Roses Revenge novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: Her Signature

The man in the camel coat held a press conference on Monday morning, on the sidewalk in front of the Brewer Labs building.

He wanted the cameras, so I gave him the cameras.

I arrived at nine with Elliot on my left and the lawyer on my right, and I walked straight up to the front of the crowd.

Colton stood behind his lawyer in a navy suit, with a fresh bandage and a face made up for television.

"My client is a victim of a vindictive former employee," the lawyer was saying.

"Ms. Haverty approved the vehicle lease in writing."

"Here is her signature."

He raised the sheet again. Forty phones raised with it.

"She approved the lease, she hid it, and now she accuses a man who trusted her."

"Can I see that?" I asked.

The lawyer smiled at me with all his teeth.

"By all means. A copy has been provided to the police."

He handed it over.

It was a paper form with the Brewer Labs logo, and it said Vehicle Request, Approved.

The signature at the bottom was almost mine.

The R had my tall first stroke. The H had my crossbar.

The y at the end of Haverty curled the wrong way.

"This isn't mine," I said.

"Of course you'd say that."

"I have never signed a paper form at Brewer Labs."

The reporters leaned in.

"Every approval in this company goes through the portal, and it has for three years. I set that up myself, because Colton kept losing paper."

Colton's smile slipped for a moment. He put it back.

"The portal is a matter for the court," the lawyer said.

"The portal is open right now," said a voice behind the reporters.

The junior engineer from the all-hands pushed through the crowd in the same gray sweatshirt.

He had a laptop under one arm.

"Every approval Rose ever made is logged with her user ID and her device," he said. "There isn't one for any car."

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