Chapter 3
Maya came that afternoon with coffee she was not allowed to bring and a folder hidden under her jacket.
She waited until the nurse left.
Then she locked the door.
“Maya,” I whispered.
Her eyes filled when she saw my bruised face.
“I’m so sorry.”
“You found me.”
She nodded.
“You were barely breathing.”
The room tilted.
She grabbed my hand.
“Don’t think about that now.”
“Footage gone.”
“I know.”
She opened the folder.
“But not all of it.”
My heart jumped.
“What?”
“The executive floor footage was deleted. But Dylan didn’t know the cleaning company installed a separate camera after the last theft complaint.”
She pulled out her laptop.
“My cousin works there. He sent me this before anyone could bury it.”
The video shook slightly.
A hallway angle.
Dim lights.
My office door.
Dylan walking in carrying a monitor from the supply room.
Twenty seconds later, the audio caught his voice.
“If I can’t take your job, you won’t have a brain left.”
Then the crash.
Then my body hitting the floor.
Maya paused it before the worst part.
I covered my mouth.
For one second, I was back there.
Carpet.
Pain.
Blackness.
Maya cried quietly.
“I gave a copy to Officer Ramirez.”
“Good.”
“And to my cousin’s attorney.”
“Better.”
She hesitated.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
She opened another file.
Building access logs.
My father’s badge had entered the security office eighteen minutes after the attack.
He stayed six minutes.
The deleted footage vanished two minutes later.
My hands began shaking.
“He was there.”
Maya nodded.
“He lied about the board dinner.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, my mouth produced only one broken sound.
My father had not rushed to help me.
He had rushed to protect Dylan.
The door opened suddenly.
Dad stood there.
His eyes dropped to the laptop.
Maya closed it.
Too late.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Maya stood.
“Visiting my boss.”
His smile was polite and lethal.
“You’re suspended.”
“No,” I said.
He looked at me.
“You are on medical leave. You do not make company decisions.”
Maya lifted her chin.
“You can’t suspend me for visiting a patient.”
“I can suspend you for theft of company materials.”
She went pale.
Dad turned to me.
“Claire, you need rest. Not conspiracy.”
“You deleted the footage.”
His face went still.
Then he stepped closer.
“You hit your head very hard.”
I looked him straight in the eye.
“And you hit your soul long before that.”
For the first time in my life, my father raised his hand as if he might slap me.
Then the door opened behind him.
May you like
Officer Ramirez stepped in.
“Mr. Donovan,” he said. “We need to talk.”
