“Yes, I did.”

She told me the items had been received and the keycard returned through security.

There were no questions about Paige, no whispered request for the rest of the story.

She had a job to do, and I had already made one morning harder than it needed to be.

Upstairs, all twelve directors were present.

Brenda sat at the far end in pearls, beside a stack of documents.

Paige had been asked to attend a limited factual session with her adviser before access and personnel decisions were completed.