Chapter 2 - The Camera That Went Dark.
Claire read the message twice before locking her phone.
The staff corridor suddenly felt much narrower than it had a minute earlier.
Someone knew what had happened.
Someone also knew what was happening to the evidence.
Dennis Crowe was waiting inside the staff office with Human Resources director Marissa Lane.
Marissa had a legal pad open in front of her.
Dennis closed the door after Claire entered.
"Sit down."
Claire remained standing.
"I'd rather not."
Dennis rubbed his forehead.
"This is already difficult enough."
"For who?"
Marissa looked up.
"Claire, we need a factual account."
"Mr. Hale grabbed my wrist."
"Before that?"
"I served his coffee."
"Did you say anything provocative?"
Claire stared at her.
"I told him to release me."
Dennis exhaled heavily.
"You flipped an investor's son onto the lobby floor."
"After he pulled me toward him."
"You could have called security."
"His hand was already on me."
Marissa wrote something down.
"Do you have formal self-defense training?"
Claire paused.
"Yes."
Dennis's eyes narrowed.
"You never disclosed that."
"There wasn't a box for it on the employment form."
"This isn't funny."
"I wasn't joking."
Dennis stood.
"You understand how serious this is."
Claire thought about the message on her phone.
"I understand exactly how serious it is."
The office door opened without a knock.
Adrian Vale entered alone.
Dennis straightened instantly.
"Mr. Vale, this is an internal personnel matter."
"Not anymore."
Marissa closed her legal pad.
Adrian looked at Claire.
"Did anyone ask you to surrender your phone?"
Dennis blinked.
"Why would we do that?"
Adrian ignored him.
Claire answered carefully.
"Not yet."
"Good."
Dennis stepped forward.
"What exactly are you implying?"
Adrian placed his own phone on the table.
"I'm implying that lobby camera four stopped recording ninety seconds after the incident."
Silence filled the room.
Marissa looked at Dennis.
Dennis looked at Adrian.
"Cameras fail."
"Camera four didn't fail."
Adrian's voice stayed quiet.
"Its archive was accessed with an administrator credential."
Claire's stomach tightened.
Dennis frowned.
"You have access to our security system?"
"My company is conducting due diligence before a nine-figure transaction."
Adrian pulled out a chair but did not sit.
"I have access to more than you think."
Marissa spoke first.
"Was the footage deleted?"
"The local copy was."
Dennis relaxed slightly.
Claire noticed.
Adrian noticed too.
"Fortunately, Bellmont's insurance carrier requires an off-site backup."
Dennis's relief disappeared.
"Then there isn't a problem."
"There is if someone believed there wasn't a backup."
Claire's phone vibrated again.
She did not reach for it.
Adrian's eyes flicked toward her apron pocket.
"You received something?"
Dennis turned sharply.
"Claire, give me your phone."
The room went still.
Claire remembered the warning.
DO NOT LET THEM TAKE YOUR PHONE.
She took one step backward.
"No."
Dennis's face hardened.
"Company policy allows us to secure devices relevant to an investigation."
Marissa interrupted.
"That's not exactly what the policy says."
Dennis looked at her with open irritation.
Adrian folded his arms.
"Interesting choice of words, Dennis."
Dennis pointed toward Claire's pocket.
"She could have recorded confidential guest information."
Claire's pulse accelerated.
She had not recorded anything.
At least, she did not think she had.
Then she remembered what happened before the confrontation.
She had used her phone to photograph the breakfast station inventory.
The camera app had remained open when she slipped the phone into the top pocket of her apron.
Could it have captured audio accidentally?
Her phone vibrated a fourth time.
Adrian looked at Claire.
"Read it."
Dennis objected immediately.
"Absolutely not."
Claire pulled out the phone.
The unknown sender had written only six words.
CHECK YOUR 11:14 A.M. VIDEO.
Claire opened her gallery.
There was a three-minute video she did not remember starting.
Her thumb hovered over it.
Dennis moved around the table.
"Hand me the phone."
Adrian stepped between them.
He did not raise his voice.
"Don't."
Dennis stopped.
Claire pressed play.
The video showed almost nothing because the phone had been inside her apron pocket.
The screen was mostly dark fabric.
But the audio was clear.
Trevor's voice came first.
"If Vale doesn't sign by Thursday, my father will make sure the board buries him."
Another man's voice answered.
Claire recognized it instantly.
Dennis Crowe.
"Keep your voice down."
Trevor laughed.
"Relax. By tomorrow, the staff problem will give us the distraction we need."
Claire stopped the video.
Nobody spoke.
Dennis had lost all color in his face.
Adrian looked at him for a long moment.
Then he turned to Claire.
"That incident in the lobby wasn't the beginning."
Claire swallowed.
"Then what was it?"
May you like
Adrian's gaze returned to Dennis.
"A cover."
