Chapter 8 - The Phone Emma Hid
The phone was dead.
Ruiz bagged it and drove it directly to digital forensics while Nathan took the children to his sister-in-law Megan's apartment across town.
Lily refused to let go of him.
"Daddy, is Victoria going to come back?"
"Not near you. I promise."
Noah hugged a stuffed dinosaur.
"Victoria said Mommy fell because she was bad."
Lily added, "She said accidents happen to people who make trouble."
Nathan stepped into the kitchen, sick with anger.
Megan followed. "Stop blaming yourself long enough to catch her."
His phone rang.
Ruiz.
"We got the hidden phone powered up."
Nathan gripped the counter. "And?"
"There are dozens of photographs of financial documents. Audio clips. Screenshots. Emma was building a case."
"Against Victoria?"
"Mostly. But there's more. The phone connected to your home Wi-Fi the night Emma died, then lost connection at 10:07 p.m. It reconnected briefly at 10:14."
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning Emma probably hid it before she left."
Ruiz paused.
"Nathan, there is a video."
He stopped breathing.
"From that night?"
"Yes. Front-facing camera. Looks accidental, maybe she hit record while hiding the phone. We can see part of the kitchen. We can hear the argument."
"Send it to me."
"I don't want the kids hearing it."
"They're not in the room."
Thirty seconds later, the file arrived.
Nathan pressed play.
Emma's voice came first.
"You forged Nathan's name."
Victoria answered, "I saved his company."
"You stole from children."
Then a third voice spoke from somewhere off camera.
A man's voice.
"Enough. Get the drive and end this."
Nathan knew that voice.
May you like
He had heard it every week for twelve years.
It belonged to his business partner, Grant Keller.
