Chapter 14 - A Father's Initials
“He knew,” Nora said.
Madison stared at the paper. “I don't understand.”
Odessa pointed at the lower corner. “Company reception marked it for the president's office. Those were his initials.”
“An office stamp doesn't mean he read it,” Madison protested, then stopped. “I'm doing it again, aren't I?”
“Making excuses before asking questions?” Nora said.
“Yes.”
The woman with the wheelchair introduced herself as Lena Price. Her father had survived, but he had never regained the independence he'd enjoyed before that July night.
“Your mother's letter is why I didn't believe the official report,” Lena told Nora. “She kept coming to see us even after they fired her. She brought soup when we couldn't afford groceries.”
Nora thought of June leaving home with a shopping bag nobody was allowed to look inside.
“I used to complain she was never home,” Nora admitted.
“She was helping people,” Lena said. “And I wish she'd lived long enough to know we believed her.”
At the mansion, Nora gave Deirdre the location of Lena's records. She would not take custody of originals that belonged to someone else.
Richard read a copy with his hands flat against his desk.
“Did you receive this?” Nora asked.
“I remember an alarm issue,” he said. “I told Graham to handle it.”
“Did you read June's warning?”
He stared at her. “I don't remember.”
“That's not the same as no.”
“No,” Richard admitted. “It isn't.”
His phone rang. Patrice's name appeared.
May you like
She had recovered an email from the old archive, sent by Richard on the day the warning arrived.
Its subject line read: Emberwood — contain the complaint before the press sees it.
