Chapter 3 - What Claire Took With Her
Claire climbed through the bathroom window onto a narrow fire escape.
She wore no coat, and one of her shoes fell into the alley below. She left it behind.
By the time she reached the coffee shop, Elias was already driving toward her.
She sat at a table beside the cashier, holding a canvas bag against her chest. Her hands would not stop shaking.
Elias entered twenty minutes later.
He did not ask why she had stayed with Ryan. He did not ask why she had ignored earlier warnings. He simply placed his jacket around her shoulders.
“You’re safe,” he said.
Claire shook her head.
“No. I’m not.”
She opened the canvas bag.
Inside was Ryan’s old laptop.
“I wasn’t searching for anything,” she explained. “He asked me to prepare financial documents for his new sponsor.”
While organizing the files, Claire had found payments that made no sense. Fighters were being charged for medical treatment they had never received. Sponsorship money was disappearing into private accounts. Young athletes were pressured into signing contracts they could not understand.
There were also recordings.
Ryan threatening gym members.
Ryan ordering coaches to hide injuries.
Ryan telling someone to destroy security footage after a fighter collapsed during training.
“I copied everything,” Claire said.
“Does he know?”
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“He saw the laptop in my hands.”
Outside the window, Ryan’s black truck stopped across the street.
