Chapter 77: Connecting the Dots
Three more days flew by. In the morning, Emma, Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura were all set, standing in front of the elevator. They were wearing their school uniforms and carrying small backpacks, since today was their very first day back at school. Eric stood right behind them.
"We’re heading out now!" Emma said, raising her hand cheerfully.
"We’ll be home by afternoon, since it’s just the first day," Priya added, raising her hand too.
"How are you guys getting there? The school is close, but you can’t exactly walk, right? Want me to drive you?" Eric asked.
"No need, I already called home and asked them to send an SUV and a driver. He’s already waiting downstairs," Chloe answered with a wave.
"With Chloe around, we’re all set, haha," Heidi added, throwing an arm around Chloe.
"Yep, exactly. What about you? Any plans for today?" Monica asked.
"Not really, I’m just staying home. I want to try writing some music," Eric answered casually with a smile.
"Awesome, wait for us to get back, okay?" Laura said, raising her hand.
"Ding."
The elevator arrived, and all six girls stepped inside. They waved with huge smiles on their faces until the doors slid tightly shut. Eric lowered his hand, and the smile instantly vanished from his face. His eyes turned serious again, his brows furrowed deep in thought.
Eric rubbed his head, glancing at the quest hologram screen that popped up right next to his face.
"I haven’t even written a single song yet. Whatever... let’s get started," Eric thought.
Stretching his arms, he walked into the workspace next to his bedroom. He sat down in the gaming chair in front of the desk, where a keyboard and a computer setup with three monitors were laid out.
The left monitor only displayed the security camera feeds from his grandfather’s building. After a quick look to confirm everything was safe there, he focused on the main screen in front of him and set his smartphone down next to the keyboard.
Opening his music software, he got ready to play and search for a new rhythm. The room fell dead silent as Eric’s ten fingers hovered in midair, right above the keyboard keys. He closed his eyes, trying to compose something in his head, but all that flashed through his mind was:
"Don’t worry, I don’t mean any harm. Let me tell you something, I’m at your girlfriend’s company because I want revenge on two old bastards over there. I promise, once I pull this off, I’ll get out of your sight for good... oh right, today is my 24th birthday. So please tell your girlfriend that I don’t mean any harm, and please don’t mess up my plans, consider it my birthday present,"
"Slam!"
All ten of Eric’s fingers came down on the keys at the exact same time, unleashing a harsh, discordant noise. He hung his head and opened his eyes.
"Damn it, for the last three days, that bitch’s words have been playing on a loop in my head... honestly, it’s been driving me crazy for three whole days. There’s an intuition I can’t quite put my finger on whenever I think about what she said, and it’s tying my stomach in knots," Eric thought in sheer frustration.
Suddenly, an envelope icon popped up on the right monitor, signaling a new email. He opened it immediately. It turned out to be a summary of the investigation in a PDF format, compiled by Norman, though the email itself was sent by Katie. Eric instantly saved the PDF and backed it up in several places before opening the file.
As he read through it, he discovered additional criminal charges against Mason. It turned out that the person who took out the truck driver in prison was a hitman hired by Mason, someone who had purposely gotten locked up just to kill the driver and cover it up by instigating a prison riot, making the driver’s death look like casualty of a mass brawl.
On top of that, the supplemental data also noted that Paul was colluding with the police, paying them bribes whenever his son, Owen, messed up, like hitting someone with his car, making an illegal video of a girl he threatened and got reported for, and things like that.
"This is insane, these people are completely unhinged and pure evil," Eric thought.
On the financial side, there was a spike in the use of project funds, but it was coupled with a switch to a supplier unregistered in the company database. When tracing the money trail, the funds were being used to buy high-end building materials from this mysterious supplier.
After some digging, it turned out the supplier was a company owned by Brandon’s college friend. Eric leaned back casually in his gaming chair, his eyes glued to the PDF file, which was neatly summarized and structured for easy reading on his screen.
"What a mess... do they seriously think my and Chloe’s company are their personal piggy banks? How stupid can you get," Eric thought.
But then, something caught his eye. On the corporate credit card statement, there was a list of transactions for luxury designer bags, women’s watches, five-star hotel room rentals, high-end restaurant dinners, and cruise trips, all written off as client gifts and entertainment expenses over the last ten days.
