"Because it's the right thing," he said. "And because," he stopped, let out a short breath. "Because you're one of the four people in that building who tells me the truth. and I don't have so many of those that I can afford to let someone take one of them down for something they didn't do. He left before she could respond. It took him 40 minutes.
The backup system on 12 was exactly where he knew it would be running exactly on the schedule he'd overseen for 2 years. He pulled the 900 p. m. backup from the previous night. The revision history on the three flag documents was intact, complete, and crystal clear. The early drafts with Victoria's preliminary notes were there. So were the final versions timestamped eight weeks later with her actual positions documented in full.
Positions that were materially different positions that proved without any ambiguity that the leaked framing was a deliberate distortion. He copied the files to an encrypted drive that belonged to the building's IT department, which meant it was within his operational scope to touch. and he wrote up a maintenance log noting that he had conducted a routine backup verification as part of scheduled server room oversight which was true because he did scheduled backup verifications just not usually on this particular Wednesday he brought the drive to Clare get this to Victoria's attorney he said not to the board directly to her attorney before noon Clare took it looked at him said thank you Mr. Reed. There it was again, Mr. Reed.
He went back to work. He spent the rest of the morning on the third floor fixing the pressure issue in the men's restroom that had been incorrectly logged for 8 months. It took him 4 hours and required exactly the kind of focused, methodical, unglamorous work that he had built his professional life on. He cut into the wall. He found the problem.
He fixed it correctly. He documented it thoroughly. By 2 p. m. he heard through the building that Victoria's attorney had contacted the board with the backup documentation and a formal notice of legal action against Saurin and by extension the Hawthorne Group for tampering with corporate records and torchious interference. By 300 p. m. he heard that two of the four board members had quietly reversed their position on the temporary removal recommendation. By 400 p. m. he heard that Richard Hawthorne had called an emergency meeting with his own attorneys.
Marcus was patching the wall in the third floor restroom when Gerald came to find him. Gerald stood in the doorway of the restroom looking at Marcus with an expression that Marcus couldn't immediately read. Not upset, not concerned. Something more complicated. The CEO wants to see you, Gerald said.
Tell her I'll be there in 20 minutes. I need to finish patching this. Gerald blinked. She's Marcus. She's the CEO.
I know who she is. Marcus said calmly. I've got wet plaster on this wall. If I leave it now, I'll have to redo the whole section. 20 minutes.
Gerald left. Marcus finished the patch. He went upstairs. Clare didn't make him wait this time. She opened the office door herself.
Victoria was on her feet. She had two of her attorneys in the room and a woman Marcus didn't recognize who had the posture and expression of someone forensic, probably an investigator. They all looked up when Marcus came in. Victoria held up one hand and her attorneys understood because they both nodded and left the room and the investigator followed. And then it was just the two of them again.