You Carter girls always this bossy? Only when necessary. Medical staff from the event arrived a few minutes later. They checked Leon's blood pressure and helped him toward a quieter room. Before he left, he took Naomi's hand.
Thank you. You don't owe me anything. Leon studied her face. Your father used to say that. Naomi froze.
Did you know him? Leon looked surprised by the question. Marcus. Naomi's chest tightened. Before she could ask more, one of the medical staff guided Leyon away.
Nia came back beside her. What was that? He knew dad. Nia looked toward the hallway where Lyon had disappeared. How many people knew Dad?
Naomi glanced toward her gym bag resting behind the service table. The bronze heron was barely visible from where she stood. I'm starting to think more than we knew. Before Nia could answer, Ryan's voice cut through the room. Excuse me.
Too loud. Deliberately loud. Naomi turned. Ryan stood near the entrance to the donor lounge with a security employee beside him. Jake hovered a few feet away.
Charles Whitmore stood farther back talking with President David Mercer and two board members. Ryan pointed directly at Naomi and Nia. I think these two came into the restricted section. The room began to quiet, not all at once. Conversations simply thinned, one cluster at a time.
Naomi felt the familiar pressure settle around her. The security employee looked uncomfortable. "Do you have credentials?" Naomi stared at him for one second, then down at the volunteer badge clipped plainly to her shirt. "Yes," she held it out.
The security employee examined it. Nia folded her arms. "We've been serving food here for over an hour." Ryan shrugged. That doesn't mean you're supposed to be in the donor area.
Naomi looked at him. We were directed here by the event coordinator. Ryan smiled. Can anyone confirm that? Several people in the room could.
Naomi knew it. Nia knew it. Ryan knew it. Nobody spoke. Naomi's eyes moved across the crowd.
An administrator she had served sparkling water to 20 minutes earlier. A donor who had thanked Nia for bringing another napkin. A faculty member who had watched Naomi helped Leon. Faces turned away. Someone lifted a glass.
Another person checked a phone. The silence felt different from the lounge earlier that week. Bigger, more polished, more deliberate. Nia's breathing changed. Naomi could hear it.
She reached sideways and touched her sister's wrist, not to silence her to remind her she was not alone. Ryan noticed the gesture. There, he said, his voice sharpened. That attitude. Nia looked at him.
What attitude? Ryan glanced toward the security employee. They've been confrontational all week. Naomi felt the room tilt, the conduct complaints, the edited video, the repeated language, physically intimidating, could escalate. This was not separate.
It was the same story being performed in public. Now the security employee looked at Naomi. Ma'am, I just need to verify where you were assigned. Naomi nodded once. "Please do."