Chapter 10 - The Price of Staying
Graham lunged for Victor.
Two security officers blocked him. Nina shouted for the video to be preserved. The directors began talking over one another, some demanding an explanation, others staring at Victor as if they were seeing him for the first time.
“Where is she?” Graham shouted.
Victor stood. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You put her on that screen.”
“I showed the board a security concern.”
Graham’s phone vibrated. A message from Lucy:
DON’T COME. I’M NOT IN THE CAR. THEY’RE TRYING TO MAKE YOU LEAVE THE ROOM.
He read it twice.
She had been moved before the video was shown. The image was old, or staged. Victor had wanted him to lose control in front of the board.
Nina leaned close. “Sit down. If you walk out now, he wins the vote.”
Graham forced himself into the chair.
Victor’s smile returned.
The board voted to suspend Graham’s executive authority pending an independent review. He lost access to company systems, his office, and his security detail. The man who had built Whitmore Systems was now a visitor in the building.
Outside, reporters crowded the entrance.
“Mr. Whitmore! Did you steal from your employees?”
“Is your wife alive?”
“Are you having a relationship with the florist?”
Graham kept walking.
At the curb, Lucy stood beside Maya. She had a fresh bandage at her temple and a furious look in her eyes.
“You came anyway,” he said.
“I told you not to.”
“I’m learning.”
She glanced at the reporters. “You’re trending.”
“I’ve had worse days.”
“Have you?”
He looked at her. “No.”
A black sedan pulled away from the opposite curb. The driver’s window lowered. Caleb Rusk stared at them, scar visible.
Lucy grabbed Graham’s sleeve.
“That’s him.”
The car sped off.
Graham started after it, but Lucy held him back.
“Don’t chase him. Think.”
He stopped.
She pointed to the rear window of the car parked behind them. A white envelope had been tucked beneath the wiper.
Inside was a photograph of Graham and Lucy sitting on the flower shop floor.
May you like
On the back, someone had written:
SHE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR DAUGHTER.
