Chapter 4 - The Folder With My Name
At the emergency room, doctors found two cracked ribs, a concussion, bruising around Lily's throat, and a fractured wrist.
“These injuries are consistent with repeated assault.”
Repeated.
I sat beside Lily's bed while a federal victim advocate photographed the bruises.
Lily kept apologizing.
“I should've left sooner.”
“No.”
“I should've told you.”
“No.”
“I thought I could fix him.”
I leaned forward.
“Lily, the only person responsible for Richard's hands is Richard.”
She looked at me for a long time.
Then she cried without making a sound.
Tessa arrived carrying a laptop.
“We copied the phone before local counsel could challenge access.”
“Anything useful?”
“More than useful.”
She played the final eight minutes.
Richard's voice filled the room.
You embarrass me again and I'll make sure no judge believes a word you say.
Then Evelyn.
Hold her still.
Then Lily screaming.
Then Richard, laughing.
My stomach turned.
Tessa paused the recording.
“There's also a background conversation from earlier. Nolan's voice appears on it.”
She played another section.
Chief Nolan was saying, If she calls again, route it through me. We don't need another report in the system before the campaign fundraiser.
I stared at the screen.
Tessa continued.
“That's potential obstruction and civil-rights exposure. But we need more than audio if we want the whole network.”
“Richard's safe.”
“We're working on a warrant.”
I told her what Lily had said about the folder.
Tessa's eyes narrowed.
“Your name?”
“And Claire's accident.”
She didn't answer right away.
That bothered me.
“What?”
“Arthur, when you retired, one of your last cases involved Vale Development.”
“No. It involved a shell company called Meridian Civic Partners.”
“Meridian was acquired three years later.”
“By whom?”
She turned the laptop toward me.
The corporate history was right there.
VALE DEVELOPMENT GROUP.
My mouth went dry.
Sixteen years ago, Meridian had been tied to witness intimidation in a federal land-fraud case. The investigation collapsed after a key witness disappeared and a second witness died in a crash.
Claire died the same month.
I stood so fast the chair hit the wall.
Tessa grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
“Don't what?”
“Turn coincidence into certainty before we have evidence.”
Then her phone buzzed.
She read the message once.
Her expression changed.
“The warrant came through.”
“For the safe?”
She nodded.
“But there's a problem.”
May you like
“What?”
“Someone inside Richard's house just opened it.”
