Page 35 of Reverse Perspective

“What possibly could you want from this?” I snap.

“Preferably to not be sued,” he says bluntly.

“Then I want answers,” I saw. “I know who did this, but I don’t know how. I’m not telling you anything because it will make you biased but I want answers. I want to know how that camera got there.”

“Police are in the room and have the camera,” Todd says as he slips his phone back into his pocket.

“I am personally going through the hotel security footage to find out who went into that room before you all did. The housekeeping manager said that it was due to be cleaned again by request but as far as she knows, no one actually went down there to do it. Obviously, that’s a lie, but she wasn’t on shift so I can’t exactly blame her.”

“No one requested it to be cleaned again,” Dean says. “The lady at the front desk said it was being cleaned and to give them a few minutes. I didn’t even request that room specifically. I only asked for a suite.”

“Okay. So, I will find out who that was and get answers from her,” Jeff says as he writes himself notes. “I hope you understand that this is going to have a negative impact on us. We have nothing to gain from doing this to you all.”

“How?” I ask.

“We have to be able to assure our guests that their privacy is protected and their safety is guaranteed. Right now, this is the exact opposite of what I want for this hotel. I promise I will find all of the answers that I can for you.”

“In exchange,” Todd says, glancing at me. “They will report that the hotel is being cooperative and supportive. If a private investigator is involved, we expect that you cooperate with them as well.”

“I assure you that anything I have that I can legally give is yours,” Jeff says. “Admittedly, this is out of morbid curiosity, but how do you know each other?”

“We grew up together,” I say. “We’ve been friends since we were five and now we own QuadTech.”

“Ah. I thought I recognized you. A magazine did an article on you a few months back,” he says.

“Mhmm. Apparently, women being in tech is weird,” I say. “Anyway. I expect a statement to be made that expresses your disdain for this situation.”

“That won’t be a problem. I can email it to you for approval first. Is that okay?” he asks.

“Yes. That will be fine,” I tell him. He hands me a piece of paper and I write my office number and my work email. I don’t want people to have my personal information. I get emails for any voicemails left for me, so it’s easier to do it this way.

“Ms. Graves…”

“It’s just Sadie,” I correct him.

“Sadie, I’m sorry this happened,” he says. “I can’t imagine what you are feeling right now. I won’t even pretend to understand how violating this must feel, but I assure you I will help you in any way I can.”

“I appreciate that,” I say. “That doesn’t change the fact that this hotel’s negligence led to this incident. It doesn’t change that our privacy was violated because your employees didn’t do their job.”

“Have your employees never made a mistake, Ms. Graves?” he asks with defensiveness in his tone.

“They’ve never helped release revenge porn,” I yell at him. “They’ve never tried to ruin someone’s fucking life.”

Dean comes over and gently squeezes my shoulder to try and pull me away from my rage. “Hey. It’s okay,” Dean says softly.

“It’s not,” I say with tears in my eyes.

“But it’s going to be. I promise,” he says, cupping my chin. I nod and he softly kisses me before turning to Jeff. “We expect an update soon.”

“Yes, sir,” Jeff says.

“Right now, she is handling things. If I have to be the one to reach out to get an update, you’ll be having a bad day. Understand?”

“I do,” he says simply. Dean nods when he is satisfied.

“Okay. Let’s go home,” Dean says to me. I nod and Jeff walks to the door. He doesn’t say anything else because there’s nothing more to be said. When we get back to the lobby, he turns to us and shakes our hand for the camera to show that they are cooperating with us.

The rest of our group spots us and comes over. “Can someone drive my truck to the house?”

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