"Nothing," I replied, standing abruptly. "I think we're done here."
His expression hardened. "Emily, be reasonable. Your career is at stake. Whatever you think you know—"
The door burst open, and Gideon strode in wearing a security uniform, his expression professionally concerned.
"Mr. Kline, there's an emergency situation requiring immediate evacuation of this floor," he announced. "Please come with me now, sir."
Kline stood, irritation flashing across his face. "What kind of emergency?"
"Gas leak in the maintenance room," Gideon replied smoothly. "The building engineers are concerned about potential explosion risk."
"This is ridiculous," Kline muttered, but he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "We'll continue this discussion later, Emily."
I didn’t reply, moving to follow Gideon out the door.
In the hallway, staff were being directed toward the emergency stairwells by other "security personnel" I recognized as members of Dion's team. Kline joined them, but Gideon guided me to a stairwell.
"This way, sweetheart," he said quietly.
Once we were safely in the stairwell with the door closed behind us, Gideon's professional mask slipped slightly.
"Good timing with the code word," he said, his voice low as we descended the stairs. "Kline was definitely fishing for information, and none of us liked his offer to take you home."
“He wanted to know what I had," I confirmed, my heart still racing from the encounter, "and I wasn’t sure if I’d have been safe getting into his car."
Gideon's expression darkened. "Like hell was he taking you anywhere." He spoke into his earpiece. "Package secured. Moving to extraction point alpha."
We emerged from the building through a side exit I'd never noticed before. Dion's SUV was already waiting, engine running. I slid into the passenger seat, relief flooding through me as the door closed. Gideon patted the door and turned away.
"You did beautifully," Dion said immediately, pulling away from the curb. "We heard everything."
"The emails were fake," I said, my professional composure finally cracking. "They forged communications to make me look unstable."
"We know. Eric's trying to trace the IP address." Dion's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. "They're getting desperate."
"What about Zoe?" I asked the question that had been burning in my chest throughout the entire meeting.
"Still at the Bennett house, but there's increased activity. Three vehicles arrived this morning, including a van with tintedwindows." Dion glanced at me. "We think they're accelerating their timeline."
My stomach dropped. "Because of me. Because they know I'm onto them."
"Because you're a threat to their operation," Dion corrected. "Which means you're doing exactly what you should be doing."
We drove in tense silence for several minutes before Dion spoke again. "There's something else. Eric found financial connections between Oak Development and several high-profile individuals, including some in your mother's social circle."
I stared at him in shock. "My mother is involved?"
"Not directly, as far as we can tell. But some of the people funding this operation move in the same circles. The charity galas, the country club—it's all connected."
The implications hit me like a physical blow. My parents' reaction to my "instability," my mother's threat about reputation and scandal—they weren't just protecting their social standing. They were protecting the people who funded their lifestyle. I suspected my father, but I'd still believed in Mom.
"He knew," I whispered. "There’s a chance when my mother came to see me, when she called my father, that she didn’t know, but I doubt my father was ignorant."
Dion reached over and took my hand. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I know how much that must hurt."
I squeezed his fingers, drawing strength from his touch. "It explains why Susan felt comfortable discussing me. They're all part of the same network."
"Which is why we need to move quickly," Dion said. "Before they can cover their tracks or disappear more children."
