Bram placed the envelope on the table between himself and Jalen.
“I brought your identification,” he said. “I’m sorry it was retained after you asked for its return.”
Jalen did not touch the envelope. “Is there an agreement I have to sign?”
“No condition on the return. We have a receipt acknowledging that you received it.”
Priya asked to see the receipt. It identified the document and stated that Jalen had received it on this date. It did not mention withdrawing the complaint or keeping the exchange private. She passed it to him.
“Open the envelope first,” she said.
Jalen slid a finger under the flap. Inside was his card, held between two pieces of paper. He checked the photograph, name and number, then turned it over. A fresh scratch ran across one corner.
“That’s mine.”
“Was the scratch there before?” Priya asked.
“No. It doesn’t cover anything.”
She noted the mark and asked Bram whether a copy had been made. He said the contractor had recorded the identification number for intake and that Aegis would ask it to confirm whether any copies existed. Jalen signed only after Priya added a note that the card had been returned with a scratch.
Bram accepted the receipt. “The contractor should have returned it when you asked. We’ll review its intake procedure.”
“Will I have to hand it over again if I go back?” Jalen asked.
“No. I’ll provide written confirmation.”
“When?”
“Today.”
Priya held out a blank page. “You can write it now.”
Bram took the pen. He wrote that possession of the original identification would not be required for future shifts under the current assignment. Jalen read the sentence, then asked what happened if he was moved to another site.
“I can’t speak for every employer,” Bram said. “This applies to the contractor involved here.”
“Does it apply to all of its sites?”
“I need to verify that.”
“Then write what you can confirm and tell me who will answer the rest.”
Bram added the contact for contractor relations. He signed and dated the page. Jalen photographed it before folding it with his card.
Eli watched Bram’s hands. In the life Eli remembered, those hands had gripped his vest and held him while a manifest slipped to the floor. Here Bram had carried an envelope into a public room and returned a document without demanding silence. The two scenes pressed against each other, and Eli kept his palms flat on his knees so he would not move toward him.
Priya asked, “How did Aegis obtain the document so quickly if the workplace is run by an independent contractor?”
“We have a contractual oversight channel. When a concern is reported, we can request corrective action.”
“Who instructed the workplace to retain the original?”
“We’re reviewing that.”
“Did you know before today that workers’ documents were kept in the cabinet?”
“I received the concern after the complaint was filed.”
“That doesn’t answer whether anyone else at Aegis knew.”
“I can’t answer for everyone.”
Bram did not raise his voice. He looked at Jalen when he spoke, not at Eli. That made the apology harder to dismiss as a performance aimed at the person who distrusted him. Jalen had the card. He was checking it again, sliding a finger over the scratched corner.
“What about my leave?” Jalen asked. “Is it paid?”
“That’s the contractor’s decision. I’ve asked for clarification.”
“You brought the card. Can you bring that answer too?”
“I’ll contact them now.”
He stepped into the corridor and made a call. Through the glass, Eli could see him listening with one hand against the wall. He did not appear as startled as he had at the recruitment event. He did appear impatient when the person on the other end kept him waiting.
Jalen put the card in his wallet. “I thought I would be happy.”
“Are you?” Tessa asked. She had returned from the clinic in time for the meeting and sat beside Priya.
“I am. I’m also angry that it took a complaint.”
“You can be both.”
While Bram was in the corridor, Priya asked Jalen whether he wanted her to photograph the card’s scratch. He nodded and held it against a plain sheet of paper so the mark would show. The first image caught the overhead light and obscured the corner. Jalen turned the card a fraction and tried again with his own phone.
“Keep the full image,” Priya said. “You can crop a copy if you need to share the mark without the number.”
Jalen checked that his wallet clasp still worked. It had bent while he was carrying the card’s photograph on a folded sheet. Eli offered to straighten it, but Jalen took a coin from his pocket and pressed the metal tab back himself.
“That’s been loose for months,” he said. “I kept meaning to replace it.”
Tessa asked whether his sister knew the card was back. Jalen sent her a picture with the number covered by his thumb. The reply came almost immediately: Good. Now eat something.
He showed Tessa the message. She took the pastry bag from the table and held it out. He rolled his eyes, but he took the last piece and ate it while Bram finished his call.
Bram returned. “The contractor says the leave is unpaid while it reviews the assignment. I’ve asked for a written notice and a decision date.”
Jalen’s face tightened. “How long?”
“They expect a decision in two days.”
“Will you cover the wages?”
“I can’t authorize that here.”
“Then who can?”
“Contractor relations. Farah has the contact.”
Priya wrote it down. She asked whether the return of the card would be offered as a settlement of the complaint. Bram said the card had been returned without a settlement and that any agreement would be presented separately. Jalen said he wanted the complaint to remain open while he considered the unpaid leave and the other workers’ situation.
Bram nodded. “That is your decision.”
