“Christopher, check your laptop.”
PART 4 — SOMEONE HAD USED MY NAME
My laptop was still sitting exactly where I had left it that morning.
Closed.
Connected to its charger.
A framed photograph of my daughters stood beside it, both girls grinning from the beach last summer while holding melting ice cream cones.
For a moment, seeing their faces made the whole situation feel painfully real.
I had been worried about losing my salary.
Now attorneys were talking about stolen corporate files.
Daniel stood beside me while a Halston cybersecurity specialist joined remotely.
“Don’t touch the keyboard yet,” he said.
“I haven’t.”
“Has anyone else used this device?”
“It’s company equipment. IT has administrator access.”
Gavin approached.
“This is ridiculous. Christopher has nothing to do with confidential documents.”
Eleanor stood near the glass wall.
“I certainly hope not.”
The specialist asked me to open the laptop.
I did.
My desktop appeared.
