Chapter 3 - The Girl Who Looked Broke
Hannah changed in a private locker room.
The white T-shirt went into a plastic laundry bag.
Her black pants were salvageable.
Her canvas sneakers squished whenever she moved.
She refused the designer clothes Alan’s assistant offered from the pro shop.
Instead she put her faded denim jacket back on after drying it beneath a hand dryer.
Noah noticed.
“That jacket is still wet.”
“I know.”
“You have an entire closet at home.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you wearing it?”
Hannah touched the frayed cuff.
“It was Mom’s.”
Noah stopped.
He knew enough not to ask more.
Miriam Morgan had died four years earlier after a long illness.
Before marrying David, she had been a marine engineer who spent more time in shipyards than ballrooms.
She hated clothing that could not survive grease.
The denim jacket had cost less than eighty dollars when she bought it twenty years earlier.
Hannah wore it whenever she needed courage.
Lexi had looked at the jacket and seen poverty.
Hannah saw her mother.
Downstairs, David was on the phone with Morgan Foundation counsel.
When Hannah entered, he ended the call.
“We’re going home.”
“No.”
David stared.
“What?”
“I came here to finish the review.”
“You just had dirty marina water dumped over you.”
“I noticed.”
“Hannah.”
“If we leave now, they control everything that happens after.”
David rubbed his forehead.
“You are not a detective.”
“I never said I was.”
“You are also not supposed to be carrying original interview notes loosely in a backpack.”
Her anger rose.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“You made an avoidable mistake.”
“And Lexi dumped a bucket over me.”
“One does not cancel the other.”
Hannah hated hearing the sentence.
Mostly because it sounded like him.
Mostly because it was right.
“Fine,” she said. “I was careless.”
David’s expression softened.
“Thank you.”
“Can we still find the folder?”
“Yes.”
Noah entered.
“My dad is coming.”
David nodded.
“Good.”
Henry Bennett arrived twenty minutes later.
He was a naval architect whose small engineering firm had worked on Morgan Maritime projects and Harbor Crest marina renovations.
He shook David’s hand.
Then looked at Noah.
“Are you all right?”
“I wasn’t the one drenched.”
“You got involved.”
“I gave Hannah my jacket.”
Henry lowered his voice.
“Grant Hart called me.”
Noah’s face changed.
“Already?”
“He asked whether you understood the importance of member confidentiality.”
Hannah looked at Henry.
“Is your contract in danger?”
Henry gave her a tired smile.
“Contracts are always in danger when powerful men become embarrassed.”
David’s face hardened.
“I can address that.”
Henry shook his head.
“No.”
David looked surprised.
“My company can—”
“I don’t need a rescue contract.”
Hannah almost smiled.
Apparently rich fathers were not the only people tired of David solving problems with money.
Brittany arrived with her mother and a lawyer.
Taylor did not return.
Lexi remained upstairs with Grant.
Brittany’s lawyer allowed a copy of the original phone video to be made.
The footage was ugly.
Lexi carrying the bucket.
Taylor laughing before the water even fell.
Brittany saying, “Do it, Lex.”
Hannah watched herself disappear beneath gray water.
She hated that everyone could replay the exact second.
Then Noah paused the video.
“Go back.”
Brittany frowned.
“To what?”
“Before Lexi walks in.”
They rewound twelve seconds.
Taylor’s voice came from behind the camera.
“That’s her.”
Lexi answered, “Who?”
“The Morgan Foundation girl.”
Hannah looked at David.
Grant had said nobody knew who she was.
Brittany covered her mouth.
“I forgot that.”
David leaned closer.
Taylor’s voice continued.
“She’s been asking scholarship kids questions.”
Lexi appeared at the edge of frame.
“So?”
“Your dad said someone from Morgan might be snooping around.”
Lexi looked toward Hannah.
The bucket was already in her hand.
“She looks like one of the scholarship cases herself.”
Then laughter.
The attack followed.
Hannah felt cold for an entirely new reason.
Lexi may not have known she was David Morgan’s daughter.
But she knew Hannah was connected to the Morgan Foundation review.
David turned toward Brittany.
“Where did Taylor hear that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Grant discuss the review with Lexi?”
Brittany shook her head quickly.
“I don’t know.”
But Hannah saw fear in her face.
“Brittany.”
The girl looked at her.
“I’m not trying to get you in trouble.”
Brittany whispered, “You don’t understand.”
“What?”
“My mom’s company caters every major event here.”
Brittany’s mother went pale.
“Brittany.”
Grant controlled contracts.
Membership referrals.
Junior-team selections.
Social standing.
Hannah suddenly understood what her father’s money had hidden from her.
People did not need to be poor to fear losing everything.
Sometimes they only needed to live in someone else’s system.
David asked Brittany, “Did anyone tell you to delete your video?”
She looked toward the door.
Then nodded.
“Who?”
Before she answered, Alan Pierce hurried into the room.
“Mr. Morgan, we have located the security-system issue.”
David stared at him.
“And?”
Alan swallowed.
“The terrace footage is gone.”
Hannah slowly stood.
“All of it?”
“The local recording failed during that period.”
Noah said, “Convenient.”
Alan bristled.
“Be careful.”
Hannah looked directly at him.
“Was it a failure?”
Alan did not answer.
David asked, “Or was it deleted?”
May you like
Alan’s silence lasted three seconds.
Three seconds too long.