Eli had expected him to press harder. Instead he saw a man who could solve one problem quickly and leave another with a department. The speed of the return suggested Aegis had more influence over the contractor than the word independent implied. It still did not show whether Bram had ordered the document retained.
“Can the other workers get their cards back?” Priya asked.
“I’ll ask the contractor to review all retained documents.”
“Can you give them a way to request their own documents without speaking to a supervisor?”
“I can raise that.”
“Please send the contact to us and to the workplace.”
“I will.”
Jalen looked down at the card. “I don’t want anyone to lose a job because I asked.”
“Nor do I,” Priya said. “We can ask about a general return process without naming a worker who hasn’t contacted us.”
Bram stood. “I’ll send the written leave information and the contact as soon as I have them.”
Eli stood too. “Why was your name on the warehouse security contract?”
Bram paused. “I supervised part of the security arrangement.”
“Did you see the higher threat rating before the hunters went in?”
“I can’t discuss an active inquiry in a public room.”
“Did you see it?”
Priya said, “Eli.”
Jalen had moved his card back into his wallet and was watching the two men. The room had been chosen for his complaint. Eli was turning it into the confrontation he had wanted since the recruitment event.
“I’m sorry,” he told Jalen. To Bram he said, “Nora has already submitted a records request.”
Bram’s expression remained controlled. “We’ll respond through the appropriate office.”
He left. Eli watched him cross the pavement and get into the car. He had asked a direct question and received no answer. That was not proof of what Bram knew. It was also not an answer Eli had to forget.
Jalen took out the card once more. “I need to show this to the housing adviser tomorrow. After that I’m putting it somewhere no one can ask for it without me noticing.”
“Would you like a ride?” Kellan asked from the doorway. He had arrived during the meeting and waited outside when he saw the door closed.
“My sister is taking me.” Jalen looked at the signed note. “I don’t know whether I want to go back to that job.”
“You don’t have to decide today,” Priya said. “Keep the leave notice and the confirmation. We’ll ask about wages and the other documents.”
Kellan walked with Eli to the clinic while Tessa stayed to finish with Jalen. The street was busy with people leaving work. A bus stopped at the curb, and a man carrying a toolbox stepped down carefully, testing the pavement before putting his weight on it.
“Aegis got the card quickly,” Kellan said.
“They knew where it was.”
“Or they had enough authority to tell the contractor to hand it over. Either way, they have influence.”
“More than they admit.”
“Maybe. We have Bram’s statement about oversight and the timing. We don’t have the instruction that put the card there.”
Eli stopped at the crossing. “I know what you want me to say.”
“I don’t want a sentence. I want us to keep the card return, the unpaid leave and the warehouse rating as three things until we can connect them.”
The light changed. They crossed with the crowd. A cyclist called for room, and Kellan pulled Eli back from the edge of the lane.
“You’re angry,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Good. Aim it at getting Jalen the pay answer, not at proving a point in front of him.”
At the clinic, Leah had a message from the workers’ fund. It could review an emergency request once Jalen supplied the leave notice and proof of income. There was no guarantee of payment. Kellan sent the information to Jalen, who replied that his sister would help him gather the papers.
Nora arrived with a copy of the already submitted warehouse assignment records request. Eli told her about Bram’s answer. She added his statement about supervising part of the security arrangement and marked it as an account given in the meeting. She did not add the private message he had received at the recruitment event because no one had seen its contents.
“Can we ask whether he had the inspection report?” Eli said.
“The existing request seeks the assignment dates and roles and the relevant transmittal records. We can follow up on distribution once we receive the response; it may not come quickly.”
“Can we ask the contractor about the other cards?”
“Priya is handling that. Different request, different people affected.”
The clinic door opened and Nessa entered, her injured arm still supported but moving more freely than before. She carried a paper bag containing a loaf of bread for the volunteers.
“Rowan said you were all forgetting to eat,” she said.
Leah took the bag. “Rowan is right.”
Nessa shook water from the bag before setting it on the table. Her sleeve caught against the edge of the chair, and she stopped to free it with her other hand. Leah moved the chair farther from the doorway so the next patient would not catch a coat on it, and set a dry towel beside the door for umbrellas.
Nessa looked at Eli. “I heard Jalen got his card back.”
“Yes. He’s on unpaid leave while the contractor reviews his assignment.”
Her mouth tightened. “Garin used to say the warehouse could find a box in five minutes if it belonged to a manager. Anything belonging to a worker took a week.”
She broke the loaf into pieces and passed them around. Eli took one. Nessa kept the last piece for herself and asked whether the team had time to discuss a job near the waterworks. A small gate had opened close to the filtration system. Her guild had been asked to assist, but the official briefing was thin and the pay was poor.
“Are you asking us to sign on?” Eli said.
“I’m asking you to hear what I know. Then you can decide whether to come look.”
Tessa pulled up a chair. Jalen had his identification, an unpaid leave notice and time to decide what came next. Bram’s visit had left questions about the contractor’s control. Nessa had brought a different problem to the table, one that might affect the water used by the clinic and every home on the block.