Chapter 2 - The Thirty-Eighth SignMason Hale looked at Sadie before answering.
His expression softened.
“She died.”
Claire immediately regretted asking.
“I’m sorry.”
“It was twelve years ago.”
Mason said it simply, without inviting sympathy.
His son, Owen, was still signing animatedly with Sadie. Whatever he said made Sadie grin.
Claire watched them, fascinated and ashamed at the same time.
“What was her name?”
“Emma.”
Mason looked toward Owen.
“She was my older sister. Our parents learned ASL. I learned it before I was old enough to understand why other families didn’t.”
The final sentence landed harder than Claire expected.
Victor Landry shifted impatiently.
“Claire, perhaps we can return to business.”
Sadie’s smile disappeared almost instantly.
Claire saw it.
For nine years, Claire had interpreted silence as patience.
Now she wondered how often it had actually been surrender.
“One minute,” she said.
Victor stared at her.
“This transaction is worth seventy million dollars.”
“My daughter is worth more.”
The table went silent.
Victor’s smile tightened.
“Obviously.”
But the word sounded like something said for witnesses.
Mason began stepping away.
“I should let you finish.”
Sadie immediately signed something.
Mason stopped.
Claire caught only one word.
Mom.
“What did she say?”
Mason hesitated.
Sadie repeated herself, more firmly.
Mason looked uncomfortable.
“Maybe you should ask her.”
“I just did.”
“You asked me.”
The distinction embarrassed Claire.
Mason crouched beside Sadie and signed slowly.
Sadie answered.
Then he stood.
“She wants to know why she had to come tonight.”
Claire looked at her daughter.
“Because my sitter canceled.”
Sadie stared blankly.
Claire repeated it verbally before remembering the obvious.
Her hands lifted awkwardly.
She knew the signs for because, sitter, cancel.
Or thought she did.
Sadie gently corrected one of her fingers.
Victor exhaled loudly.
“For God’s sake.”
Mason looked at him.
Victor picked up his wine.
Claire’s phone vibrated.
Her chief financial officer, Daniel Pierce.
She ignored it.
It vibrated again.
Then again.
Claire finally checked.
CALL ME. NOW.
Something cold moved through her stomach.
“Excuse me.”
She stepped away and answered.
“Daniel?”
“Where are you?”
“Bellweather House.”
“Are you with Landry?”
Claire glanced through the glass.
“Yes.”
“Don’t sign anything.”
Claire became still.
“What happened?”
“We found something in the accessibility division audit.”
Whitmore Systems manufactured hospital communication hardware, emergency alert networks, and accessibility software used in public buildings across six states.
Accessibility had been Claire’s personal project.
It was the reason Victor wanted the company.
“What did you find?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Someone altered the firmware specifications on the new emergency notification units.”
Claire’s fingers tightened around her phone.
“Altered how?”
“The visual alert component can fail during a network reset.”
Her eyes moved instinctively toward Sadie.
Visual emergency alerts were essential for Deaf users.
“How many units?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Installed?”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
“At least eighty-seven buildings.”
Claire felt the restaurant tilt beneath her.
Schools.
Hospitals.
Government offices.
Apartment complexes.
“Shut deployment down.”
“I already did.”
“Recall everything.”
“There’s another problem.”
Of course there was.
“The authorization came from your executive credentials.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“Who else knows?”
“Three people here.”
“And Victor?”
“We haven’t told him.”
Claire looked through the glass.
Victor Landry was no longer sitting.
He was standing behind Sadie.
Talking to Mason.
Victor smiled.
Mason did not.
“Daniel, secure every server log. Nobody deletes anything.”
“I already locked the audit files.”
“Send copies to outside counsel.”
“I will.”
Claire ended the call.
When she returned, Mason’s jaw was tight.
“What happened?”
Victor answered first.
“Your new friend was explaining how inadequate your parenting is.”
“I said nothing remotely like that,” Mason replied.
Victor smiled.
“Not in those exact words.”
Claire looked at Mason.
“What did you say?”
Mason glanced toward Sadie.
“She asked Owen whether rich people are always too busy to learn.”
Claire’s heart sank.
Victor laughed.
“Children say ridiculous things.”
Sadie understood his expression even if she could not hear his voice.
Her face closed.
Claire sat beside her.
“Sadie.”
Her daughter would not look at her.
Claire touched her arm.
Sadie pulled away.
That hurt more than Claire expected.
Then Sadie signed.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Claire recognized only two signs.
You.
Never.
She looked helplessly at Mason.
He didn't translate.
“Mason.”
“She wants you to understand her.”
“I don't.”
“That’s the problem.”
Claire stared at him.
The truth could be cruel even when spoken quietly.
Victor pushed his chair back.
“This evening has become absurd.”
He turned to Claire.
“My car is waiting. We can finish discussing the acquisition tomorrow.”
“It’s a partnership, Victor.”
“Of course.”
But his expression said otherwise.
He walked out.
Mason gathered Owen’s jacket.
“We should leave too.”
Sadie immediately looked disappointed.
Owen signed something and handed her a folded paper napkin.
Sadie smiled.
The boys exchanged a quick goodbye.
Mason nodded to Claire.
“Good night.”
“Wait.”
He stopped.
Claire didn't know why she said it.
Maybe because her daughter had spent one hour more alive with these strangers than Claire had seen her in months.
“Could I have your number?”
Mason raised an eyebrow.
“For Sadie and Owen.”
“Right.”
Claire felt unexpectedly foolish.
He took a pen from his pocket and wrote on a receipt.
MASON HALE.
Then a number.
Beneath it, he added:
Start with the alphabet.
Claire looked up.
Mason was already walking away.
That night, after Sadie fell asleep, Claire sat alone in the enormous kitchen of her German Village home.
Thirty-seven signs.
That was all she knew.
She opened her laptop.
Typed:
ASL alphabet beginner.
At 1:17 a.m., her fingers hurt.
At 1:46, she could spell S-A-D-I-E.
At 2:03, she practiced:
I am sorry.
At 2:21, her phone rang.
Daniel.
Claire answered immediately.
“What?”
His breathing was uneven.
“Someone accessed the audit server.”
“When?”
“Eleven minutes ago.”
“You locked it.”
“I did.”
“Then how?”
“They used an executive override.”
Claire stood.
“Whose?”
Daniel was silent.
“Daniel?”
“Victor Landry’s.”
Claire stared into the darkness.
May you like
Then Daniel said something worse.
“Claire, the files are gone.”
Related Stories
