PART 21:

I wish I could. The journalist sent screenshots, access logs showing Noah’s credentials being used to pull client files, email records that appear to show him sending proprietary code to an external address. Lena, if this is legitimate, it’s a fireable offense at minimum. At worst, it’s corporate espionage, and we’re looking at criminal charges.

Noah wouldn’t do this. There has to be another explanation. I hope you’re right, because if you’re not, the board is going to crucify both of you. Richard’s already calling for an emergency meeting. Marcus paused. Where’s Noah now? In his office, I think. Working on the security audit. Get him.

We need to look at this together before the board gets involved. Lena found Noah exactly where Marcus had guessed, surrounded by monitors displaying security logs and system diagrams. He looked up when she entered, and whatever he saw on her face made him stand immediately. What happened? We need to go to Marcus’s office, now.

Lena’s voice was tight. There are allegations that you accessed client data without authorization and shared proprietary information externally. A journalist has documentation, and they’re running the story tomorrow. Noah’s face went pale. That’s not possible. I haven’t accessed any client files except as part of the security audit, and I certainly haven’t sent anything to external addresses.

Then someone’s setting you up, and we need to figure out who and why before this destroys both of us. They went to Marcus’s office, where he had the journalist’s screenshots displayed across multiple monitors. The evidence looked damning. Access logs with Noah’s username and credentials, timestamps showing late-night data pulls, email metadata indicating files sent to an encrypted external server.

Everything pointed to Noah systematically stealing client information and company secrets. This is fabricated, Noah said immediately, studying the logs. Look at the timestamps. Half of these show me accessing systems at times when I was teaching at the community center. I have 20 witnesses who can verify I was nowhere near a company computer.

Can you prove that definitively? Marcus asked. Security footage, phone location data, something concrete? The community center doesn’t have security cameras, but my students Noah stopped, realization dawning across his face. Wait, look at the access patterns. These queries are too sophisticated, too targeted.

Whoever did this knew exactly which files to pull, which systems to access. They have deep knowledge of our infrastructure. Or they had help from someone with that knowledge, Marcus said carefully. Noah, I need to ask, is there any way your credentials could have been compromised? Passwords written down, computer left unlocked, anything that would give someone access? No.

I use two-factor authentication on everything, unique passwords for each system, and I never leave my workstation unlocked. Noah moved closer to the monitors, his eyes scanning the logs with increasing urgency. But this, these access patterns, I’ve seen this before. Where? Lena asked. In the financial data I was investigating, the small-scale theft I told you about.

Noah pulled up his own files on one of Marcus’s monitors, comparing the patterns side by side. Look. Same methodology, same systematic approach to covering tracks. Whoever’s been stealing from the company is the same person who’s framing me now. That’s a hell of a claim, Marcus said. Can you prove it? Give me 2 hours with full system access and I can trace this back to its source.

Noah’s voice was steady, but urgent. Marcus, I know how this looks. I know you have every reason to suspect me, but I swear on everything I have left, I didn’t do this. And if you let me prove it, I can catch whoever actually did. Marcus looked at Lena. Your call. But if we give him access and he destroys evidence or compromises the investigation further, We’re already compromised, Lena interrupted.

If this story runs tomorrow, Noah’s reputation is destroyed regardless of the truth. The board will force me to fire him, probably fire me, too, and whoever’s actually responsible gets away with it. She met Noah’s eyes. Do it. Find whoever’s behind this. For the next 2 hours, Lena and Marcus watched Noah work with an intensity that bordered on obsessive.

He pulled logs, traced IP addresses, analyzed access patterns with the kind of methodical precision that came from years of experience hunting system vulnerabilities. He barely spoke except to request additional access or mutter observations to himself. There. He said finally, pointing at a screen. That’s the origin point.

Someone created a mirror of my credentials 3 weeks ago. Not a copy of my actual password, but a duplicate authentication token that registers as me in the system logs. Every action taken with that token shows up as me, but I never actually performed those actions. Who has the capability to create duplicate tokens? Marcus asked.

Anyone with administrative access to our authentication servers, which is Noah pulled up a list. 12 people. System administrators, senior engineers, executive leadership. That’s still too many suspects, Lena said. Can you narrow it down? Already did. Look at the timing of when the token was created. 3:00 a.m. on a Tuesday, 3 weeks ago.

I cross-referenced that timestamp with building access logs. Noah pulled up security footage. Only one person with admin privileges was in the building at that time. The footage showed a figure at a workstation on the 43rd floor, the executive level. The image quality wasn’t perfect, but it was clear enough to identify.

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