Chapter 5 - THE PASSWORD SHE NEVER GAVE HIMThe investigation found the first answer three days later.
It was worse than Elena expected because it required admitting her own mistake.
Her corporate password had not been stolen.
Julian had never needed it.
Months earlier, Merritt & Cole had upgraded its authentication system.
Elena had enrolled her work laptop and a personal tablet she sometimes used to review nonrestricted presentation materials at home.
The tablet remained authenticated for approved applications unless manually signed out.
Elena had forgotten about it.
So had Merritt & Cole.
Julian hadn’t.
IT logs showed the tablet had connected repeatedly to restricted project directories after Elena’s recusal.
“How could a personal tablet get into restricted files?” Elena asked.
Andrew Pike looked uncomfortable.
“It shouldn’t have.”
A permissions migration had preserved broader access than intended.
Elena’s account still technically had permission even though policy prohibited her from using it.
That gave Merritt & Cole its own problem.
And Julian an opportunity.
Elena closed her eyes.
“The tablet was in the kitchen most of the time.”
“Who knew your device PIN?”
“Hannah.”
Andrew waited.
“And Julian.”
“How?”
“My PIN is my father’s birthday.”
She looked down.
“Julian knew it.”
IT had more.
Several of the suspicious sessions occurred while Elena was verifiably elsewhere.
The hospital.
Chicago.
A Sunday morning when she had attended church with her mother and Hannah.
But one occurred at 12:16 a.m. on a night Elena was home.
That mattered.
“Could Julian have used it while you were sleeping?” Andrew asked.
“Yes.”
“Can you prove you weren’t the person using it?”
“No.”
There was the problem.
Technology could establish that Elena had not personally accessed every file.
It could not automatically establish she had never helped him.
Her mistake had created the space for doubt.
Denise looked more hurt than angry.
“You should have logged that device out when you recused.”
“I know.”
“You should have returned or removed every device with project access.”
“I know.”
Elena hated those two words.
They sounded like excuses even when they were true.
Later, Hannah drove her to their mother Diane’s Brentwood townhouse.
Elena had delayed telling Diane about the assault.
She knew why.
Diane adored Julian.
Not blindly.
But enough to interpret his ambition as proof that her daughter had married well.
When Elena explained what happened, Diane removed her glasses and folded them on the table.
“He slapped you?”
“Yes.”
Diane looked toward Hannah.
“You saw her?”
“I took her to urgent care.”
Diane turned back.
“Then you’re not going back.”
Elena had expected questions.
Maybe denial.
Instead her mother reached across the table.
“I spent twenty-nine years making excuses for your father when he got mean because work was bad. I will not teach you to do the same.”
Elena stared at her.
Her father had never hit Diane.
At least Elena had believed that.
Diane seemed to read her face.
“He didn’t hit me.”
She paused.
“But he broke doors. Threw things. Called it stress. And I told you girls he was tired.”
Hannah looked down.
Diane continued.
“When somebody teaches you fear is normal, you start grading it instead of leaving.”
Elena thought about last Christmas.
Julian shoving her shoulder.
March.
His hand against her back hard enough to send her into a cabinet.
Things she had categorized as not quite violence.
Her phone rang.
Leah.
“Elena, Victoria has hired counsel.”
“Okay.”
“She contacted Merritt & Cole.”
“Why?”
“She says she wants to cooperate.”
Elena felt no relief.
Victoria had watched Julian hit her.
Victoria had brought confidential material into her house.
Cooperation could mean conscience.
It could also mean survival.
“What is she saying?”
Leah answered carefully.
“She says Julian wasn’t the person who first suggested using your access.”
Elena stared at the wall.
May you like
“Who was?”
“Victoria says she was.”
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