Chapter 4 - The Price of Desperation
After Grant was removed, the office became painfully quiet.
Ellie had fallen asleep again, her cheek pressed against my shoulder.
I looked at Mr. Vale.
“Am I fired?”
Adrian glanced at him, but Mr. Vale’s expression remained unreadable.
“You brought an infant into a commercial kitchen facility and concealed her in a storage room.”
“I know.”
“You lied to management.”
“Yes.”
“You left her unattended.”
Each sentence felt like a stone.
“Yes.”
Mr. Vale folded his arms.
“Why didn’t you contact human resources?”
I almost laughed.
“Because servers don’t call human resources when their babysitter gets sick.”
“Why not?”
“Because human resources works for the company. Grant made it clear that personal problems were not an excuse.”
“And you believed he had the authority to fire you without review.”
“I watched him fire a dishwasher for taking his diabetic mother to the hospital.”
Mr. Vale looked at Adrian.
“Is that true?”
“I’ll verify it.”
“It’s true,” I said. “Everyone knows.”
Mr. Vale walked toward the dark window.
The city lights reflected across the glass.
“How many employees are afraid to report him?”
“All of them.”
“Why did no one contact me?”
I looked around the massive office.
“Because people like me don’t contact people like you.”
He turned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you arrive in a black car with security. Managers stop breathing when you enter. Employees are told never to speak to you unless spoken to. Your private office has a staircase we can be fired for using.”
“You entered it.”
“My baby was down here.”
“Then fear has limits.”
“Only when love is stronger.”
The answer seemed to affect him.
He looked at Ellie.
“You said Daniel died seven months ago.”
“A construction accident.”
“What happened?”
“A temporary platform collapsed. The investigation blamed the subcontractor.”
Mr. Vale’s jaw tightened.
“Was it one of ours?”
“No. He hadn’t worked for your company in years.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
I hesitated.
“Yes. The building belonged to Vale Properties.”
Adrian looked up sharply.
Mr. Vale’s voice became quieter.
“Which building?”
“The Marston renovation.”
Adrian immediately began typing on the tablet.
Mr. Vale did not move.
I watched his face.
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“Someone died on one of your sites, and you didn’t know?”
“I own thirty-seven companies and interests in more than a hundred properties.”
“That doesn’t make him less dead.”
“No,” he said. “It makes my ignorance less forgivable.”
I regretted the words almost immediately, but he did not become angry.
Adrian turned the tablet around.
“The Marston report lists one fatality. Daniel James. The incident was settled through the contractor’s insurer.”
“Who approved the contractor?” Mr. Vale asked.
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Grant Mercer sat on the vendor committee.”
I closed my eyes.
Even after Daniel had escaped Grant’s influence, the man’s decisions had reached him again.
Mr. Vale walked behind his desk and opened a drawer.
He removed a photograph.
For a moment, he held it with the image facing himself.
Then he placed it on the desk.
The photograph showed a smiling woman holding a little girl with dark curls.
The child appeared to be about three.
“My wife, Camille,” he said. “And our daughter, Rose.”
I looked from the photograph to him.
“Where are they?”
“They died eleven years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
The answer was flat, but pain moved beneath it.
He looked at Ellie.
“Rose was asleep when the car was struck. The paramedics said she probably never woke up.”
My anger softened.
“Is that why you brought Ellie here?”
“Adrian brought her downstairs. I was on the phone with our attorney when she began crying.”
He touched the photograph.
“I thought someone would come for her immediately.”
“But no one did.”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“I picked her up.”
A faint trace of disbelief entered his voice, as though he still did not understand his own decision.
“She stopped crying. Adrian found the bottle and blanket. I fed her. Then she fell asleep.”
“And so did you.”
“I haven’t slept much lately.”
“Because of work?”
“Because sleep is not always restful.”
I understood that better than he knew.
Mr. Vale put the photograph away.
“Your employment will be reviewed.”
My stomach dropped.
“I need this job.”
“You also need childcare.”
“I can solve that.”
“With twenty-eight dollars?”
I stared at him.
“How do you know that?”
“You told me.”
“I didn’t realize you were listening that closely.”
“I listen when people stop being afraid enough to tell the truth.”
He pressed a button on his desk phone.
A woman answered immediately.
“Yes, Mr. Vale?”
“Send Dr. Patel downstairs.”
I tightened my hold on Ellie.
“Why?”
“To examine your daughter.”
“She isn’t sick.”
“She was left on a restaurant floor. I want a physician to confirm she is unharmed.”
“And then?”
“And then you’re going home.”
“Without a job?”
May you like
His eyes met mine.
“Ms. James, if I intended to fire you tonight, you would already know.”
