Chapter 5 - The Room They Locked Me In
Brandon did not ask whether I could walk.
He grabbed me under the arms and hauled me upright.
My left leg folded immediately.
Pain shot from my ankle through my hip, and a cry escaped me before I could stop it.
"Careful," Margaret said.
Not to him.
To me.
As though I were the one causing trouble.
Brandon dragged my right arm over his shoulder and half-carried me toward the villa.
I looked once at the fountain as we passed.
The bronze grate remained untouched.
The USB was still there.
For now.
Inside, the bright afternoon light gave way to cooler shadows and polished marble. The villa looked exactly as it had an hour earlier—fresh flowers, cream walls, quiet art, expensive furniture—except now I knew the house had been prepared for violence.
Brandon took me into a ground-floor guest room instead of toward the front entrance.
"I need a doctor," I said.
"You need to calm down."
"My ribs may be broken."
"Then moving you again could be dangerous."
"You just dragged me across a courtyard."
He lowered me onto the bed.
Margaret closed the curtains.
That frightened me more than anything either of them said.
Brandon placed the security tablet on a dresser and checked my pockets again.
"You're wasting time," I told him.
"Where is the drive?"
"Somewhere you can't reach."
He leaned close.
"You don't understand what you're holding."
"Then explain it."
"It isn't what you think."
"My signature was forged. Money moved out of accounts connected to my trust. You disabled the courtyard camera. Then you threw me off a balcony. Which part am I misunderstanding?"
For a moment, his face flickered.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Margaret noticed too.
"Don't tell her anything," she said.
He straightened.
"I'm trying to keep this from getting worse."
"For whom?"
Neither answered.
Margaret took the tablet from the dresser.
"The remote archive matters more than the drive now."
Brandon looked at her sharply. "No. The drive has the ledger."
Ledger.
I kept my expression still.
That word had not appeared on any file I had opened on the phone.
Whatever was on the USB was larger than the evidence I had already seen.
Brandon realized his mistake a second too late.
"What ledger?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"You said the drive has the ledger."
"I said nothing."
"I heard you."
Margaret's eyes cut toward him with open contempt.
"This is why you should never improvise."
He turned on her. "Maybe if you hadn't pushed the transfer deadline—"
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
I stared.
Brandon stared too.
Margaret lowered her hand as calmly as if she had brushed dust from his lapel.
"Watch your mouth."
He looked at me.
Whatever he had been about to say died there.
Margaret moved to the door.
"We find the drive, we find out what Caleb exported, and then we decide what story she is capable of telling."
She stepped into the hall.
Brandon followed.
I heard the lock turn from the outside.
Then their footsteps faded.
I was alone.
For three breaths, I let the pain take over.
Then I looked at the security tablet Margaret had accidentally left on the dresser.
Its screen was still awake.
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And the access log was open.
📖 See what Emma finds on the unlocked security tablet—and why one deleted camera entry proves the balcony attack was planned before she arrived in CHAPTER 6. 👇
