Chương 12
“Such as?”
“Different interests.”
Claire frowned.
“Police, Vantage Core, me?”
“And potentially federal jurisdiction depending on what the transactions involve.”
Daniel muttered something under his breath.
Brooks heard him.
“That is not a conclusion.”
She looked directly at Claire.
“Do not build the ending before we have the middle.”
After she left, Claire stared at the closed door.
Susan finally said, “I like her.”
Claire gave her a tired look.
“Of course you do.”
An hour later, Marisol arrived with news that a temporary protective order had been granted.
Claire read every page.
She read it twice.
Evan and Judith were prohibited from approaching or contacting her directly, subject to the order’s terms and later hearing.
Raymond was not included.
“Why not?” Daniel asked.
“Because Claire did not ask to include him based on the information available when we filed.”
Marisol looked at Claire.
“That can be revisited if necessary.”
Claire signed where indicated.
Her hand shook only once.
Marisol collected the papers.
“There’s another issue.”
Claire leaned back against the pillows.
“What now?”
“Your discharge location.”
“I thought we were using the accessible apartment.”
A victim-services organization had located a furnished ground-floor unit available for several weeks through a confidential placement arrangement.
Marisol nodded.
“That remains the plan.”
“So what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Claire waited.
Marisol rarely prefaced good news.
“The concern is transportation.”
“My parents can drive me.”
“They can.”
Claire narrowed her eyes.
“What aren’t you saying?”
Marisol took a breath.
“Evan’s attorney contacted mine.”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“When did he get an attorney?”
“This morning.”
“What does he want?”
“To arrange return of additional marital property and request that you preserve electronic records.”
Daniel laughed once.
“Preserve records.”
Claire ignored him.
“What kind of marital property?”
“He claims you may have taken a data-storage device from the residence.”
The room became silent.
Claire stared at Marisol.
“He’s accusing me of taking the drive.”
“Not formally in the letter.”
“Read the wording.”
Marisol opened her folder.
She read only the relevant sentence.
Mr. Mercer has reason to believe Mrs. Mercer may possess or control electronic property containing confidential personal and business information.
Claire felt something cold and precise settle inside her.
Evan had lost the drive.
Raymond had feared being blamed.
Now Evan was putting the accusation in writing.
Susan whispered, “He’s setting her up.”
Marisol did not answer.
Claire looked at the spreadsheet on her laptop.
The questions column had become longer than the facts column.
Then she noticed one detail she had overlooked.
“Business information.”
Marisol looked at her.
“What?”
“The letter says personal and business information.”
“Yes.”
Claire sat straighter despite the pain.
“Business belonging to whom?”
No one answered.
Claire reached for the hospital phone.
Marisol stopped her.
“Who are you calling?”
“Denise.”
“No.”
Claire looked at her.
“Why not?”
“Because you are not going to improvise contact between a domestic case, an employment investigation, and a disputed storage device.”
Claire’s frustration flared.
“Then what do I do?”
Marisol pulled out her own phone.
“You let the lawyers speak to each other.”
Claire hated it.
She hated the waiting.
She hated the careful language.
She hated every boundary between what she suspected and what she could prove.
But she let Marisol make the call.
Twenty minutes later, Marisol returned from the hallway.
Her expression had changed.
“What happened?” Claire asked.
“Vantage Core’s outside counsel wants to speak with your attorney.”
“You are my attorney.”
“For the protective-order matter.”
Claire stared.
“I need another lawyer?”
“You may.”
Daniel groaned.
Marisol ignored him.
“The company has confirmed that Redbridge Consulting records are part of its internal review.”
Claire’s heart began pounding.
“And the drive?”
Marisol sat down.
“They would not discuss it in detail.”
“But?”
“They asked whether Evan’s letter specifically described the device as containing business information.”
Claire looked at her.
“Yes.”
Marisol nodded.
“That wording matters.”
“Why?”
“Because if Evan is claiming a privately held drive contains confidential business information belonging to his employer, Vantage Core may have questions about why that information was stored at his parents’ house in the first place.”
Claire stared at her.
The first real crack had appeared.
Not in Evan’s story about the assault.
Not in his explanation of the money.
In the thing he had written while trying to protect himself.
He had been so eager to accuse Claire that he had admitted the missing drive contained something he might never have been entitled to keep at home.
Daniel saw it too.
“He stepped on his own foot.”
Susan gave him a look.
Daniel glanced at Claire’s immobilized leg.
“Terrible expression.”
For the first time all day, Claire laughed without pain.
Then Marisol’s phone buzzed.
She read the message.
Her face went serious again.
“What?”
Marisol looked at Claire.
“Officer Ortega wants you to know they found the dumpster.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“And?”
“The collection had been delayed because of a mechanical issue with the truck.”
No one moved.
Marisol continued.
“They recovered several black trash bags from the location Raymond described.”
Claire gripped the bed rail.
“Was it there?”
“They haven’t opened everything yet.”
Her heart pounded so hard she could hear it.
Then Marisol added, “But one of the bags contains a broken wooden handle visible through a tear in the plastic.”
Claire’s fingers went numb around the bed rail.
“Visible through the bag?”
“Yes.”
Marisol kept her voice measured.
“They have not confirmed what it is yet.”
Daniel looked toward the door as if he could somehow see the dumpster from the hospital.
Susan sat very still.
Claire stared at the white blanket over her legs.
“Did Raymond tell them which bag?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he go with them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did they find anything else?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire shut her eyes.
The phrase had become a kind of torture.
She opened them again.
“Fine.”
Marisol watched her.
“That sounded less fine than most people mean it.”
May you like
“I’m trying not to turn every possibility into a verdict.”
“That would be useful.”
