The Signature
Chapter 05 - The Signature
Rachel stared at the document Eleanor placed on her kitchen table.
“That isn't possible.”
Eleanor had gone directly from Harbor headquarters to Rachel's small apartment.
Noah sat in the next room doing homework.
On the table lay a copy of the Model Aster final safety approval.
At the bottom was Rachel's signature.
Rachel touched the page.
“That's my name.”
“Is it your signature?”
“It looks like it.”
Eleanor's heart sank.
Rachel turned the paper toward the window.
Then she froze.
“No.”
“What?”
“This page is fake.”
“How can you tell?”
Rachel pointed to the document code.
“I didn't work in Department Seven when this form was created. I transferred to Product Safety three weeks later.”
Eleanor leaned closer.
“Someone copied your signature.”
“Or scanned it.”
Rachel pushed back from the table.
“I signed hundreds of inspection sheets.”
“Could Victor have accessed them?”
“Everyone in senior management could.”
Eleanor thought of his confidence.
Rachel signed the approval herself.
It had sounded rehearsed.
Because perhaps it was.
“Do you still have your original records?”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“Security took my laptop.”
“Backups?”
“My employee account was deleted.”
“Personal copies?”
Rachel hesitated.
That hesitation gave Eleanor hope.
“Rachel.”
“I kept something.”
She walked into her bedroom and returned carrying an old external hard drive.
“I knew they were going to fire me.”
Eleanor stared.
“What's on it?”
“Test data.”
“How much?”
“Enough to prove the defect existed.”
Eleanor nearly cried with relief.
Rachel didn't smile.
“There's a problem.”
“What?”
“The most important test isn't there.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor ordered it performed after I was terminated.”
Eleanor's hope vanished again.
Rachel opened the laptop.
“There was one engineer who stayed.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Cross.”
“Can we find him?”
Rachel's face darkened.
“Maybe.”
“Why maybe?”
“He disappeared.”
Eleanor frowned.
“People don't disappear.”
“Daniel did.”
According to Rachel, Daniel had called her two weeks after her firing.
He sounded frightened.
He said Victor had ordered a new series of high-speed tests.
Daniel had promised to send the results.
He never did.
The next Monday, Harbor announced that Daniel had resigned.
His phone was disconnected.
His apartment was empty.
No forwarding address.
No public social media.
Nothing.
Eleanor felt the old instincts of a CEO returning.
“People leave records.”
“Not always.”
“They leave tax records. Licenses. Employment history.”
Rachel looked toward Noah.
“I couldn't keep chasing it.”
“Because of him.”
“Because he's my son.”
Eleanor understood.
Rachel hadn't surrendered.
She had chosen survival.
Noah walked into the kitchen carrying his school notebook.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“There's a man outside again.”
Rachel went still.
Eleanor looked through the blinds.
Across the street sat a black sedan.
May you like
The moment Eleanor moved toward the window, the car pulled away.
Rachel whispered, “That's the third time this week.”
