Chapter 2 - The Stolen Files and the False AccusationBy nine o'clock the following morning, Owen walked into the gleaming glass tower of Blackwell Health Holdings on 5th Avenue. The high-ceilinged lobby smelled of expensive marble cleaner and corporate authority.
As Owen reached the security turnstiles on the fourteenth floor, two heavy-set men in dark suits stepped into his path.
“Owen Parker?” one of them asked, displaying a gold security badge. “Step this way, please. Mister Evan Blackwell requires your presence in the executive conference room immediately.”
Owen’s pulse spiked, but he kept his expression calm and unbothered. He adjusted the strap of his leather messenger bag, feeling the cold weight of the hidden voice recorder tucked into the side pocket.
The glass doors of the grand boardroom swung open. Inside, sitting at the head of a twenty-foot mahogany table, was Evan Blackwell. He was thirty years old, wearing a bespoke three-piece navy suit, his slicked-back hair and sharp jawline straight out of a luxury magazine.
Beside him sat three senior board members and the corporate legal counsel.
“Ah, the support manager,” Evan said, his voice smooth, dripping with effortless arrogance as he swiveled his leather chair. “Thank you for joining us, Owen. We were just discussing a rather delicate matter regarding missing intellectual property.”
Evan gestured to a blue folder on the table. “At five p.m. yesterday, twelve proprietary encryption keys were wiped from our servers. The access log shows the command was executed from your login credentials—and routed directly to an unverified private IP address registered to your apartment.”
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Owen stood at the foot of the long table, taking in the scene. “I was on a flight returning from Denver yesterday afternoon, Evan. Boarding passes and flight logs can verify that easily.”
Evan smiled, a cold, predatory flash of teeth. “Unless, of course, your roommate—and former employee—Harper Bennett used your home terminal to complete the theft on your behalf.”
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