You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 508

"Brandon."

"Brandon, wake up. We’ve got work."

Brandon was stretched out in a chair in the break room, a jacket flung over his face as he tried to nap. He’d barely drifted off when someone shook him awake.

"Come on, up. Now."

He groaned. "What is it? Your wife finally in labor?"

His coworker kicked him in the leg. "Wilma’s case. We’ve got a lead. Check your phone—watch the video."

"This woman is unreal. She put together all the evidence, posted it online, and nailed them. With what’s in this video, we could go after Emerson for real."

Brandon bolted upright, heart pounding, and grabbed his phone. He scrolled to the news, and a woman’s calm, steady voice played through the speakers. She spoke so clearly, so smoothly, like she’d practiced these words a thousand times. Every sentence hit hard.

All around him, coworkers started buzzing.

"Where has she even been this whole time? We searched everywhere and came up empty."

"She’s gotta have someone powerful backing her."

"Seriously, who could teach her to pull something like this off?"

As Brandon listened, an image popped into his mind—her face, pale and striking. His fingers tightened around his phone without him even realizing.

His coworker waited for the video to end, then nudged him. "Pretty impressive, right?"

Brandon pocketed his phone and rubbed his face, trying to wake up. "Let’s not jump to conclusions. Nothing’s final yet. If you start spreading rumors, this is going to turn into more than just a criminal case."

Everyone here knew what you could say on the job and what you couldn’t.

"So what now? Are we still looking into Wilma?"

"Wait for orders from upstairs. I’m grabbing breakfast."

"The cafeteria’s open," his coworker pointed out.

Brandon waved them off. "I’m sick of cafeteria food."

There were always food stalls set up right outside the station gates.