Vitacorp still scares most people. But I’ve got contacts who aren’t afraid of Greg Sanders. Thank you, Ethan said.
She studied him for a moment. You look different, Ethan. The last time I saw you, you were a man trying to save his reputation.
Now, you look like someone trying to save something real. He smiled faintly. Maybe I finally figured out what’s worth saving.
They agreed to meet again in two days. As she left, she turned back once. Be careful.
Greg’s the kind of man who doesn’t bury mistakes. He buries people. Ethan left the cafe with her warning echoing in his head.
Back in Harlem, Anna and Loretta were sitting on the stoop playing cards. Anna waved as he approached. You were gone all day.
Did you find something? Not yet, he said, crouching beside her. But I met someone who’s going to help. Loretta looked up from her cards.
That woman on the news? The one who called your trial a circus? Ethan chuckled. The same one. Well, Loretta said, gathering the cards.
Circus or not, sounds like you’re finally picking your fight. That evening, Ethan helped Anna with her homework at the kitchen table. She was learning multiplication and kept counting on her fingers.
Eight times six, he asked. She frowned. Forty, eight.
Close, he said. Try again. She sighed dramatically.
Math is hard, he smiled. It used to be hard for me, too. You’re smart, though, she said.
Mama said you were the kind of smart that makes other people nervous. Ethan froze, remembering the day Janelle had told him something similar. Maybe too smart, she’d said back then, smiling.
Smart people get trapped in their own heads. Anna tilted her head. You okay, mister? Eh? Yeah, he said softly.
Just remembering your mom. Later that night, when Anna went to bed, Ethan stepped out onto the fire escape. The city glowed beneath him, a tapestry of light and noise.
Somewhere out there, Greg Sanders was still free, still powerful, still lying. Ethan took a deep breath. He wasn’t that man on the bridge anymore.
He had purpose now. And that purpose had a name. Anna.
Two days later, Jennifer called. You were right, she said. I found Janelle Johnson’s old employee file.
Greg tried to have it deleted, but an IT tech archived it off-site. She reported irregularities in company accounts three months before she resigned. Her report was marked, Confidential for Executive Review Only.
The only people who saw it were you and Greg. Ethan’s grip tightened on the phone. I never saw it.
I believe you, Jennifer said. Which means Greg buried it. There’s something else you might want to sit down.
I’m listening. Um… She transferred a copy of her report to an external drive before she died. I traced it to her last known address in Harlem.
Ethan’s pulse quickened. Loretta’s apartment. Possibly, Jennifer said.
If the drive still exists, it could prove your innocence. But if Greg finds out, he won’t stay quiet. When the call ended, Ethan stood in the hallway, his heart pounding.
Loretta stepped out of the kitchen. You look like a man who just found a ghost. He nodded slowly.
Maybe I did. Uh, what kind? The kind that can change everything. That night, while the city slept, Ethan sat by the window, watching the fog roll across the Harlem rooftops.
He thought of Janelle, of Greg, of the drive that might still hold the truth, and as he watched the first light of dawn creep over the horizon, he whispered to himself. This time, I won’t run. Ethan spent the next morning pacing the apartment, his mind racing.
Every sound made him flinch the groan of pipes, a door closing somewhere down the hall, the buzz of the city below. Loretta watched him from the kitchen, stirring a pot of oatmeal. You’re wearing a hole in my floor, Mr. Walker.
Sit down before I start charging rent. He managed a thin smile. Can’t sit.
Not yet. She raised an eyebrow. Then whatever’s eaten you, spit it out.
Ethan lowered his voice. Loretta? Jennifer found something. Your daughter Janelle, she filed a report about Greg Sanders.
The man who framed me. It was deleted, but she saved a copy. On an external drive, Loretta’s spoon froze in midair.
A drive? You think it’s here? It has to be, he said. This was her last address. If she hid it anywhere, it’d be somewhere close to Anna.
Loretta set the spoon down slowly. Lord have mercy. You mean she died trying to protect proof against that man? Ethan nodded, guilt washing through him.
If I’d been paying attention back then, if I’d asked questions, I might have saved her. Stop right there, Loretta said firmly. You didn’t kill my baby, and guilt won’t bring her back.
But if that proof can clear your name and show the world what she died fighting for, then you better find it. Anna wandered in, rubbing her eyes. What proof? Ethan knelt in front of her.
