How many cameras cover this commons? Daniel glanced toward the ceiling. Several. Do they record? Yes.
Then pull the footage. Karen's eyes shifted. Maya saw it. Again. That tiny flicker.
Not surprise. Calculation. Walter saw it too. Unless there's some reason you don't want that done. Karen's jaw tightened.
There is no reason. Good. Daniel reached for his radio. Brooke stepped forward. Wait.
Everyone looked at her. For the first time all day, she seemed uncertain. Not afraid. Not yet. But no longer in control.
Maya noticed one of the students near the windows staring down at his phone. He had been recording before the confrontation started. His thumb hovered over the screen. Walter noticed too. What have you got there?
The student looked up. He was pale. I. Brooke's eyes locked onto him. Don't.
The word came out too fast. Too sharp. The student looked at Brooke. Then at Maya. Then at the silent crowd.
His expression changed. Something inside him finally tipped from discomfort into shame. He stepped forward. My video started before she grabbed Maya. Brooke went still.
Karen's face tightened. Daniel lowered his radio. The student held up his phone. You can see Evan shove her. A second student raised her hand.
So can mine. Another voice came from behind the tables. I got Brooke grabbing her jacket. Maya felt the room turn. Not suddenly.
Not cleanly. But unmistakably. For days the phones had been used to reduce her to clips and captions. Now they were becoming evidence. Brooke looked around at the same crowd that had once made her feel powerful.
No one laughed. No one looked entertained. Walter opened his hand. The brass tag rested in his palm. RAC 214.
A small worn piece of metal. Nothing expensive. Nothing impressive. But now everyone knew it belonged to a history Brooke had never bothered to ask about. Maya looked at it and understood something she had not understood before.
Her father's power had never been hidden because it was secret. It had been hidden because people had stopped looking. Walter turned toward Karen. Now, he said, let's find out what the cameras remember. For several seconds Karen Bennett did not move.
Then she looked toward Daniel Cole. Pull the security footage. Daniel nodded once and reached for his radio. The room seemed to change with those four words. Until that moment everything had depended on whose voice carried farther.
Brooke had money. Evan had confidence. Karen had authority. Maya had restraint. Now there would be timestamps.
Angles. Sequence. Things that could not be interrupted or talked over. Daniel spoke into his radio and requested the Student Commons recordings from the previous half hour. Brooke folded her arms.
This is ridiculous. Walter looked at her. If you're telling the truth, the footage helps you. Brooke said nothing. Maya noticed that.