Chapter 11 - The Woman in Room 214
I called Ortiz before I called Richard.
She told me not to go anywhere.
I went anyway.
Not alone. Maya drove, and two patrol cars were less than a minute behind us.
Richard's company occupied an old brick building downtown. By the time we reached it, the front doors were locked and the lobby lights were off.
Richard met us outside.
"My office is on the third floor. That stained glass was my father's."
Ortiz arrived furious.
"Claire, when I say stay home—"
"You can yell at me after we get Denise."
She held my stare, then pointed at Maya's car.
"Both of you stay behind the line. This time I mean it."
Officers entered through the loading dock.
Five minutes felt like fifty.
Then someone shouted from inside.
They found Denise in Richard's office exactly as the photo showed.
Alive.
No Victor.
Denise was shaking so badly she could barely hold a cup of water.
She looked at Evelyn and said, "You knew."
Evelyn whispered, "I knew he paid you. I didn't know he threatened you."
Denise laughed bitterly.
"He didn't pay me. He told me my son would lose his scholarship if I didn't disappear. Then somebody broke into my house. I left because I was scared."
Richard sat beside her.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Because your wife signed the termination papers."
Richard looked at Evelyn.
She closed her eyes.
Another brick fell out of their marriage.
Denise reached into her coat lining and removed a tiny memory card.
"I copied payroll files before I left. I kept them because I knew one day Victor would come back for me."
Ortiz took it carefully.
"What's on it?"
"Shell companies. Fake vendors. Transfers. Victor's been draining money for years. Evelyn helped hide some of it."
Evelyn began crying again.
Denise wasn't finished.
"But the newest transfers are different. Victor wasn't moving money for himself."
Richard frowned. "Then for who?"
Denise looked directly at Daniel's mother.
"Ask her about a company called Red Laurel Holdings."
Evelyn stopped crying.
Ortiz noticed.
"Mrs. Cole?"
Evelyn stood so fast the chair fell backward.
"I need a lawyer."
Denise stared at her.
"You already have one problem worse than a lawyer."
"What?"
Denise's voice dropped.
"Victor has a second son."
Evelyn's face went blank.
And Richard whispered, "So do I."
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