Chapter 8 - The Crash
Nathan pulled the old accident file himself.
The report said his car crossed the center line on a rural road after midnight.
No alcohol.
No mechanical failure listed.
No witnesses.
Nathan remembered leaving a Whitmore dinner angry because Charles had pushed him to consider a partnership.
Then nothing until the hospital.
Daniel found one detail the original report barely mentioned.
A hotel valet had returned Nathan’s car thirty minutes before the crash.
The valet company still had archived employee records.
The man on duty was Owen Reese.
Grace sat very still.
Nathan said, “Charles separated us.”
“Maybe.”
“And then someone touched my car.”
“Maybe.”
He looked at her. “You don’t have to protect me from the answer.”
“I’m protecting us from guessing.”
Again, she was right.
Rebecca obtained the original vehicle-inspection photographs from the insurer.
A retired mechanic reviewed them.
The brake fluid line showed a tiny puncture near the rear fitting.
Too small to empty immediately.
Large enough to fail after driving several miles.
Nathan stared at the enlarged photograph.
“This was never in the report.”
The mechanic shook his head. “It should have been.”
The officer who signed the report had retired to Florida.
Daniel tracked him down.
He remembered the case because a lawyer called him the next morning and urged him to classify it as driver fatigue.
“What lawyer?” Nathan asked.
The retired officer searched his memory.
“Whitmore. Something Whitmore.”
Nathan’s phone rang.
Victoria.
He answered.
She was crying.
“Nathan, you need to stop digging.”
“Why?”
“Because my father is not the only person involved.”
Nathan’s voice went quiet.
May you like
“Who else?”
Victoria whispered, “Someone from your family.”
