared.
"You just showed me where she was."
"I showed you where her phone was."
"Same thing."
"No."
Adrian walked toward the table.
"Her phone could have been taken."
"Then someone had it."
"Exactly."
"Which means we should find them."
"Which means we need to know what we're walking into."
Mara folded her arms.
"You've got a problem with control."
"Yes."
"You admit it."
"Yes."
"That's progress."
He gave her a look.
"I'm not joking."
"Neither am I."
She picked up her bag.
"We go together."
He looked at her.
"Fine."
The answer surprised her.
"Fine?"
"Together."
Mara smiled.
"You're learning."
"I told you."
They left the office.
Marcus met them in the garage.
He handed Adrian a tablet.
"I found the phone."
"Where?"
"Riverwalk."
Mara stepped closer.
"What else?"
Marcus looked at her.
"You really don't like waiting, do you?"
"No."
"I noticed."
She looked at Adrian.
"He likes you."
"Most people do."
Marcus laughed.
Adrian gave him a warning look.
"Focus."
Marcus tapped the screen.
"Naomi's phone connected to a public network near the river at 3:17 p.m. Then nothing."
"How long was it active?"
"Nine minutes."
"Could someone have been using it?"
"Absolutely."
"Can we recover footage?"
"Already did."
He turned the tablet.
A video played.
Mara watched Naomi walking along the Riverwalk.
She wore a dark coat.
Her hair was pulled back.
She looked over her shoulder twice.
Then she stopped.
Someone approached her.
Mara leaned closer.
"Pause."
Marcus paused the video.
The man's face was partially visible.
Mara recognized him.
"The guy from the building."
Adrian looked at Marcus.
"Enhance."
Marcus did.
The image sharpened.
It was the same man.
Mara felt sick.
"He found her."
"Or she found him," Adrian said.
"Why would Naomi meet someone watching her?"
"Maybe she didn't know who he was."
Mara shook her head.
"She wasn't careless."
"No."
She watched the footage again.
Naomi handed the man something.
A small envelope.
Then he said something.
Naomi looked frightened.
She stepped backward.
The man reached for her arm.
The video ended.
Mara stared at the black screen.
"What happened after?"
Marcus changed the angle.
A second camera showed the walkway.
Naomi was no longer there.
Neither was the man.
A black sedan drove away.
Mara looked at Adrian.
"That's it?"
"That's all we have."
"Then we find the car."
Marcus nodded.
"Already working on it."
Adrian looked at Mara.
"We're going back."
"No."
"Mara."
"We have to keep going."
"Not without knowing where the vehicle went."
"We know the direction."
"Direction isn't enough."
"Then let me help."
"You are helping."
"From behind a desk."
"Yes."
She stared at him.
He didn't look away.
The argument was familiar now.
But something had changed.
She understood his reason.
He wasn't trying to keep her ignorant.
He was trying to keep her alive.
Still, that didn't mean she liked it.
"Fine."
Adrian nodded.
They returned to the office.
Mara opened Naomi's old messages.
There were dozens.
Most were ordinary.
Meeting times.
File requests.
Questions about numbers.
Then one message caught her attention.
If anything happens, don't trust the people who say they're helping you.
Mara froze.
She showed Adrian.
He read it.
"When did she send this?"
"Two days ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't see it."
He took the phone.
"Who was it sent to?"
"Me."
His eyes lifted.
"Anything else?"
Mara scrolled.
Another message.
The ledger isn't where they think it is.
She looked at Adrian.
"They know about the ledger."
"Yes."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
She kept scrolling.
There were no more messages.
Then she remembered something.
"Wait."
She opened her voice-note archive.
Naomi had sent a recording three days earlier.
Mara played it.
Naomi's voice filled the office.
Quiet.
Tense.
"Mara, I can't explain this over the phone. There are people inside the company who know about the transfers. If you still have the old records, don't send them anywhere. Keep them offline. There's something in them that can prove who moved the money."
The recording ended.
Mara looked at Adrian.
"That's it?"
She replayed it.
This time, she noticed something.
A sound in the background.
A train.
Mara looked at the waveform.
"She was near the Loop."
"Possibly."
She glared at him.
He sighed.
"Sorry."
Mara replayed the final seconds.
There was another sound.
A station announcement.
She couldn't make out the words.
"Can you isolate that?"
Adrian called Marcus.
Minutes later, they were listening to the audio through headphones.
Marcus frowned.
"That's a station."
"Which one?"
He adjusted the audio.
A distorted announcement played.
Then another.
Mara recognized it.
"Clark/Lake."
Adrian looked at her.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
Marcus checked the time stamp.
"The recording was made at 8:42 p.m."
Mara opened Naomi's calendar.
"She had a meeting at eight."
"Where?"
"Financial district."
"Did she attend?"
Mara checked.
No confirmation.
"She never marked it completed."
Adrian stood.
"Marcus."
"I'm already checking."
Mara looked at the map.
"She went to the station after the meeting."
"Maybe."
She turned.
"Adrian."
He held up his hands.
"Right."
She almost smiled.
Then Marcus's phone rang.
He listened.
His face changed.
"What?"
He lowered the phone.
"Naomi's apartment was accessed after she disappeared."
"By who?"
"We don't know."
"When?"
"An hour ago."
Mara's stomach dropped.
"Someone is looking for something."
Adrian nodded.
"The question is what."
Mara thought of the notebook.
The ledger.
Her father.
Naomi.
She looked at the documents scattered across the desk.
Then she noticed something.
A page she had seen dozens of times.
An old financial statement from Ellison Financial.
She picked it up.
"Wait."
Adrian looked at her.
"This account."
"What about it?"
"It doesn't belong to the company."
He stepped closer.
Mara pointed.
"The account number appears in Naomi's notes."
Adrian studied it.
"Where?"
She flipped through the notebook.
"There."
Same number.
Same date.
Different document.
Mara's pulse quickened.
"This is the connection."
"Between what?"
"Ellison Financial and the companies Naomi was investigating."
Adrian looked at the page.
"What's the account holder?"
Mara read the line.
Her face changed.
"I don't know."
The name had been blacked out.
Adrian leaned closer.
"Can you recover it?"
"Maybe."
She opened another file.
Then another.
Nothing.
She looked at the original document.
The black mark was handwritten.
Not digitally removed.
Someone had physically covered the name.
Mara's fingers tightened around the paper.
"Someone wanted this hidden."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
She looked at him.
"And Naomi knew."
"Yes."
"Which means whoever took her knows we have this."
Adrian's phone rang.
Marcus.
Adrian answered.
"What?"
He listened.
Then looked at Mara.
"Naomi's apartment."
"What?"
"They found blood."
Mara went still.
"Is she dead?"
"We don't know."
The words landed heavily.
Adrian stepped toward her.
"Mara."
She looked at him.
"We're going to find her."
This time, he didn't say maybe.
He didn't say possibly.
He didn't qualify it.
He simply said it.
And Mara believed him.
Not because he could guarantee the outcome.
Because he was already reaching for his coat.
Already moving toward the door.
Already choosing action over fear.
Mara grabbed her bag.
"I'm coming."
Adrian looked at her.
For a second, he seemed ready to argue.
Then he nodded.
"Stay beside me."
"I will."
They left the office together.
Behind them, the monitors continued displaying the frozen image of Naomi walking beside the Chicago River.
A woman who had known too much.
A woman who had trusted Mara enough to leave a warning.
A woman who had now vanished.
And somewhere in the city, someone had just learned that Mara Ellison was no longer investigating alone.