She dialed Mr. Greyson.
The second the call connected, before his cursing could even reach her, she erupted into a shrill, pitiful wail.
"Mr. Greyson! It wasn't me! It really wasn't my fault! Please, you have to look into this properly!"
"You weren't at your post and you're telling ME you're innocent?! Where the hell are you!"
Mr. Greyson roared from the other end.
"Mr. Greyson, I handed everything over to Hailey Chavez yesterday afternoon! We swapped shifts. Hailey was supposed to be there today!"
Hope's voice pitched higher as the lie flew out of her mouth. "I have proof! I'll send it right now!"
She hung up and, fast as her fingers could move, sent the photo she'd staged yesterday afternoon while I was away into the group chat.
The HR Manager photo was crystal clear: a set of spare keys sitting dead center on my desk, pinned beneath a pink sticky note that read, "Thanks, Hailey! So glad you agreed to cover my shift. You're the best!"
The image detonated in the group chat.
Every coworker who'd been lurking in silence suddenly found their outlet.
Dennis was the first to surface.
"Boss, what Hope posted is real!"
"Yesterday before clocking out, I saw Hope at Hailey's desk handing everything over to her, with my own eyes."
"The note and the keys were right there on Hailey's desk. She took the keys and just didn't show up on purpose!"
"That is beyond unprofessional!" The HR manager jumped in next. "I always thought Hailey was standoffish and antisocial, but I never imagined she'd screw the whole team over when it actually mattered!"
Everyone was terrified of getting docked, so they turned on me instantly.
Watching the tide in the chat reverse in seconds, Hope finally exhaled on the other side of her screen. A trace of color crept back into her face.
She struck while the iron was hot, typing out a long message in the group chat:
"Boss, everyone, please don't be too hard on Hailey."
"I don't think she deliberately wanted to see the company flooded. She probably just overslept."
"Even though she didn't bring the keys and it caused such a huge loss, I'm heartbroken too."
"If the company is struggling to get through this, I'm willing to chip in six hundred dollars from next month's paycheck to help cover some of it..."
Six hundred dollars. Against eighty thousand in damages. The contrast made me look like a monster.