Chapter 4 - The Empty Seat
Back in the courtroom, Hayes attacked the story piece by piece.
“No recording chip in evidence. No second survivor. No physical proof my client had spare room on his aircraft.”
“There were four empty seats,” I said.
“According to a woman who had a concussion.”
I kept my eyes on him. “According to the aircraft's load manifest.”
Thorne shifted. Hayes glanced at him, then tried to change the subject.
Judge Ellis caught it. “Counsel, produce the manifest.”
“The original was lost in a server migration,” Hayes said.
Admiral Calder rested a hand on the bench. “A certified backup exists. I requested it.”
“Where is it?” Ellis asked.
Calder paused. That pause frightened me more than Thorne's grin.
“The courier carrying the drive was involved in a collision this morning. The drive has not been located.”
Hayes spread his hands. “An unfortunate accident isn't evidence of a conspiracy.”
“No,” Ellis said. “It is a reason to preserve what remains.”
She ordered a recess and restrictions on contact with witnesses. Thorne approached as security escorted him toward a separate exit.
“You should have stayed in that hospital,” he murmured.
I looked at the fresh water stain across my sweater. “You should have turned the helicopter around.”
His expression went blank.
Outside, reporters waited beyond the courthouse steps. A woman in a worn green coat stood apart from them, holding the hand of a little girl. Nora Mercer. Luke's widow. June, now eight, wore her father's dog tag around her neck.
Nora had traveled across three states to hear the truth. I hadn't asked her to come.
June slipped from her mother's grip and ran toward me. “Did Daddy know you were coming for him?”
My throat tightened. “Yes, sweetheart.”
She looked at my wet sweater. “Then why did somebody do that to you?”
Before I could answer, Nora's phone vibrated. She read the message and went pale.
May you like
Someone had sent her a photograph of June leaving school yesterday.
Under it were four words: STOP ASKING ABOUT LUKE.
