Chapter 9 - WHAT HE TRIED TO ERASE
Leah forwarded the notification to Ruiz immediately.
Nobody asked me to sneak back into the house.
Nobody told me to lure Adrian into a confession.
For once, keeping me safe was part of the plan.
Still, I barely slept.
At four in the morning, I sat in the apartment kitchen while my father made toast.
He burned the first two slices.
“Your mother used to say I could negotiate anything except a toaster.”
I smiled despite myself.
Then the smile disappeared.
“Did you know he knew?”
“No.”
“Would you tell me?”
Dad turned off the appliance.
“Yes.”
I studied him.
He sat across from me.
“I thought he was proud. I thought he resented your independence. I didn’t understand how deliberate it was.”
“I thought I loved him.”
“You did.”
“What does that say about me?”
“That he had something real to betray.”
I looked down.
For a while, we listened to the refrigerator hum.
At 6:43, Leah called.
Investigators had obtained authority to search the office and secure specified financial records. They were there before the pickup crew.
I closed my eyes.
“Did they find the drive?”
“They found several. We won’t know what’s on them immediately.”
Not a miracle.
Not a clean ending.
Just something Adrian hadn’t managed to take away.
By noon, his company issued a statement describing him as temporarily absent from operations.
By two, the board announced an independent review.
By four, a photograph appeared online of Vanessa entering a lawyer’s office in sunglasses.
She had been released subject to conditions.
Adrian’s hearing was scheduled for the following morning.
Leah came to the apartment that evening.
“You can attend remotely. You don’t have to see him.”
“I want to.”
“You can change your mind.”
“I know.”
She looked relieved that I actually meant it.
Before leaving, she handed me a printed copy of an email recovered from Daniel’s records.
Adrian had written it to Vanessa.
Keep Evelyn signing household documents. Don’t put banking language on the pages she sees.
Below that was Vanessa’s reply.
What if she calls her father?
Adrian’s answer occupied one line.
She’s too ashamed to tell him what her marriage really is.
I stared until the words blurred.
He had understood my silence better than I had.
Then Leah’s phone rang.
She listened without speaking.
When she hung up, her face was tight.
“Adrian’s attorney has a recording.”
May you like
“Of what?”
“You saying you would destroy him.”
