Chapter 60: Someone Was Watching

"I need to know whether anyone named Maribel Ortega has ever worked for Sebastian Group."

That would be more complicated. Household staff wasn’t necessarily Sebastian Group employees, and Andrei had no intention of turning the company’s security department into a convenient way to dig through Victoria’s private affairs without cause.

Unfortunately, someone had just handed him cause.

What bothered him wasn’t even the name.

It was the wording.

They found the connection.

Not There is a connection.

Not You should investigate Maribel.

Whoever sent the message already knew an investigation had taken place.

And apparently knew what it had uncovered.

Within half an hour, Andrei had an answer.

Sebastian Group had never employed Maribel Ortega.

Victoria Sebastian had.

For nearly eighteen years.

Andrei stared at the file.

"Well."

That explained Maribel.

It didn’t explain the man in the photograph.

Or why someone believed Andrei should care that Alexander Vance had apparently discovered a connection between them.

So he called Alexander.

Alexander was reviewing Elias Navarro’s probation paperwork when his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen.

Andrei Sebastian.

Unexpected enough that he answered immediately.

"Sebastian."

"Vance."

A brief pause followed.

Then Andrei said, "I received something unusual."

Alexander set down the file.

"What?"

"A message from an unknown number."

"What kind of message?"

"A photograph of a man leaving your building."

Alexander’s expression changed.

"Describe him."

"Early fifties. Dark jacket. Gray at the temples."

Joe, who remained in the office, looked over.

Alexander already knew.

"Elias Navarro."

"So the name means something."

"Yes."

Andrei was silent for half a second.

"That explains considerably more than I wanted it to."

"What did the message say?"

Andrei read it exactly.

Alexander went still.

Across the desk, Joe’s expression hardened.

"Andrei. Who is Maribel Ortega?"

"Until about twenty minutes ago, I had no idea."

That mattered.

"And now?"

"She worked for Victoria."

"I know."

Another pause.

"You know."

"Yes."

Andrei exhaled.

"Then I’m assuming Navarro is connected to her."

"Former partner."

"How former?"

"They were together for twelve years. Separated seven months ago."

Andrei leaned back.

"That’s not exactly a casual acquaintance."

"No."

"And he’s applying for something at Vance?"

Alexander didn’t answer.

He didn’t have to.

Andrei connected it himself.

"The driver."

"Yes."

"Christ."

"Did you know about him?"

"No."

"Dominic?"

"I don’t know."

"Victoria?"

"I don’t know that either."

Alexander’s voice cooled.

"Then why send the photograph to you?"

"My question exactly."

Andrei looked again at the message.

"The number is dead. Security hasn’t found it anywhere in our records."

"Did the sender ask you to do anything?"

"No."

"Warn you about anything?"

"No."

"Threaten you?"

"No."

"Then why tell you?"

"I was hoping you’d have an answer."

Silence settled between them.

Alexander looked down at Elias’s background report.

Less than an hour earlier, the situation had been manageable.

A prospective employee had an old personal connection to someone in Victoria Sebastian’s household.

Now someone else had entered the equation.

Someone who knew about Maribel.

Someone who knew Alexander’s investigators had discovered her.

And someone who’d apparently been watching Vance Holdings closely enough to photograph Elias leaving.

Andrei spoke first.

"I want to make something clear."

"Go on."

"I didn’t send him."

"I didn’t think you did."

That seemed to surprise him.

"Dominic has no operational authority right now."

"I know."

"And Victoria has none at all."

"That has never stopped Victoria from doing anything."

"No."

They both understood that much.

Andrei continued more carefully.

"I can’t tell you whether either of them knows Navarro. But I can find out whether Maribel left Victoria’s employment under unusual circumstances."

"Without alerting Victoria?"

"I’ll try."

"Try quietly."

"I was planning to."

Alexander looked toward Joe.

Joe mouthed one word.

Elias?

Alexander shook his head.

Not until they knew more.

Andrei asked, "Are you hiring him?"

"Probationary."

"Even after this?"

"The message arrived after his interview."

"And now?"

Alexander considered it.

Firing Elias immediately accomplished very little.

If the man were innocent, Alexander would be punishing him because someone else had taken his photograph.

If he weren’t, removing him immediately would tell whoever might’ve placed him that the connection had been discovered.

Neither option was useful.

"For now, nothing changes."

Andrei understood.

"You’re keeping him close."

"I’m employing someone who passed the process."

"That sounded rehearsed."

"It wasn’t."

"Should I be insulted that you don’t trust me enough to admit you’re watching him?"

Alexander’s mouth almost twitched.

"I don’t trust you enough to discuss my security strategy over the phone."

"Fair."

Oddly enough, that was why talking to Andrei was easier than Alexander would’ve expected.

Neither man required the other to pretend complete trust existed.

They simply worked with what they could verify.

"I’ll send you the photograph," Andrei said.

"Do that."

"And if I find anything about Maribel?"

"Call me."

"I will."

The line went quiet.

Then Andrei added, "Alexander."

"Yes?"

"Whoever sent this knew enough to photograph Navarro leaving your building."

"I noticed."

"And knew enough about your investigation to know you’d found Maribel."

"I noticed that too."

"So either your hiring process isn’t as private as you think..."

"Or somebody was already watching Elias."

Andrei fell silent.

That possibility was worse.

Joe remained standing beside Alexander’s desk after the call ended.

The photograph arrived moments later.

He enlarged it.

"Across the street."

"Looks like it."

"Could be a phone."

"Probably was."

Joe handed it back.

"So who’s being watched?"

"Elias."

"Or you."

"Or both."

Joe sighed.

"Still feeling good about five months?"

"I feel considerably better about not making a decision based on one unexplained connection."

"That’s CEO language for absolutely nothing."

"It means we need more information."

"That I understood."

Alexander looked again at the photograph.

Somebody had known when Elias came to Vance Holdings.

Somebody had known when he left.

More concerningly, somebody knew what Alexander’s investigators had discovered.

That narrowed the problem considerably.

Just not enough.

Elias Navarro reached his apartment shortly after eight.

He loosened his tie, placed his keys on the table, and checked his phone.

Two messages waited.

One came from his daughter.

DID YOU GET IT???

Elias smiled despite himself.

He typed:

Five-month probation.

Three dots appeared immediately.

Then:

THAT MEANS YES.

Before he could respond, he noticed the second message.

Unknown number.

Elias frowned and opened it.

The smile disappeared.

A photograph filled the screen.

Maribel.

She stood outside a grocery store carrying two bags, apparently unaware someone had photographed her.

Elias stared.

They hadn’t spoken in months.

He didn’t even know she still lived nearby.

Another message appeared.

Congratulations on the new job.

His entire body went still.

Then:

Don’t make this difficult.

Elias called the number.

Disconnected.

He tried once more.

Nothing.

He looked at Maribel’s photograph again.

Then another message arrived.

Tell Vance nothing.

For several seconds, Elias didn’t move.

Alexander Vance had asked him one very specific question that afternoon.

If anyone connected to the Sebastians contacted him, what would he do?

Report it.

Technically, Elias didn’t know who this was.

But whoever had sent the message knew Maribel.

Knew his new employer.

And apparently knew enough about his circumstances to believe silence needed to be demanded.

Elias opened the contact Joe had given him for Vance security.

His thumb hovered over the screen.

For one brief moment, fear won.

Not for himself.

For the woman in the photograph.

Then Elias looked at the words again.

Tell Vance nothing.

His expression hardened.

Whoever this was had made one mistake.

They’d threatened him before learning what kind of man Alexander Vance had just hired.

Elias pressed call.