They Refused to Pay a Single Dad $40—3 Days Later It Cost Them $12 Million
Chapter 3
Saturday morning, Marcus received another call.
This time, it was from Sterling Dynamics’ legal department.
“Mr. Reed, we need your maintenance report.”
Marcus frowned.
“I already sent it.”
“We can’t locate it.”
“I have the confirmation.”
“Could you forward it again?”
Marcus did.
Five minutes later, he received an email.
Thank you.
Nothing else.
Marcus sensed something was wrong.
He opened his original report.
The file had been modified.
His sentence about the disabled backup circuit was gone.
Marcus stared at the screen.
He hadn’t deleted it.
Someone had altered the company’s copy.
Fortunately, Marcus had saved a local version.
He printed it.
Then photographed every page with his phone.
Lily watched him.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you taking pictures?”
“Because sometimes computers forget things.”
She smiled.
“That’s not how computers work.”
Marcus laughed.
“I know.”
He didn’t tell her the truth.
He was worried.
Later that afternoon, Marcus drove to a hardware store.
On his way home, his phone rang.
“Marcus?”
It was his former colleague, Evan.
“What’s up?”
“You still working with Sterling?”
“Sometimes.”
“Then be careful.”
Marcus slowed down.
“Why?”
“I heard they’re blaming contractors for the cooling failure.”
Marcus frowned.
“Who told you?”
“Someone inside.”
Marcus pulled over.
“Is my name involved?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay.”
“Marcus?”
“Yeah?”
“If I were you, I’d keep every record.”
The call ended.
Marcus looked through the windshield.
The city moved around him.
He suddenly realized the forty-dollar invoice wasn’t the real issue.
Someone was trying to erase evidence.
Someone had a reason.
And Marcus had accidentally become the person standing between them and the truth.
