Chapter 9 - The Lawyer Who Asked the Right Question
We met attorney Melanie Cho that afternoon.
She didn't promise to make our problems disappear.
She separated them on a legal pad: my assault, the destroyed university property, and Dahlia's disputed loan.
Three problems.
Three sets of evidence.
Three different paths.
“If you mix them up,” Melanie warned, “Tatum controls the conversation.”
Dahlia showed her the demand letter and the lender's forms.
Harper had already submitted the original video to Officer Ramirez and preserved a verified copy.
I told Melanie the truth about hitting Tatum.
“Good,” she said.
“Do not improve your story by pretending you didn't.”
She directed Dahlia to place fraud alerts on her credit files, submit a written identity-theft report, and preserve every message.
She also sent the lender a formal notice disputing the guaranty and requesting its authentication records.
Then she asked a question none of us had considered.
“Why Tuesday?”
Dahlia shrugged.
“Tatum says a big contract is closing.”
“Which contract?”
I remembered an announcement made at Easter.
Tatum had bragged about catering a three-year program of university alumni events.
She called it the deal that would make her company untouchable.
Melanie checked the public bid calendar.
A vendor review meeting was scheduled for Tuesday morning.
The university would decide whether to approve Tatum's catering company for future events.
“She doesn't just want the loan covered,” Melanie said.
“She wants the school to believe your family is attacking a respected vendor.”
My stomach tightened.
The graduation wasn't the end of Tatum's plan.
It was her advertising campaign—and her alibi.
Melanie's phone rang while we were gathering our papers.
She listened without speaking, then turned the screen toward us.
May you like
A woman named Nina Alvarez had left a message.
I used to work for Tatum, it read. I know where she got Dahlia's identification.
