His tone was laced with concern, but Valerie's heart remained cold. The sound of his voice made her shudder.
She couldn't face him.
Not now. Not after the truth had finally sunk in.
The room seemed to darken, as if the shadows themselves were closing in. She unlocked her phone and called Strike.
After a ring, the phone connected, and Valerie barked, "You still haven't gotten a hold of those videos?!" Her voice echoed through the room, a stark contrast to the silence that had preceded it.
Strike's calm voice replied from the other end, 'I have. I already sent them to your email. Sorry they came late. It took me some time to unblur the videos. Also, I saw a few more videos I thought might be useful to you, so I sent them all to you before wiping their devices.' His tone was soothing, a balm to Valerie's frayed nerves.
