My father rubbed his forehead.
“Nothing, as far as I knew. But Reynolds has spent years trying to close that facility. Now we believe he wants it sold to a specific buyer.”
“Who?”
“We haven’t identified the controlling partner.”
I looked at the flash drive in my hand.
“Where did this come from?”
Elena answered.
“Your father’s former assistant, Lydia Chen, copied the files before she resigned.”
“Lydia left six months ago.”
“She was dismissed,” my father said. “Reynolds told me she had accepted a position overseas. In reality, he accused her of leaking confidential records and forced her to sign a nondisclosure agreement.”
“Where is she now?”
“We don’t know.”
I thought of Lydia’s tidy desk and dry sense of humor. She had remembered everyone’s birthdays and kept ginger candies in the top drawer for visitors. When she left, Jasper told me she had always been more ambitious than loyal.
How many of my opinions had originated in his voice?
“The video came from her?” I asked.
“We believe so,” Elena replied. “Camera Six was not part of the official security system. Lydia installed it after noticing that files were being removed from your father’s office.”
“Then why wait six weeks to send it?”
“That is one of the questions we cannot answer.”
The room fell silent except for rain tapping against the hidden windows.
My father pushed the coffee pot aside.
“You need to stay here tonight.”
“No.”
“Camille—”
“I am not hiding in an apartment while Jasper controls the story.”
“Elena believes returning home would be dangerous.”
“Elena also said the tablets probably wouldn’t kill me at the dosage tested.”
“That does not make them harmless.”
“I know.”
My father’s face softened.
“Then stay.”
I met his eyes.
“Did you send me the flash drive?”
“No.”
The answer startled me.
“Elena said you sent her.”
“I sent Elena to watch over you. I did not send the drive.”
“Then who did?”
“We assumed Lydia.”
“But you don’t know.”
“No.”
Mara came to the table and sat beside me.
“Someone wanted Camille to see that recording today,” she said. “On the same day Jasper told her about the accident.”
Elena nodded.
“The timing is deliberate.”
“Could Jasper have sent it?” Jackson asked.
I looked at him sharply.
“Why would he expose himself?”
“To warn her without speaking openly,” he said. “Or to frighten her into making a predictable move.”
My father leaned back.
“There is another possibility. The recording may have been edited.”
“I heard his voice.”
“His voice can be genuine while the sequence is misleading. Elena’s technician is examining the file.”
I thought of Jasper’s expression in the video. He had looked uneasy after Reynolds mentioned the accident, but he had not looked surprised.
“And the payments?”
“Also genuine,” Elena said. “But we need the complete banking trail.”
I stood and walked toward the curtained window.
My reflection hovered faintly in the glass: pale face, damp hair, borrowed certainty falling apart piece by piece.
Behind me, my father said, “There is something else you should know.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
“Jasper came to see me ten days ago.”
I turned.
“What?”
“He asked me to stop pressuring you about the company.”