Chapter 11 - THE PHOTO
The image was convincing for about thirty seconds.
Then I noticed the badge.
The woman wore my name, but the photo on the badge was turned backward.
Hospital badges don't turn backward. They clip flat.
I called my supervisor, Dr. Helen Price.
"Emily, I'm required to place you on administrative leave while compliance reviews this."
My chest tightened.
"Helen, I didn't do it."
"I know your record. I'm not accusing you. But the complaint came with photos, dates, and a list of missing narcotics."
"Who filed it?"
"Anonymous."
Of course.
Maya studied the image.
"This isn't random. He wants you scared, unemployed, and easier to pressure."
Robert stared at the screen. "Daniel's cousin Trevor works hospital security."
I knew Trevor. He had been at Christmas dinner.
He had laughed too.
The hospital's access logs cleared me by noon. The photo had been cropped from an old training video and altered.
But the source file had been uploaded from an employee account.
Trevor's account.
When hospital security confronted him, he claimed Daniel had offered him five thousand dollars to "help prove Emily was unstable and dishonest."
Daniel denied everything.
Then Trevor produced the text messages.
My hands shook as I read them.
Make it believable.
She works nights. Use that.
If she loses her job, she'll settle.
I had spent years telling myself Daniel was weak around his mother.
That he was selfish.
That he avoided conflict.
I had not let myself believe he was cruel.
Now I had proof.
That evening, while Robert and I ate takeout in the kitchen, the doorbell camera alerted us.
A black SUV had stopped across the street.
Two men got out.
One carried a clipboard.
The other walked around the side of the house and began measuring the property line.
Robert frowned.
"That's Grant Bell."
The investor Daniel planned to meet.
Grant looked up at my camera and smiled.
Then he held up a document.
May you like
Even through the screen, I could read the heading.
PURCHASE AGREEMENT.
