Chương 6
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
Leah set three mugs on the counter. “You never told me they used pink notices.”
“I told you enough.”
“No, you told me they fired you.”
“They did.”
“You told me Richard Vale accused you of stealing.”
“He did.”
“You didn’t tell me about Morrow Residential.”
Ellen removed the oxygen tube and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“Because I was tired of hearing myself say names that never suffered from being spoken.”
Maren pulled out a chair.
“What was Morrow?”
“A pocket.”
“For money?”
“For responsibility.”
Ellen looked toward the window. Across the courtyard, someone had hung a red towel from a fire escape. A radio played in another apartment, low and staticky.
“Morrow held buildings Graves Energy did not want people to know it controlled,” she said. “Properties near the tower site. Apartments promised to the relocation program. Places they could sell later without putting the company name on the deed.”
“Did Morrow own this building?”
“Not then.”
“Could it now?”
Ellen gave a small shrug. “Companies change names. Paper learns to lie better than people.”
Leah placed tea in front of her.
“Mom, Nathaniel Graves said he signed your termination letter.”
Ellen’s hand tightened around the mug.
“He told you that?”
“In the lobby.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“He usually preferred silence.”
Ruby erased a number.
“He said he should have read your binder.”
Ellen looked at her granddaughter.
“You spoke to him?”
Ruby nodded.
“Was he unkind?”
“No. He scared everybody, though.”
“That sounds more familiar.”
Maren leaned forward. “Do you still have any records?”
Ellen’s gaze moved to Leah, then away.
“Mom.”
“I kept some personal papers.”
“What papers?”
“Nothing that proves what I said.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Ellen’s mouth drew into a thin line. “You learned that tone from me, and I regret it.”
“Where are they?”
“In storage.”
Leah stared at her. “What storage?”
“The church basement.”
“We haven’t attended that church in nine years.”
“Pastor Bell said I could leave one box.”
“Pastor Bell died.”
“Then he is unlikely to object.”
Ruby covered a smile with her hand.
Leah looked at Maren. “This is funny to both of you?”
“Not to me,” Maren said. “But it was a good line.”
Ellen put the oxygen tube back beneath her nose.
“The box contains copies of correspondence, account schedules, and my notes. Some originals were taken during the internal investigation. Others disappeared from my office.”
“Why didn’t you give the copies to a lawyer?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“He told me Graves Energy would bury me in motions until Ruby graduated college. Then he asked for twenty thousand dollars.”
Ruby looked up. “I’m in third grade.”
“Exactly,” Ellen said.
Maren folded the notice and placed it inside a clear sleeve.
“Tomorrow we’ll seek an emergency court order preventing lockout or removal. Tonight, nobody opens the door unless they know who is on the other side.”
Leah sat down.
“What if they cut the heat?”
“Call me.”
“The elevator?”
“Call me.”
“What if they say there’s a gas leak?”
Maren hesitated. “Leave the building and call the fire department. Then call me.”
Leah rubbed her forehead.
“I have to work tomorrow.”
“Can you take leave?”
“I used my leave when Mom was in the hospital.”
Ellen said, “I can go to court.”
“You can barely walk to the bathroom.”
“I can walk farther when insulted.”
Ruby put down her pencil.
“I can miss school.”
“No,” Leah and Ellen said together.
Ruby looked offended.
Maren checked the time. “The legal clinic can send someone to file. I’ll meet you at the courthouse after your shift.”
Leah stared at the pink notice.
“What does Graves Energy want with us now?”
Ellen’s eyes remained on her tea.
“Maybe the same thing they wanted then.”
“What?”
“For us to disappear quietly.”
The video from the Graves Tower lobby appeared online at 9:14 the next morning.
It lasted twenty-two seconds. The person filming had begun after the doors were locked. Nathaniel could be seen standing over Ruby while guards moved behind him. The caption claimed that the billionaire CEO had detained an eight-year-old accused of stealing nine hundred dollars.
The clip did not show the eviction notice.
It did not show Julian’s message.
It did show Ruby clutching the wallet against her chest and asking whether she was going to jail.
By noon, local news vans had parked across from Graves Tower.
Elise Ward called Daniel from a restroom stall.
“I think it came from my desk area,” she said.
“Did you record it?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
“There were eleven people facing the lobby. Maybe more.”
“Security is reviewing footage.”
Elise lowered her voice. “People are saying I accused her.”
“Did you?”
“I questioned her.”
“Based on what?”
“She had Mr. Vale’s wallet.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
The silence stretched.
Elise stared at her shoes beneath the stall door.
“Based on how she looked,” she said.
Daniel did not rescue her.
“I thought someone had sent her in,” Elise continued. “People try things here. Last month a man pretended to deliver flowers so he could reach the executive elevators.”
“He was forty-six.”
“I know.”
“And carrying a knife.”
“I know.”
“Ruby was eight.”
“I know.”
Elise pressed her knuckles against her mouth.
“What happens to me?”
“I don’t know.”
“I have worked here six years.”
“That will be considered.”
“My mother is on my health insurance.”
Daniel’s voice softened, but only slightly. “Do not speak to reporters. Write down everything you remember, including what you said and what Ruby said. Do not improve it.”
Elise closed her eyes.
“Is Mr. Graves going to fire me?”
“He may not remain in a position to fire anyone.”
May you like
The board placed Nathaniel on temporary administrative leave that afternoon.
The announcement described the step as voluntary, though Celia had given him no alternative. Independent counsel would investigate the detention incident, the handling of Julian’s phone, the historical relocation fund, and any current connection between Graves Energy and Bellweather Holdings.
