Chương 14
Lenora looked at her.
“I haven’t seen it in months.”
“How many?”
“Maybe six.”
“Did you report it missing?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Lenora gave a small, defensive shrug.
“Because I did not need it.”
Caldwell stared at her.
Saraphina could see anger rising again.
She intervened.
“A lost badge does not explain forged signatures.”
“No.”
Elise nodded.
“But it might explain physical access.”
Derek looked toward the ballroom doors.
“If someone used the badge, there may be access logs.”
“Two years back?”
“Maybe.”
“Find out.”
He nodded.
Caldwell looked at Saraphina.
“You believe her?”
Saraphina glanced at Lenora.
“I believe she kept a badge.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“I know.”
Lenora stood abruptly.
“I am not staying here to be accused of theft.”
“No one accused you.”
Saraphina kept her voice even.
Lenora laughed bitterly.
“You are all looking at me like I forged your name.”
Caldwell stepped toward her.
“No one said that.”
“You did not have to.”
“Mom.”
“No.”
She clutched her handbag.
“I have defended you your entire life.”
Caldwell’s face tightened.
“This is not about that.”
“It is always about that.”
“What does that even mean?”
Lenora looked at Saraphina, then back at Caldwell.
“You let her turn you against me in one night.”
Caldwell stared.
Saraphina felt anger flare again.
“I have said almost nothing about you.”
“You do not need to.”
Lenora’s eyes shone.
“You stand there with that calm face and make everyone else look hysterical.”
Saraphina opened her mouth, then closed it.
The accusation echoed something she had considered earlier.
Lenora saw the hesitation.
“That is what you do.”
Saraphina felt a strange, unwanted shame.
Then Caldwell spoke.
“She is not doing anything.”
Lenora looked at him.
He continued.
“You are making this about yourself.”
Her face changed.
The sentence seemed to wound her more than any accusation of fraud.
Caldwell saw it too.
He looked away.
Lenora took one breath.
Then another.
“I want my medication.”
Saraphina nodded.
“I’ll authorize an escort to the house.”
“I do not want your escort.”
“You cannot enter without one.”
Lenora’s lips trembled.
She hated that fact.
Saraphina hated enforcing it.
Elise raised her phone.
“I can arrange it.”
Lenora looked at Caldwell.
“Are you coming?”
He hesitated.
That pause was enough.
Lenora’s face closed.
“Of course.”
She turned and walked toward the doors alone.
Caldwell started after her.
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Martin Kessler.
Everyone saw the name.
Nobody spoke.
Caldwell answered.
“Martin?”
For several seconds, he only listened.
Then his face lost all color.
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“No.”
Another.
Saraphina stepped closer.
“What is he saying?”
Caldwell held up a hand.
His eyes stayed fixed on nothing.
“Martin, listen to me.”
The voice on the other end was too faint to understand.
Caldwell’s expression tightened.
“No police?”
Elise moved immediately.
Caldwell turned away from her.
“Why?”
Saraphina watched his face.
Fear again.
Different this time.
Personal.
Caldwell whispered, “Who has your daughter?”
Derek went completely still.
Elise reached for Caldwell’s arm.
“Put it on speaker.”
Caldwell shook her off.
“Martin, where is Anna?”
The voice came faster.
Caldwell’s eyes closed.
Then the call ended.
He lowered the phone.
Saraphina felt her stomach drop.
“What happened?”
Caldwell stared at the screen.
When he finally looked up, the anger was gone.
“Martin says the archive is bait.”
Derek swallowed.
“For what?”
Caldwell looked at Saraphina.
“To make us expose which records we still have.”
Elise’s face hardened.
“And his daughter?”
Caldwell’s voice came out barely above a whisper.
“He says someone sent him a photograph of her outside her apartment ten minutes ago.”
Saraphina felt every instinct in her body turn toward action.
“Call the police.”
Caldwell shook his head.
“He said not to.”
“I heard.”
“They told him they would hurt her.”
“That is exactly why we call.”
Sloan had stopped near the doors.
Her face had gone pale.
Derek looked at Saraphina.
“What if they’re watching?”
“They probably are.”
Caldwell stared at her.
“You cannot gamble with his daughter.”
Saraphina met his eyes.
“No.”
Her voice steadied.
“But we are not going to let whoever did this decide what everyone does next.”
Elise was already moving before anyone answered.
She took three steps away from the group, called someone, and lowered her voice until Saraphina could only hear fragments.
“Possible coercion.”
“No direct contact yet.”
“Yes, preserve the number.”
Caldwell stared at her.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting people involved who know more about threats than we do.”
“He said no police.”
Elise looked at him.
“He is frightened.”
“That does not make him wrong.”
“No.”
“It means we do this carefully.”
Saraphina turned to Derek.
“Where does Anna live?”
“Brooklyn.”
“Alone?”
“I think so.”
“Do you have her number?”
Derek shook his head.
Caldwell did.
Everyone looked at him when he said it.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Martin put me down as an emergency contact after his divorce.”
Saraphina stared at him.
“You knew her?”
“When she was younger.”
A strange silence followed.
There were entire parts of Caldwell’s life she had stopped asking about.
Not because they were secret.
Because over time marriage had become logistics punctuated by appearances.
He unlocked his phone.
“I can call her.”
Elise stepped back toward them.
“No.”
“Why?”
“If the threat is real and someone is monitoring her, an unexpected call could change behavior.”
Caldwell’s jaw tightened.
“So we just do nothing?”
“We do not improvise.”
Saraphina looked at Elise.
“What can we do?”
“Verify immediate safety through someone local without alerting whoever sent the photograph.”
Derek spoke quietly.
“I know the building manager.”
Everyone turned.
He lifted both hands.
“Martin complained about the management company for months.”
Saraphina almost laughed.
Of course he had.
Martin complained about loose staples.
“Call the manager.”
Elise nodded.
“Do not mention threats.”
Derek stepped away.
Caldwell watched him go.
“This is insane.”
Saraphina looked at him.
“No.”
May you like
Her voice was low.
“This is what happens when people stop reading things because they trust the person who put them in front of them.”