"Huh... buying an $5,000 luxury bag for a client? Give me a break... wait a second," Eric thought, leaning his face closer to the monitor.
The credit card belonged to the company, but the supplementary card was held by the marketing manager, Melissa Grant, for the purpose of entertaining clients, investors, or supplier representatives.
She was also the one who prepared the expense reports submitted to the finance department, all signed off by the marketing director.
"Wait... what?" Eric thought.
He re-read the section of the file that mentioned the name Melissa Grant. The person who authorized the card turned out to be Mason Cole, the marketing director and a board member.
But then he hesitated slightly; as far as he knew, her name was Melissa Johnson when she was introduced to his family back when Jason brought her home, not Melissa Grant.
Eric leaned back and picked up his smartphone, scrolling through his contacts to call someone.
"Hello, Eric," a woman greeted him.
"Katie, I just went over the file you sent. I have a question. This Melissa Grant holding the supplementary card from the marketing director, Mason, is she the same Melissa who walked into Mr. Bryan’s office that time, or not?" Eric asked.
"Yes, that’s right. Same person. Why do you ask?" Katie inquired.
"Um... this might be outside our case, but... could I possibly get Mr. Kyle’s number?" Eric asked.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Eric could hear Katie’s breathing and practically hear the gears turning in her head as she weighed the request and thought it over.
"Why are you asking for Mr. Kyle’s number?" Katie asked, her tone shifting to one full of suspicion.
"I want him to look into Melissa Grant," Eric answered bluntly.
Another long pause followed. This time, the sound of the phone being set down could be heard, followed by a breath and the rustle of a turning page, before the phone was picked up again.
"Why do you want to investigate Melissa Grant? Can I know the reason?" Katie asked directly, her tone shifting to that of a prosecutor interrogating a witness in a courtroom.
This time, Eric fell silent for a moment. He weighed whether or not he should share his theory with Katie, but ultimately decided to tell her exactly what was on his mind.
"Because her real name is Melissa Johnson, not Melissa Grant," Eric answered, getting straight to the point.
"Are you sure about that?" Katie asked, still sounding suspicious.
Eric openly laid out who Melissa really was, mentioning that she had almost become his sister-in-law. He explained it all casually, without any emotional baggage, because he didn’t feel a single thing for Melissa anymore, not even hatred.
However, he remained cautious around her because he knew exactly what kind of person she was. Once Eric finished, he spoke into the receiver.
"Hello... Katie?"
"Hmm ?" Another long pause followed. This time, Eric could hear the clicking of a mouse and the tapping of computer keys. After that, he heard the phone being lifted back up.
"This is interesting... seriously interesting," Katie said suddenly.
"What’s interesting?" Eric asked, confused.
"Scroll back up and look at the name of the truck driver from twelve years ago, the one who died in prison after Mason sent someone inside to kill him," Katie answered.
Eric scrolled up the PDF to the previous pages, which contained the investigation results from yesterday that he had skipped over because he already knew the contents.
Then, he saw the name of Marjorie Pearl, who had given her statement and agreed to be a witness, but her deceased husband’s name was Benjamin Johnson, or Ben. Eric’s eyes instantly widened as Melissa’s words echoed in his head once more.
If Ben and Marjorie’s reason for accepting that dirty job was to save their child, who was twelve years old at the time, and if Melissa just celebrated her twenty-fourth birthday three days ago...
"Huh... could it really be?" Eric asked over the phone, completely in disbelief.
"Okay... I get it. With this lead, I’ll ask Mr. Kyle to look into her. It’s a good thing you told me, Eric. If it’s actually proven that Melissa is the child of the truck driver from that incident twelve years ago, we need to approach her. We still don’t know what her angle is for entering that company, and we have to find out what she’s up to before it’s too late," Katie answered, a hint of worry creeping into her voice.
Eric went silent again. After hearing Katie’s explanation, he instantly recalled the rest of what Melissa had said.
"I think... I know what she’s planning to do," Eric muttered, even though he wasn’t entirely sure of his own words. He was hesitant about the idea of having to work with Melissa, considering he knew exactly what kind of person she was, a double-faced, venomous viper.
