Chapter 8 - Nathan Quit Before Walter Could Fire Him
Nathan resigned Friday morning.
He did it in writing.
No dramatic visit to the warehouse.
No shouting match.
He thanked the company for eleven years, requested information about final pay and benefits, and asked that future employment communication be in writing.
Then he sat at the kitchen table staring at the email after he sent it.
His relief lasted approximately thirty seconds.
After that came fear.
His mortgage did not care that he had made a principled decision.
Neither did health insurance premiums.
Neither did groceries.
Nathan had savings, but not enough to pretend he was invulnerable.
He spent the afternoon applying for operations jobs.
At four, Diane called.
He let it go to voicemail.
She called again.
Then Walter.
Then Bethany.
Then Daniel.
Nathan answered Daniel.
“You resigned?”
“Yes.”
Daniel swore quietly.
“What?”
“They’re panicking.”
“They’ve been panicking all week.”
“No. This is different.”
Nathan heard voices in the background.
“Where are you?”
“At the office.”
“What’s happening?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Walter just told everyone Monday’s restructuring meeting is canceled. Bethany came in twenty minutes ago. She never comes here.”
Nathan stood.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Daniel added, “Your mother is here too.”
That made even less sense.
Nathan’s resignation affected operations.
Diane had never worked for the company.
Bethany barely did.
Yet all three were suddenly there with Walter.
Nathan asked, “What are they talking about?”
“I can’t hear everything.”
A door opened in the background.
Daniel immediately changed his tone.
“Yeah, I’ll send you the inventory report.”
The call ended.
Ten minutes later he texted Nathan.
Walter asked whether you backed up the bathroom photos.
Nathan read it twice.
The pictures did not affect the company restructuring.
They did not affect Nathan’s resignation.
They did not affect Monday.
Unless Walter’s concern had never really been the company.
Nathan opened the cloud account where he had stored copies after Daniel’s warning.
The photographs were still there.
He downloaded another set to a separate folder.
Then he looked at the first image.
Rosie behind the toilet.
The bruise.
The marks.
A sliver of the open bathroom doorway visible behind her.
Nathan enlarged the image.
Nothing dramatic appeared.
No hidden person.
No miraculous clue.
Just part of the hallway.
And on the floor near the door, almost outside the frame, was a familiar pair of beige heels.
Diane’s.
Nathan stared at them.
The photograph didn’t prove what Diane had done.
But it proved she had been close enough to know Rosie was still inside before Nathan arrived.
And suddenly Nathan understood why his parents kept asking about his phone.
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The photographs weren’t merely evidence against Bethany.
They contradicted Diane.
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