Chapter 5 - THE MECHANIC WHO DISAPPEARED
Maya Ortiz had been missing for six weeks.
Her family believed she had left the state.
Victor told employees she stole company property and ran.
She had actually been held inside an empty rental house owned by one of his shell companies.
That morning, two men brought her to Bay Zero.
They wanted her to unlock the Ares prototype before it was transported.
Maya sat inside an ambulance outside the dealership.
A paramedic wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
Nathan stood several feet away.
He did not want to crowd her.
She looked toward him.
“You have Daniel’s eyes.”
Nathan’s throat tightened.
“You knew my father?”
“He hired me when no dealership wanted a woman in performance engineering.”
“What happened before his crash?”
Maya looked toward the building.
“Not here.”
Detective Lena Brooks from the financial crimes unit arrived.
Once she learned stolen parts had been placed in customer vehicles, she contacted the major-crimes division.
Maya agreed to give a recorded statement.
She had discovered counterfeit braking systems eighteen months earlier.
At first, she believed Victor was acting alone.
Then she found approval codes belonging to Derek Sloan.
Payments led to a supplier owned by Marcus Sterling’s college roommate.
Daniel Sterling began investigating privately.
He asked Maya to compare the counterfeit brake compound with the original Ares system.
The replacement parts failed under high heat.
A mountain descent could cause total brake loss.
Nathan stopped breathing.
His father died while driving down a mountain road after a board retreat.
The official investigation blamed excessive speed.
The car was destroyed before the family requested an independent inspection.
Marcus had arranged the disposal.
Maya continued.
“Your father believed someone replaced parts in his car.”
“He placed a recording module beneath the Ares dashboard.”
“Why the Ares?”
“The prototype server mirrored diagnostics from Sterling test vehicles.”
“If his car failed, the data would upload to the module.”
“Did it?”
“Yes.”
Maya retrieved the module after the crash.
She watched the file once.
It showed Daniel pressing the brake pedal.
No pressure reached the wheels.
A remote command had disabled the backup system.
The command came from a dealership service account.
Crown City flagship.
Victor’s dealership.
“Who used the account?” Nathan asked.
“The login carried Grant Mercer’s employee number.”
Grant stood near the ambulance.
His knees almost gave way.
“I didn’t do that.”
Victor had used employee credentials before.
Grant looked terrified.
Nathan did not know whether to believe him.
Maya explained that she copied the diagnostic file.
Before she could deliver it to police, Derek confronted her.
He took the original data module.
She kept a copy hidden inside an old diagnostic tablet.
Then Victor’s men abducted her.
“Where is the copy?”
Maya closed her eyes.
“I mailed the tablet.”
“To whom?”
“To Daniel’s attorney.”
Nathan looked toward outside counsel.
No diagnostic tablet had reached the company’s current law firm.
Maya named the attorney.
Samuel Price.
Nathan recognized him.
Price had represented his father personally.
He died four months after Daniel in what police called a boating accident.
The tablet had disappeared.
Detective Brooks asked Maya whether she had another copy.
“No.”
“But the original module may still exist.”
“Victor gave it to Derek.”
Victor was placed in handcuffs inside the showroom.
He denied everything.
Then Detective Brooks showed him a photograph of Maya in the ambulance.
His confidence vanished.
Nathan approached Grant.
“You said you knew where the wheels were.”
“Did you know your credentials were used to disable my father’s car?”
“No.”
Grant looked sick.
“Victor asked me to reset my password that week.”
“He said the system had been compromised.”
“Did you tell investigators?”
“No one asked.”
“You never checked?”
Grant shook his head.
Nathan wanted to hate him.
The man had shoved him.
Humiliated customers.
Accepted bonuses.
Ignored stolen parts.
But Grant may also have been selected as the person who would take the blame for murder.
The dealership doors locked automatically.
Every showroom screen turned black.
Then a message appeared.
May you like
SYSTEM WIPE INITIATED.
Someone at corporate headquarters was deleting the company records.