Hey sweetheart, remember when your mama used to tell you that secrets can be good if they protect people? Anna nodded solemnly. She said some secrets are like light, you hide them until the dark’s gone, right? Ethan said softly. I think your mama left one of those lights behind.
Something to help make things right. Anna’s eyes widened. You mean like, a superhero clue? Exactly like that, Loretta exhaled.
Well then, let’s find your mama’s light. They started in Janelle’s old room, a small space that Loretta now used for storage. The wall still had faint marks where family photos had once hung.
The bed was neatly made. A folded quilt at its foot. Ethan knelt by the dresser, opening each drawer carefully.
Receipts, letters, an old church bulletin but nothing that looked like a drive. Anna climbed onto the bed, her little hands brushing over the quilt. Mama made this, she said proudly.
Said every stitch was a prayer. Ethan’s eyes softened. She must have loved you very much.
Loretta rummaged through a closet, muttering. If she hid something. She didn’t make it easy.
Janelle was careful, Ethan said. She knew Greg would come after anyone who crossed him. If she suspected something, she wouldn’t leave it where he could find it.
Anna suddenly gasped. Wait. Mama used to tell me a story about angels hiding treasure under the floorboards so bad people couldn’t steal it.
Loretta looked up sharply. Under the floorboards? Anna jumped off the bed and pointed to the corner near the window. Right there.
She said angels keep secrets under the window so the sun can find them first. Ethan’s heart kicked. He crossed the room, knelt, and ran his fingers along the floor.
One of the boards felt loose. Loretta, do you have a screwdriver? She returned with a small toolbox. Ethan pried up the plank carefully.
Beneath it lay a thin envelope wrapped in wax paper and a small flash drive, dusty but intact. He lifted it slowly, reverently. The room was silent except for the faint hum of traffic outside.
Anna whispered, that’s it isn’t it? Ethan nodded. Yeah kid, this is your mama’s light. Loretta crossed herself.
Thank you, Jesus. He slipped the drive into his pocket and replaced the board. His pulse was hammering.
I need to get this to Jennifer. If the data’s still there, it’ll prove everything. Loretta frowned.
And if that man finds out? He can’t, Ethan said. Not until we know what’s on it. That afternoon, he met Jennifer at a small public library, on 145th Street.
The computer lab was empty except for a student dozing over his laptop. Jennifer looked up as Ethan entered. You found it? He placed the drive on the table.
Janelle hid it. Under a floorboard, Jennifer gave a low whistle. Smart woman, she plugged it into her laptop.
The screen flickered, loading a series of folders labeled Accounts Internal Memos and Confidential As they clicked through, Ethan’s breath caught. There were spreadsheets showing offshore transfers, fake vendor invoices, and internal emails between Greg and two board members. Each document was timestamped and digitally signed.
This is it, Jennifer murmured. It’s everything. She opened a video file.
Janelle appeared on screen, thinner than he remembered but composed. Her voice was steady. If you’re seeing this, I couldn’t deliver this myself.
Greg Sanders has been falsifying reports and moving company funds. I’ve tried to report it internally. But my messages are being intercepted.
I’ve copied everything here. If something happens to me, please protect my daughter, Anna, and make sure the truth comes out. The screen froze.
Ethan pressed his hands over his face. Jennifer whispered. She knew.
She knew he’d come after her. He nodded, his throat tight. And now he’s going to come after us.
Jennifer saved multiple encrypted copies of the files and handed him one on a separate drive. We’ll give this to the authorities. But Ethan, you need to be careful.
Greg still has friends in high places. I can handle it, Ethan said. But I won’t let him bury Janelle twice.
When Ethan returned to Harlem, the evening sky was bruised purple. Anna ran to meet him. Did you find Mama’s light? He smiled, kneeling to her level.
I did. And it’s brighter than ever. She threw her arms around his neck.
Mama’s gonna be so proud. Loretta stood in the doorway, tears glistening. Whatever comes next, you remember, Mr. Walker.
God don’t give you battles to break you. He gives you battles to build you, Ethan nodded. Then I guess it’s time to fight.
Do. That night, as he sat by the window watching Harlem glow beneath the streetlights, Ethan felt something shift inside him. For months, he’d lived like a man who’d already died…
