Chapter 3
The hallway upstairs smelled of bleach, stale coffee, and damp paper.
Jasper and Reynolds disappeared into the signing room to “review details,” leaving me on a wooden bench beneath a buzzing fluorescent light.
My hands would not stop sweating.
The rag was still inside my purse.
Filthy.
Folded too carefully.
Hidden too deliberately.
After two minutes, I stood.
“I need the restroom,” I told the receptionist.
She pointed down the hallway without looking up.
Inside the bathroom, I locked myself in the last stall and pulled out the rag.
My heart was beating so hard I could hear it.
I unfolded the cloth.
A tiny black USB drive dropped into my palm.
A white label was taped to it, but the writing was too smudged to read clearly.
Still, I knew one thing.
Someone had risked something to get this to me.
I closed my fist around it.
When I returned to the hallway, Jasper was waiting outside the signing room.
His jaw was tight.
“Where were you?”
“Bathroom.”
“You took a long time.”
“I felt dizzy.”
His smile vanished.
“Don’t start this.”
The words were quiet, but they hit exactly where he meant them to.
For years, Jasper had made me feel dramatic whenever I hesitated. Confused whenever I questioned him. Ungrateful whenever I wanted proof.
But the USB in my purse changed the air around us.
“I can’t sign today,” I said.
His face went still.
Behind him, Mr. Reynolds appeared in the doorway.
The two men exchanged one silent look.
That look told me more than any document could.
May you like
They were not disappointed.
They were afraid.
