Chapter 3

The two security guards stepped forward and grabbed my arms, one on my left and one on my right.

They dragged me down the hall roughly.

Once they threw me inside the records room, they locked the metal door behind me. The sound of locks and chains echoed in the empty hallway.

One guard shouted through the door. "Stay put! When the chairman gets here, you'll get what you deserve!"

I pounded on the door. "This is unlawful imprisonment! You can't hold me here! This is against the law!"

No one answered me. All I could hear was their footsteps fading down the hall.

The records room had no windows to the outside, only one light bulb on the ceiling. I leaned against a metal shelf and checked my smartwatch.

It was still recording.

At noon, I could hear the sound of high-heels getting closer to the metal door.

Jane held up a sheet of paper and waved it outside. "Mavis, your resume says your parents live far out in the countryside, right? I've already found their address."

She pressed the resume against the glass and pointed to the address. "Hayville. It's so deep in the mountains. What a miserable little backwater town."

Thomas stood beside her and lit up a cigarette. "I know a few people near your hometown. If you don't sign that confession and put your thumbprint on it before the chairman's inspection this afternoon, your poor parents may end up with a few broken ribs."

My eyes immediately turned cold.

There had always been rumors that Thomas was once with the gangsters. He had managed to get into his current position by using dirty methods to settle several disastrous accounts for the previous branch manager.

He might dress like someone respectable, but beneath his suit, he was still the same thug.

I stared at them through the glass. "Touch my family, and see what happens."

Jane mistook my anger for fear and doubled over laughing.

"If you're scared, sign the confession. Once you sign, the company will cover the shortfall. I might even leave you ten dollars for the trip home."

She tossed the confession and a pen through the opening.

"Think carefully."

They turned and left.

I spent three hours in the records room.

That afternoon, hurried footsteps sounded outside.

The head of security spoke over the radio, panic in his voice. "Thomas! The inspection team from headquarters is in the underground garage. The chairman is here personally!"

Thomas's voice crackled over the radio. "Hurry! Drag her out! Get her thumbprint on that confession before the chairman reaches this floor!"

A key scraped violently in the lock.

Four guards rushed in with the ink pad and the confession letter.

Jane followed behind them, her face twisted with rage.

"Hold Mavis down! Break her hand if you have to, but get her thumbprint on that paper!"