Chapter 3 - The Broken Thread
The security room was dark, illuminated only by the glow of twenty-four monitors. The guard on duty, a young man named Elias, jumped to his feet as Cole entered.
“Mr. Merritt! I—I’m so sorry, I didn’t recognize you in those clothes—”
“Elias, pull up the service entrance footage from 5:00 PM today,” Cole commanded, setting Lily down on a rolling chair. He kept his hand on the back of the chair to keep her steady. “And get me the personnel file for Maria Delgado.”
“Sir, there’s a note on that file. It was locked by corporate office—”
“I am the corporate office,” Cole said. “Pull it.”
As the footage loaded, Cole watched the screen. He saw Maria. She looked terrified, clutching a small box of personal items. She was being escorted out by a man he didn’t recognize—a security contractor he’d hired only last month.
They weren't just firing her. They were threatening her.
He saw the contractor lean in, whispering something. Maria shook her head, tears streaming down her face. She dropped her box. She ran toward the parking lot, but the gate had been lowered. She turned, panicked, looking for Lily.
The contractor pointed toward the service stairwell. He locked the gate behind her.
Cole’s hand curled into a fist. He wasn't just watching a firing. He was watching an abduction of rights. And then, he saw the person who walked out of the building to meet the contractor.
It was Danielle’s assistant, a woman named Sarah. She handed the contractor an envelope.
Lily, watching the screen, suddenly pointed her small finger at the monitor. “That’s him,” she whispered. “The mean man. He told Mommy she had to go or he’d take me away.”
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Cole looked at the screen, then at the envelope. He realized then that Danielle hadn't just fired Maria. She had been paying people to get rid of her.
But why?
