Chapter 9 - The First False Story
"You think I wanted you to find that picture?" Valérie asked.
The supply-room light threw a hard line across her bruised cheek. June moved between her and the door, shaking.
"Thomas wrote that you weren't the traitor," Lucie said.
"He wrote it because he knew I'd take the blame."
"For what?"
Valérie shut the door and spoke quickly. "Thomas was working with a federal investigator. Vale Transit was moving women out of Briar Creek under forged orders. Some worked at a packaging site. Others disappeared when they threatened to talk. Your brother had copies of the contracts."
"And you gave Vale the warehouse address."
"I gave it to Mercer. He said his officers were going to protect Thomas. By the time I learned what he'd done, the place was burning."
Lucie stepped closer. "You spent seven years acting like him. Stealing medicine. Threatening women."
"I spent seven years staying alive by doing what he asked. You can hate me. I do."
Outside, somebody tried the handle. Valérie gestured toward a small service hatch.
"Go. Now."
June crawled first. Lucie followed into a dusty utility passage, leaving Valérie to deal with the approaching officer. As they crawled, June whispered, "If she knew about the transfers, why didn't she speak up?"
"Because fear can turn a person into the thing she's afraid of," Lucie said. She hated that the answer felt true.
They emerged behind the laundry dryers. A bell announced evening count. Lucie tucked the photograph deeper into her uniform and walked back to her tier.
Her name was called before she reached the stairs. "Emergency phone privilege. Your daughter."
On the line, Nora sounded too quiet.
"Mom?" she said. "A man gave me an envelope at school. He told me to give it to you."
May you like
"What man?"
"He said he was Uncle Thomas."
