I looked at Dante and pointed downward.
He understood immediately.
His hand moved beneath the desk, silently activating another security command.
“I can get the drive,” I told Vale.
“But Dante is standing beside it.”
“Then convince him you are still resigning.”
My eyes dropped to the creased letter.
Vale knew about it.
Either someone had watched me enter, or the person helping him had been standing outside the office.
“What floor are you on?” I asked.
“You don’t ask the questions.”
“I do if you want the correct drive.
There are three identical ones in his safe.”
That was a lie, but Vale did not know it.
Another pause.
“Bring it to the executive records room.”
The records room was one level below us, accessible through the same service corridor where the unauthorized badge had appeared.
“You have five minutes,” he said.
“Come alone.”
The call ended.
Dante lifted the drive.
“You are not going.”
I laughed once, without humor.
“Five minutes ago, you locked me in this room because you wanted the truth.
Here it is: you do not get to protect me by taking away every choice I have.”
“This is not a negotiation.”
“It became one when he used my name, my credentials, and my sister.”
Dante stepped closer.
“Vale has destroyed people for less than what is stored on this drive.”
“And he believes I’m frightened enough to obey him.
That is the advantage we have.”
The word we changed something in his face.
I continued before he could refuse.
“You said you trust me.
Prove it.”
For several seconds, Dante did not move.
Then he reached behind the desk and unlocked the office door.
The gesture was small, but it mattered.
The corridor outside was empty.
The waiting executives had been evacuated, and the elevator indicators had gone dark.
Two security officers stood behind the opaque glass at the far end of the floor, awaiting instructions.
Dante handed me an empty duplicate drive from his desk and placed the real one in his inside jacket pocket.
“You carry the decoy,” he said.
“You keep the line open through your earpiece.
Two detectives are entering through the garage.
My security team will remain out of sight unless he moves toward you.”
“And you?”
“I will be close enough to stop him.”
“That is not what I asked.”
His voice lowered.
“I am not letting you face him alone.”
We took the private stairs instead of the elevator.
Dante remained half a landing behind me, invisible from the records-floor corridor but close enough that I could hear his measured breathing through the earpiece.
The floor had been cleared.
Empty desks stretched beneath dim emergency lighting.
The only sound was the low pulse of the ventilation system.
