I removed the phone from its sleeve.
The red timer was still moving.
That became the new sound on the lawn.
Not laughter. Not music. Thirty people realizing their voices had been saved.
I pressed stop.
Vanessa reached toward the phone.
Ethan stepped between us.
“Don’t,” he said.
The young server bent to retrieve his tray.
Beneath it lay a white place card that had been soaked at one corner.
He picked it up, turned it over, and stopped breathing for a moment.
On the back was a list of staff names in Vanessa’s handwriting.
Three had marks beside them.
His name was first.
“What is that?” Ethan asked.
The server hesitated.
Vanessa moved quickly.
“Give me that.”
I took the card before she could reach it.
Ethan read the card twice.
“You planned to dismiss him before he ever tried to help her?”
Vanessa folded her arms.
