Page 50 of The Birthday Girl
Vega leaned across the desk, his eyes burning. “I want her to pay, and now I’ve got proof Lawson is being butchered. And it all connects to Tahlia Banks. If we don’t drag that woman into the light, Shanice and those innocent babies would have died for nothing.”
“You better hope your instincts are right, because if they’re not, Vega—” Harper’s voice hardened, “—you won’t have a badge to hide behind for much longer. You get one shot, Marcus. Don’t fuck it up.”
18- Lights, Camera, Action
Tahlia’s voice filled the boardroom. “Quarter four outperformed projections by eleven percent,” she said, clicking the remote in her hand. The screen behind her lit with graphs that told a story of her strength in the boardroom. “If we want to sustain momentum, the Lakeshore project must break ground before the first of the year.”
She glided to the screen and tapped the rising curve with a manicured nail. “These numbers prove the difference between us and everyone else. We dictate. If anyone here does not understand what that means, speak now. Failure will never be tolerated.”
The silence that followed was absolute as heads shook around the table.
Tahlia allowed herself the smallest smile. “Good. Then let us move on to expansion into—”
The double doors banged open, and her head snapped in its direction. Heather, Tahlia’s assistant, hurried inside, cheeksflushed, eyes wide, and breathless as though she had sprinted the length of the building. Ezra, her publicist, followed close behind with a tablet clutched tight against his chest, sweat glistening on his hairline.
Tahlia placed the remote down with a soft click and pivoted toward the interruption. "I believe we discussed the sanctity of board meetings, Heather," she said, her voice like chilled steel as she glared at her assistant.
Heather's throat bobbed. “Ms. Banks... the lobby's swarming with media. They've formed a gauntlet at every exit. No one can leave without getting microphones shoved in their faces.”
Ezra stepped forward before Tahlia could respond. His tone was urgent, the words tumbling out fast. “It’s not just the press. It’s the internet. That’s why I came here instead of calling. You need to see this now.”
He tapped the tablet awake, the glow splashing across his tense face. As headlines scrolled across the screen, the air in the room shifted with them.
Before addressing Ezra, Tahlia’s gaze swept the table, and she dismissed her employees with a flick of her hand. “That will be all for today. Leave us.”
Chairs scraped back in uneasy silence, and the staff members quickly filed from the room. Only when the doors shut behind them did she turn her attention fully to Ezra.
“Show me.”
Ezra unlocked his tablet with shaking hands and angled it toward her. “News broke this morning, Ms. Banks,” he said, voice low but urgent. “Not just local, but national. Tyriq Lawson’s disappearance hit every major outlet before sunrise.”
Headlines scrolled across the screen, each more damning than the last:
“Top Criminal Defense Attorney Tyriq Lawson Reported Missing.”
“Where Is Tyriq Lawson? High-Profile Lawyer Vanishes Without a Trace.”
“Ex-Fiancée Tahlia Banks Silent as Tyriq Lawson Becomes a Missing Person.”
The comment sections bled with speculation, brutal and unrelenting:
FreshAsImIs:She did it. No way she didn’t.
HotMama1986:It’s really convenient that he just went missing like that. You can’t tell me that hoe ain’t guilty. Does anyone remember that chick posting a picture of his head between her legs?
MommyYo:Something’s off with that bitch. You can’t tell me she didn’t kill that nigga.
Ezra swiped to another screen, his throat tight as he forced the words out. “Every outlet has your name next to his, and the internet has already decided you’re guilty.”
Tahlia’s eyes flicked over the screen, each headline more dreadful than the last. Her manicured finger slid across the glass, scrolling slowly, until a single image stopped her cold.
The photo filled the tablet, and it showed Tyriq’s head busted and bleeding, his profile turned to the side for the world to recognize him. And there, blurred in the background, was Tahlia, caught with a bottle in her hand.
Tahlia’s stomach tightened, though her face betrayed nothing. “Where did they get this?” She asked, her voice betraying the turmoil she felt inside.
“I don't know the source, but the image matches frames from that video I confiscated from Mercedes. She must have backed it up or sent copies before I got to her.”
“How did you not make sure you had everything?” Tahlia's voice sliced through the air, her palm slamming against the conference table with enough force to make the tablet jump.
