38. Ember

38

EMBER

" S o what exactly am I looking for?" Kora asked, hunched over her computer in the empty break room at Northman Group. It was nearly nine at night, and the office was deserted except for the cleaning crew.

"Anything about Cole's plans for the Davenport factories," I said, pacing behind her. "Or other similar projects. There has to be something that explains why he wants this contract so badly."

"You know this is probably illegal, right?" Despite her words, Kora's fingers flew across the keyboard. "I mean, I still have access to Cole's files because he's too lazy to have IT update permissions when people change departments, but still."

"It’s only illegal if you get caught."

“That’s… not technically true.” She paused, squinting at the screen. "Oh. Oh shit."

"What?"

"Look at this." She pulled up a folder labeled 'Davenport’.

There were several files that included land value assessments and records of the geological surveys that had been done before the factories were built.

“Wait… why would he want the geological surveys?” I asked.

“He would need those if?—”

“He wanted to build something where those factories stand. Is planning to demolish them? But Davenport would never stand for that.”

“While he lives, no,” Kora said slowly. “I wonder if Cole has some plan to stay in control of them after his death.”

“He wants to trick Davenport into trusting him with the factories just so he can turn around and destroy them as soon as Davenport dies?” I felt sick to my stomach.

“Look,” Kora said. “Profit projections. These don’t say where the hotels would be built, but something this size wouldn’t fit on any open lots I know of. And there are three of them… Three hotels and three factories. I don’t think it gets much more clear than this. Cole wants to demolish those factories and build hotels. That is why he wants the Davenport contract so badly.”

My head swam, but not just because it would be a terrible betrayal of an old man’s trust if he could pull it off. My head swam because it made too much sense. “Cole’s not the only one who would have realized this.”

"What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Keep looking."

An hour later, we had a more complete picture, but everything we had admittedly relied on a healthy dose of assumptions. That was until Kora clapped her hands with satisfaction.

“Oh, hell yes,” Kora said, pulling up another file. “Look at this. They’re already drafting advertisements for the location to drum up a client for the hotel builds. The snakes even have the addresses in here. It’s our smoking gun, Ember. Show this to Davenport, and he’ll never give Cole his business.

My phone buzzed. A text from Orion.

Orion: We need to talk. There's something you should know about the Davenport contract.

I stared at the message, my throat tight. It was as if he could sense my own realization about his intentions. It was a bittersweet feeling. An hour ago, I felt like the worst person on Earth for what I did to him. Now? I felt like I had company. If Orion had really been planning something like this, I thought he was even lower than me.

I wondered if he was hoping to confess and ask my forgiveness. I remembered the way he had closed the door on me when I cried outside his mom’s apartment and felt my heart harden. If he knew he was hiding something like this, how could he just let me confess my own lies like that and say nothing?

"Ember?" Kora touched my arm. "You okay?"

"No," I admitted. "But I know what I have to do."

I pulled out my phone and dialed Eleanor's number. She answered on the second ring, her voice warm despite the late hour.

"Miss Hartwell? Is everything alright?"

"I need that meeting with Davenport. Tomorrow if possible." I glanced at Kora's screen, at the evidence of what would happen to those factories—Davenport's legacy—if either company got their way. "And I need to tell you both something you're not going to like."

"I'll make the arrangements," Eleanor said. "But Ember? Whatever you're planning... be careful."

I ended the call and looked at Kora. "Make copies of everything. I'm going to need proof when I blow this whole thing up."

"You realize this could end your career, right? Not just at Foster Real Estate, but anywhere in the industry."

"Maybe." I thought of Orion's text waiting for a response. "But some things are more important than careers."

"Like what?"

"Like doing the right thing," I said. "Even when it hurts."

Especially when it hurts.

For now, though, I had work to do.