Behind them, journalists continued shouting questions.
Ahead of them waited federal investigators, buried records, and truths Naomi wasn't sure she was ready to hear.
But this time, she didn't turn away.
She walked forward.
Because six years earlier, powerful people had stolen her voice.
Now they were about to discover what happened when she finally used it.
The federal interview lasted nearly four hours.
By the time Naomi walked out of the conference room, darkness had settled over Chicago.
She felt as though she had lived six years again in a single afternoon.
Every transaction.
Every meeting.
Every warning.
Every detail she had tried so hard to forget.
The investigators asked about Daniel Voss, Richard Halston, her former colleagues, the authorization system, and the weeks before she was suspended.
Naomi answered everything she could.
When she couldn't remember something, she said so.
She refused to guess.
Her father's files sat on the table between them.
For most of the interview, the investigators avoided discussing Marcus's death.
Finally, Naomi couldn't stand it anymore.
"You said someone knew my father was collecting evidence."
Agent Laura Bennett closed the folder in front of her.
"We found an email."
Naomi's stomach tightened.
"From whom?"
"Daniel Voss."
"To Richard?"
Bennett didn't answer immediately.
Then she nodded.
The email had been sent nine days before Marcus died.
The subject line contained only two words:
BROOKS PROBLEM.
Naomi felt her hands turn cold.
"What did it say?"
Agent Bennett slid a printed copy across the table.
Naomi read it.
Marcus Brooks has continued requesting information about after-hours building access. He appears to be comparing access records with Naomi's authorization history. We need to contain this before he creates exposure.
Naomi stared at the final sentence.
Contain this.
"What does that mean?"
"We don't know."
"You think they killed him?"
Bennett's expression remained careful.
"We don't have evidence supporting that conclusion."
Naomi looked at her sharply.
"Then why reopen his records?"
"Because we have an obligation to investigate anything potentially relevant."
The answer frustrated her, but Naomi understood.
Facts.
Not assumptions.
She had spent six years suffering because people had treated assumptions as facts.
She couldn't make the same mistake now.
"What do you know?"
Agent Bennett folded her hands.
"We know your father received several calls from numbers connected to Halston executives. We know he met with someone associated with the company two days before his death. And we know his medical records identified cardiac arrest."
Naomi swallowed.
"So he could have died naturally."
"Yes."
"And he could have been under enormous stress because they were threatening him."
"Also yes."
Naomi looked down.
That possibility hurt in a different way.
Perhaps nobody had physically harmed her father.
Perhaps they had simply frightened and pressured a hardworking man who was desperately trying to save his daughter's reputation.
That possibility wasn't murder.
But it wasn't harmless either.
"Who did he meet?"
"We're working on that."
The interview ended shortly afterward.
When Naomi stepped into the hallway, Evan was sitting outside.
He stood immediately.
"You waited?"
"Yes."
"Four hours?"
"Yes."
Naomi almost smiled.
"You know billionaires are allowed to go home."
"So I've heard."
They entered the elevator.
For several floors, neither spoke.
Then Evan said, "The board approved your employment agreement."
Naomi looked at him.
"Today?"
"Unanimously."
"I haven't even officially started."
"They watched your press conference."
Naomi leaned against the elevator wall.
"I don't want this investigation affecting my position."
"It won't."
"And if it does?"
"We deal with it."
Naomi studied him.
"You say 'we' a lot now."
Evan looked slightly uncomfortable.
"I suppose I do."
The elevator doors opened.
Before Naomi stepped out, Evan said, "There's something I need to tell you."
She turned.
"I knew Richard Halston."
"I assumed so."
"No. I mean personally."
Naomi's expression changed.
Evan continued.
"He was one of my father's closest business partners."
Silence.
"How close?"
"Close enough that he attended family holidays when I was a kid."
Naomi stared at him.
"And you waited until now to tell me?"
"I didn't know whether it mattered."
"Everything matters now."
"I know."
Naomi stepped back into the elevator before the doors could close.
"What else?"
Evan hesitated.
"My father invested in Halston Capital twenty years ago."
Naomi felt another chill.
"How much?"
"I don't know yet."
"Find out."
"I already have people looking."
Naomi stared at him.
This story kept expanding.
Every answer revealed another door.
Every door led somewhere darker.
As she finally left the building, her phone rang.
Arthur.
"Naomi, the investigators contacted me."
"About my father?"
"Yes."
Arthur sounded unsettled.
"There's something I forgot."
Naomi stopped walking.
"What?"
"The last time Marcus called me, he said he had found someone willing to testify."
"Who?"
"He never told me the name."
Naomi closed her eyes.
"Arthur."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Did he say anything else?"
Arthur was quiet for several seconds.
"Yes."
Naomi waited.
"He said the person was inside Halston."