Chapter 5 - The Blue Folder
The door swung inward. Iris stumbled into me, pale and shaking, with a red mark circling one wrist.
"Move," I told her.
We ran toward the stairwell. Pike blocked the shortest route, so I pushed a wheeled hamper into his path and took the long corridor to the service stairs. It wasn't graceful. It was enough.
The laundry worker held the stair door open. His name tag said BEN.
"Police are coming," he said.
"Stay where they can find you," I answered. "Tell them what you saw."
At the kitchen landing, Iris leaned against the wall, struggling to breathe. She pulled the blue folder from beneath the back of her server jacket. Pike had taken her badge and phone, but missed the papers.
"I thought nobody would come," she said.
"You're not alone. Can you walk?"
"Yes. But we have to stop the transfer."
"What transfer?"
She showed me a narrow bruise on her forearm, then held out a crumpled blue folder. I had expected money or jewelry. Inside were invoices, account numbers, and photographs of apartment buildings.
"I help serve at Haven Bridge events," she said. "My cousin got emergency housing through them. Last month, the foundation told sixteen families they had to leave for renovations. They said the apartments were unsafe."
"Were they?"
"Nobody came to fix them. But these invoices say the work is finished. Nearly two million dollars' worth."
I checked a payment sheet. MARSH POINT RESTORATION, LLC appeared again and again, each invoice bearing an approval stamp from Haven Bridge.
"Who gave you this?"
"The foundation's bookkeeper, Ms. Bell. She was fired yesterday. She said the money was about to disappear for good."
"Why bring it here?"
"Because the charity's board is signing a final release tonight. Vanessa put the papers in front of Elliot. He doesn't know what the contractor really is."
"How do you know?"
Iris opened the folder to a photograph of a business registration. I saw the owner listed underneath Marsh Point.
Brock Sterling.
Vanessa's brother.
May you like
Ben lent Iris an old staff phone so she could contact Rosa. Before she could dial, a message lit up. It came from an unknown number.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO RETURN WHAT YOU STOLE. AFTER THAT, WE SHOW THEM WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR COUSIN.
