Chapter 13 - The Woman They Fired
Lucia met us at a diner just after dawn. She was twenty-six, with tired eyes and the posture of someone bracing for blame.
"Rosa said you could help," she told me. "But I have rent to pay. I can't afford to be brave."
"You shouldn't have to choose," I said. "Whatever happens, you'll have independent legal support. That isn't payment for a statement. It's protection from retaliation."
She studied me for a long moment before reaching into her purse.
"I found this stuck under the dressing table in 904." She placed a small memory card on the table. "I copied it because the service crew kept coming back for it."
Priya sealed it in an evidence envelope without opening it. We would give investigators an untouched copy and preserve Lucia's account of how she found it.
"What is on it?" I asked.
"I only checked one file. A spreadsheet. It lists fake cleaning contracts, invoices, dates and names."
"Which names?"
She swallowed. "Martin's. Karl's. And someone from your board."
I thought of the people who had written sympathetic notes after Daniel died, who had told me to take all the time I needed away from work. People I'd trusted with employees' livelihoods.
"Why didn't you report it?"
"I tried." Her voice broke. "I told Audrey. She told me it was a payroll audit mistake. Then a bracelet appeared in my locker and they fired me for stealing it."
"Do you think Audrey planted it?"
"I don't know. I never saw who did."
May you like
Naomi called as the check arrived. The board's emergency motion was now official. An outside investor, Edwin Pike, had signed Martin's petition.
"One more thing," she said. "Pike's company owns Larkspur Facilities."
