Chapter 22 Proving Your Innocence Isn't Easy
“What are you doing, Miss Clancy?” Martin asks, looking down at me.
I’ve ducked down so I can look around the corner. I don’t want anyone to see me. It might be the weekend but that doesn’t guarantee that the company is empty. For one thing, I’m pretty sure Noah will be in his office.
“SHH!” I whisper. “You can’t call me that.”
“There’s no one here. It’s eight in the morning on a Saturday.” The way he says it, makes it clear he would much rather be at home than here helping me.
I don’t say anything as I get back up, darting down the corridor as quick as I can.
Martin’s eyebrows are sky high. I probably look ridiculous. I’m wearing sunglasses and a scarf around my head.
“What do you look like?” he asks, rolling his eyes at me.
I’ve known Martin since I was a little girl. He’s more like an uncle than my grandma’s assistant. Grinning at him, I pull the scarf closer around my face.
“Don’t I look pretty?” I ask, trying my best to keep a straight face.
Laughing, he presses the call button for the lift as I try to act as inconspicuous as possible. The doors open only a few seconds later and I baulk. There standing right in front of us is none other than Noah Grisham. He glances at me briefly before nodding towards Martin.
“Good day,” he says politely, stepping out of the lift.
My heart is in my throat. Fortunately, Noah seems to be distracted and his eyes are on a sheet of papers in his hands. He walks right past me as I silently thank the universe and whatever god might be listening for sunglasses.
We make our way into the lift and I hurry to press the button, repeatedly jabbing at it with my index finger. The doors need to close NOW! He’s walking away but he might turn back. It’s only when the doors close that I feel any sense of relief.
“You didn’t tell my grandma what you were doing today?” I check.
With a shrug, he says, “you asked me not to.”
“That’s never stopped you in the past.”
He doesn’t deny it. Instead, we’re quiet as the lift goes down three floors.
“What are you hoping to find?” he asks as he unlocks the security office and holds the door open for me.
“Er…” I don’t want to admit that I don’t really know. “Evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
I don’t rush to answer him, considering the question seriously.
“I need to know what we’re looking for, Miss Clancy,” he says sternly.
“Don’t call me that,” I tell him, looking around to check that we’re still alone.
Martin takes a seat at one of the desks, logging into the computer and I come to sit next to him, removing my sunglasses.
“Let’s start with Lewis Artie,” I say confidently. “I want to know who he’s spoken to from Design Team One.”
“Yes, mam,” he says, clicking away, pulling up the CCTV from the last week.
If I thought this would be a quick task, boy, was I wrong. We’ve been at it for hours and my stomach is growling. So far, we’ve found nothing. For the majority of the week, Lewis Artie has been hiding out in his office. Holly, his assistant, on the other hand barely spent more than ten minutes at a time sitting behind her desk. She spent the majority of her week, walking the halls and gossiping with the other assistants.
There’s nothing though. She hasn’t spent time in our department or talked to any of the team members. For the most part, I stare at the screen, barely even blinking but as time ticks by, I lose heart.
‘What if I can’t prove it?’ I ask myself silently, staring down at my hands.
Just when I think I’m going to give up, Martin pauses the CCTV feed. I don’t even bother looking at the screen.
“Giving up?” I ask.
“Miss Clancy,” he says seriously, “I’ve found something.”
I turn to look at the screen and there standing in the lobby outside Mrs Clancy’s office are two people, even with the grainy video of the CCTV, I can still recognise them both. Holly Sinclair is accepting an A4 envelope from none other than Noah Grisham.
All the rage I felt yesterday, comes back tenfold. How could he? Talk about self-sabotage! The audacity of the whole thing is unbelievable. As if he was going to let me take the fall for what HE did!
“Miss Clancy,” Martin tries to get my attention but I’m already on my feet, my scarf falling to the ground. I’m ready to barge into his office with the evidence I’ve found.
“Miss Clancy,” he says again.
“What Martin?” I reply.
“This doesn’t prove anything,” he says. “I sincerely doubt that Mr Grisham would…”
“How can you defend him? The evidence is right there!” I’m angrily pointing at the screen. Leaning down, I hit the print button.
“I’m serious, Eden. It doesn’t prove anything.”
“I don’t care. Even if it’s not proof…”
“What? All you can tell him with this,” he says, holding up the printed sheet, “is that he’s slightly more suspicious than you are.”
“Isn’t that the point?”
“No, Miss Clancy,” he says, shaking his head. “The point is that someone, Mr Grisham or someone else stole your team’s idea. Surely Eden, that’s more important than proving your own innocence.”
Damn it! I hate Martin sometimes. He’s right, of course, and that’s exactly why he’s so annoying.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
