Chapter 8 - The Road Julia Died On
The mechanic's name was Luis Ortega.
He had moved to New Mexico after the shop closed, but the news about the canceled Grant wedding had reached him through his daughter.
"I never forgot that car," he told Ruiz over video call.
Graham sat beside her, fists clenched under the table.
Luis said Julia's brakes had been inspected two days before her death.
They were fine.
But another man returned after hours claiming the owner had requested a second adjustment.
Luis refused to let him touch the car.
The next morning, the car had already been picked up.
"Can you identify the man?" Ruiz asked.
"Maybe."
She showed him photographs.
Dr. Crane. No.
Sloane. No.
Nolan Price.
Luis stopped.
"Him."
Graham's chair scraped backward.
Nolan had been his friend since college.
He had stood beside Graham at Julia's funeral.
Ruiz raised a hand. "Identification after two years is not a conviction. Stay with me."
But Graham could barely hear her.
His phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A video message.
Sloane appeared on screen without makeup, her wedding hair half undone.
"You think you found the villain," she said. "You haven't."
Graham's jaw tightened.
"Where are you?" he asked the recording, though she could not hear him.
Sloane continued.
"Nolan did things for money. Crane did things for money. I did things because I was told there was no other way out. If you keep digging, Maisie will lose more than a wedding."
The video ended.
A second file appeared.
It showed Graham in Maisie's bedroom months earlier, raising his voice while she cried.
The clip was cut to make him look terrifying.
Under it was a message.
I already sent the full complaint to Child Protective Services.
The doorbell rang.
May you like
June looked through the window and went pale.
Two county child-welfare investigators were standing outside.
