Page 208 of Ironwood Ranch Cowboys

Jake used that.

He wants me isolated.

CHAPTER FORTY

Cody

People make mistakes when they panic. That’s one of the few reliable constants in both accounting and human behavior.

The problem is that intelligent people make smaller mistakes. Harder ones. Mistakes buried beneath confidence and cleanup and the assumption that nobody will look deeply enough to find them.

Unfortunately for Jake Dorsey, looking deeply enough is essentially my entire personality.

By the time Silas reaches the office, I’m already moving.

Tracking the shape of the damage in real time.

Annie stands near her desk with her backup drives clutched against her chest as survival equipment, tension written through every line of her body. Sherry hovers near the doorway looking as if she’d rather be swallowed whole by the floorboards than remain part of this conversation another second.

Silas walks in hard enough to change the atmosphere. “What happened?”

His eyes land on Annie first. They scan her automatically, searching for harm before they move to me.

“Jake revoked Annie’s access,” I say.

Silas goes still. “When?”

“This morning.”

“Why?”

“According to Sherry?” I glance briefly toward her. “Concern over compromised financial integrity.”

Silas’s jaw tightens so hard I hear the shift in his teeth.

“Jake’s cleaning house,” I say evenly. “Which means we’re out of time.”

Silas nods once. “We need to find him.”

I grab my laptop and external drive without another word, because at this point I’m no longer auditing, I’m hunting.

Jake’s office is locked.

That alone tells me everything I need to know.

Jake never locks his office during operational hours because operational efficiency depends on accessibility.

He’s argued that point repeatedly during staffing reviews. His entire management philosophy revolves around movement, visibility, availability.

Now, suddenly, the door’s locked.

Panic changes patterns.

I stare at the handle for exactly two seconds before pulling my keys from my pocket.

Silas appears beside me in the hallway. “You think he’s still here?”

“No.”