Chapter 2 - The Woman Nobody Saw
I caught Grant's wrist before he could mute the phone.
"Let them hear it," I said.
His fingers tightened around mine. "You're making a bad situation worse."
"Ruth is the bad situation?"
"The recording," he hissed. "You don't know what's on it."
A young security guard stood at the ballroom entrance, his radio crackling. He looked barely twenty-five. His name tag read LUIS ORTIZ. Behind him, two paramedics rushed inside. The crowd parted for them faster than it had for Ruth.
I released Grant and knelt again. "Her name is Ruth Ellis. She's sixty-two. She fell on her right wrist."
"I can answer for myself," Ruth said, attempting a smile.
The paramedic gave her a reassuring nod. "Then tell me where it hurts."
I stayed until they lifted her onto the stretcher. Her daughter, Talia, came running from the kitchen, apron stained with flour.
"Mom? What happened?"
Ruth reached for her with her uninjured hand. "Baby, look at me. I'm okay."
Talia looked at Vivian, then the broken dishes, and understood enough. "You did this to her?"
"Your mother caused a scene," Vivian said. "And my daughter-in-law destroyed private property. There will be consequences."
"There will," I said. "Just not the ones you think."
Grant ordered Luis into a side corridor. I followed before he could close the door.
"Give me the video," Grant demanded.
Luis swallowed. "Company policy says evidence goes to the incident manager."
"I own the company."
"You own fifty-one percent," I said. "The other forty-nine belongs to a trust whose trustees have never granted you the right to erase evidence."
Grant stared. He had forgotten I could read documents. It was a mistake he made often.
Luis held up a flash drive. "There's another issue. The footage was copied automatically to the off-site server before anyone asked me to delete it."
"Who asked?" I said.
Luis's eyes moved to Grant.
A beat passed. Then Grant said, "Nobody."
The guard looked sick. "Sir, I have the request in writing."
Grant grabbed the drive. I grabbed his hand. The two of us stood locked together in the corridor until Vivian arrived, heels clicking through the silence.
"Give it to me," she said.
Luis didn't move. "Ma'am, this recording isn't just about the fall."
"What else?" I asked.
May you like
He glanced down at his phone. "An hour before the gala, I recorded a conversation outside the service elevator. They were discussing how to put your signature on documents you never signed."
THE NIGHT SHE TURNED THE TABLES |
