But the timing raised questions that could no longer be ignored.
She forwarded the document to Adrian and Daniel.
Then she opened her calendar.
The showcase was three days away.
Instead, she was arriving with evidence, witnesses, and a growing group of people who had finally decided to ask questions.
She felt prepared.
And that was precisely what made the coming confrontation dangerous.
He had not yet understood what might happen when the people around them stopped being afraid.
Messages flooded her screen. Some came from numbers she recognized.
One message contained a photograph of Daniel standing outside the small training center they had lost years earlier.
Another showed Mara at Northbridge Combat Academy, her face partially hidden beneath the hood of her jacket.
The third was only a sentence.
You should have stayed retired.
Fear was familiar to her. It had once arrived disguised as anger, then transformed into sleepless nights, second-guessing, and the exhausting need to explain herself to people who had already decided what they believed.
She would not allow a stranger's message to take those years away from her.
Instead of replying, she called Daniel.
He answered on the second ring.
"Tell me you've seen the messages," he said.
"I have."
"Then tell me you're not going to the showcase."
Mara looked toward the window. The morning light was spreading across the pavement outside her apartment.
"I'm going."
Daniel exhaled sharply.
"Mara, this isn't about proving you're brave."
"I know."
"Vale has money, lawyers, connections. He can make a story out of almost anything. You win, he'll say the event was arranged. You lose, he'll say you've always been overrated. You refuse to compete, and he'll call you unstable."
"Then none of those outcomes will tell the truth."
"That's easy to say when you're not the one who has to watch him do it again."
The words struck harder than Mara expected.
For years, Daniel had carried the consequences of the old incident in a way she never fully understood. She had been the one who walked away from competition, but he had been left with the accusations, the ruined business, and the knowledge that people he had trusted had accepted a distorted version of events.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Daniel said nothing.
"I should have asked you more questions back then. I should have fought harder."
"You were twenty-three. You were trying to survive."
"So were you."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Daniel said, "Peter called me last night. He sounded frightened."
Mara straightened.
"Did he say why?"
"He said someone had contacted him about the recording. He wouldn't explain much over the phone. He wanted to meet me today."
"Where?"
"At the storage facility where he kept his old equipment. He said he needed to retrieve something before the showcase."
"Daniel, don't go alone."
"I was about to say the same thing to you."
Before hanging up, Daniel added, "And Mara?"
"Yes?"
"Whatever happens at the showcase, you don't owe me a victory."
She closed her eyes.
"I know."
"Do you?"
This time, she did not answer immediately.
"I think I'm finally beginning to."
When Mara and Daniel arrived, Peter was already waiting beside the office.
He looked worse than he had at the café.
"You came," he said.
"You said it was important," Daniel replied.
Peter nodded and unlocked the unit.
Inside, dust covered shelves of equipment. A small worktable stood near the back, cluttered with old hard drives and labeled envelopes.
Peter moved quickly, searching through a plastic container.
"I made a mistake," he said.
Mara watched him.
"What kind of mistake?"
"I should never have given Adrian the only copy of the documents."
"Adrian doesn't have the only copy," Mara said. "You gave us a drive and the papers."
Peter shook his head.
"I mean the only copy I believed was safe."
The envelope was empty.
For several seconds, he simply stared at it.
Then he checked another box. He moved aside cables, lifted a stack of notebooks, and opened a small metal case.
Nothing.
"What was supposed to be here?" Daniel asked.
Peter swallowed.
"A second drive. The original camera files. The raw footage, including the files before and after the incident."
Mara felt the room become unnaturally quiet.
"Where did you last see it?"
"Here. Two nights ago."
"Who knew about it?"
Peter's gaze dropped to the floor.
"Too many people."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Did you tell Vale about the second drive?"
"No. I never told him it existed."
"Then how would anyone know to look for it?"
Peter did not answer.
Mara studied the shelves. Nothing else appeared to have been disturbed. The equipment remained where Peter had left it. Only the envelope and the small case beside it seemed to have been searched.
Peter sat down heavily.