The Cost of Silence and the Fall of Hayes Development
“We are filing the ownership declaration with the SEC this afternoon.”
Victor looked at me, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger and defeat.
“You planned this,” he whispered.
“I only protected what was mine,” I said.
“Something you never learned how to do.”
I stood up and picked up my leather bag.
I did not want to watch him be led back to the holding cell.
“We are finished here, Evelyn,” I said.
“I will be in the lobby.”
I walked out of the room, leaving the blue binder on the table.
The hallway was quiet, the air smelling of ozone from the storm outside.
As I reached the elevator, my phone vibrated in my hand.
It was a text message from an unregistered number.
I tapped the screen to open it.
There was an image attachment.
It was a photograph of a small, cramped apartment kitchen.
On the laminate counter sat a set of keys and an eviction notice with Victor’s name on it.
Below the photo, a message appeared from a number I did not recognize.
“He knows where you are,” the text read.