Chapter 6 - THE ACCIDENT

A forensic technician examined the drives in Dominic’s attorney’s office.

The files began with inspection logs, invoices and maintenance records. Then the technician found duplicate reports.

The official inspection said a steel press had passed safety testing.

The original said it had failed.

My father had signed the original before someone replaced it.

Three workers died two days later, and Daniel Carter became the dead supervisor blamed for it.

I stared at the screen.

“He tried to stop it.”

Dominic nodded.

“Yes.”

“Your family knew?”

“My uncle did.”

“Did you?”

“No.”

The technician opened an audio file.

My father’s voice filled the room.

“If you’re hearing this, they didn’t fix it.”

“Whitmore is moving money through Moretti construction vendors. Unsafe equipment is being kept in service because replacing it exposes inflated invoices.”

Dominic went still.

The recording named Edward Whitmore.

Vanessa’s father.

It also named Dominic’s uncle, Salvatore Moretti.

Dad had found it because broken machines kept appearing as “new replacements” on paper.

“I told Dominic.”

Everyone looked at him.

I stood.

“You said you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t know about the fraud.”

“Dad says your name.”

Dominic’s jaw tightened.

“I was twenty-five. Your father came to me about unsafe equipment. I told my uncle.”

“And?”

“My uncle told me Daniel was unstable.”

I laughed bitterly.

“So you believed him.”

“Yes.”

“My father died because you passed his warning to the man he was warning you about.”

Dominic did not defend himself.

“Yes.”

Mom whispered, “Avery.”

I shook my head.

Dominic said, “I have spent eight years trying to understand what happened.”

“You had eight years and billions of dollars.”

He looked at me.

“And still not enough courage.”

That shut him up.

Then the technician found one final file.

A photograph taken the night before the accident.

My father stood beside a loading dock.

Across from him was Edward Whitmore.

And behind Edward stood Grant Pike.

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The man Vanessa had hired to follow me.

Grant had been watching my father too.