Chapter 3 - The Woman in Room 814
I woke beneath harsh hospital lights with my father sitting beside the bed.
For one brief moment, I believed I was twenty-six again.
I believed the previous seven years had been a nightmare.
Then I tried to move.
Pain burned across my shoulders, back, wrist, and thigh.
My left arm had been placed in a temporary brace.
A bandage covered my palm.
My father leaned forward immediately.
“Don’t move.”
“What time is it?”
“Four eighteen.”
“Matthew?”
“He ran.”
My heart tightened.
“The police found Lauren’s apartment empty.”
“They left through the service stairwell less than two minutes before officers reached the door.”
“Where would he go?”
“We’re finding out.”
My father’s voice was controlled, but exhaustion darkened the skin beneath his eyes.
A woman in a navy suit entered the room.
She introduced herself as Detective Elena Ortiz.
She placed a recording device on the table and asked whether I felt capable of speaking.
My father rose.
“I’ll wait outside.”
“No.”
I caught his sleeve.
“Stay.”
Ortiz looked at me carefully.
“Mrs. Hayes, your husband’s attorney has already contacted the department.”
“What did he say?”
“That there was an argument involving alcohol.”
“That you injured yourself after throwing a glass object.”
A humorless laugh escaped me.
“Of course.”
“He also claims the cane was never used against you.”
My father’s fingers tightened around the chair.
Ortiz continued.
“We have the physical evidence from the apartment.”
“We have photographs.”
“We have your medical examination.”
“And we have the second phone.”
I looked toward my father.
“Henderson found it?”
“Yes.”
“The device was damaged, but the recording appears to have been stored remotely.”
Ortiz opened a folder.
“The account belongs to Lauren Thorne.”
“She was listening.”
I said.
Ortiz nodded.
“The recording includes Mr. Hayes speaking to her before the assault.”
My stomach turned.
“What did he say?”
Ortiz hesitated.
I already knew the answer would hurt.
“Tell me.”
“He said he would show Lauren that you had no power over him.”
I closed my eyes.
The room became unbearably still.
He had not lost control.
He had performed.
Every blow had been a demonstration.
Every number had been meant for an audience.
Ortiz slid a photograph across the table.
It showed the black phone beneath the sofa.
A message had appeared on the screen seconds before Henderson picked it up.
You promised she would sign tonight.
“What was I supposed to sign?”
I asked.
My father looked away.
He knew.
“Dad.”
Richard slowly reached into his briefcase.
He removed a document bearing my name.
At the bottom was a flawless copy of my signature.
It authorized the sale of NexusCore’s most valuable technology to a private company called Helix Crown.
May you like
The sale price was one dollar.
The transaction was scheduled to close at nine o’clock that morning.
