Chương 9
“Excuse me.”
She answered.
“This is Alvarez.”
Her posture changed slightly.
Not alarm.
Attention.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“I represent Claire Bennett as of ten minutes ago.”
Claire stopped breathing for a moment.
Maya listened.
“No, she will not be speaking today.”
Another pause.
“I understand.”
She looked directly at Claire.
“Send it to my office.”
She hung up.
Claire’s fingers tightened around the engagement folder.
“Who was that?”
“Assistant United States Attorney’s office.”
The room became very quiet.
“What do they want?”
“To schedule an interview.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“They did not say.”
“That means yes.”
“It means they want to talk to you.”
Claire stood abruptly.
“I can’t do this.”
Maya remained seated.
“You are doing it.”
“No, I mean I can’t be investigated.”
“That is not a category of life people choose.”
Claire started pacing.
“My company is already calling me.”
“Why?”
“The arrest is online.”
“How much does your employer know?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you handle company finances?”
“No.”
“Government contracts?”
“No.”
“Sensitive data?”
“Some.”
Maya nodded.
“You may need employment counsel eventually, but not because you did anything wrong.”
“Eventually?”
“Today, your priorities are narrower.”
Claire stopped near the window.
“What did the prosecutor say?”
“That they are gathering information from individuals connected to Bellamy Capital.”
“Individuals connected.”
“Yes.”
“That could mean anything.”
“Yes.”
Claire pressed her fingertips against her forehead.
“I hate lawyers.”
Maya smiled faintly.
“Very healthy instinct.”
I checked my phone.
Nine missed calls.
Three from Dad.
Two from Mom.
One from Denise.
Two from an unknown number.
One from my office.
That last one made my stomach drop.
I stepped into the hallway before returning it.
My supervisor, Daniel Price, answered immediately.
“Emma.”
“Hi.”
“Where are you?”
“California.”
“That narrows it down poorly.”
“Near Napa.”
He exhaled.
“So you’re with your family.”
“Yes.”
“Are you doing any work on the Bellamy matter?”
“No.”
“Have you accessed any firm files?”
“No.”
“Spoken with anyone on the investigative team?”
“Not since before my trip.”
“Good.”
His tone was calm, which made the call feel more serious.
“We need you to maintain that separation.”
“I understand.”
“Your sister’s name appears in materials.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“I don’t want details.”
“I wasn’t going to give you any.”
“Okay.”
“Your parents’ names may as well.”
I stared at a fire extinguisher mounted on the wall.
“May?”
“I’m being careful.”
“Thank you.”
“There is another issue.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“Someone from Bellamy’s side has suggested you had a personal vendetta against him.”
I closed my eyes.
“Who?”
“I’m not giving you that.”
“Fine.”
“They’re implying your earlier concerns were motivated by family conflict.”
“That’s false.”
“I know what your disclosures say.”
“Does anyone else?”
“Compliance does.”
I leaned against the wall.
“Could this affect my job?”
“It already affects your work.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Daniel was silent for a second.
“No one is talking about terminating you.”
The sentence offered much less comfort than he probably intended.
“But?”
“But we may need to review your involvement again.”
“I had almost none.”
“I know.”
“And I disclosed the relationship.”
“I know.”
“Then what exactly are we reviewing?”
“Whether Bellamy or his counsel can credibly argue that any evidence was tainted by your conflict.”
The unfairness hit me harder than I expected.
I had followed every rule.
I had stepped back.
I had warned my family without revealing confidential information.
Now Mark could still drag my name into his defense simply because I had noticed him.
Daniel’s voice softened.
“Emma, do not talk to reporters.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Do not post.”
“I don’t post.”
“You have Instagram.”
“I have four pictures of houseplants.”
“That still counts.”
Despite myself, I smiled.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
“Document every contact you have with your family concerning Mark’s business from this point forward.”
“That sounds pleasant.”
“It is not.”
I looked through the narrow glass panel in Maya’s door.
Claire was still pacing.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“Am I allowed to help my sister find counsel?”
“Yes.”
“Drive her to meetings?”
“Yes.”
“Listen if she talks?”
“Yes, but do not investigate for her.”
Rachel’s warning again.
“I understand.”
“And Emma?”
“What?”
“I mean it.”
The line went quiet after we hung up.
For a few seconds, I stood there feeling something I had not expected.
Fear.
Not for Claire.
Not for my parents.
For myself.
I had spent years building a career around being careful.
Careful records.
Careful language.
Careful disclosures.
I had believed carefulness could protect me.
Now a man in custody might be able to smear that work simply by pointing at the wreckage of my family and calling it motive.
When I returned to the conference room, Claire looked at me immediately.
“What happened?”
“Work.”
“Because of Mark?”
“Yes.”
Her face changed.
“Is your job in danger?”
“I don’t know.”
Maya looked between us.
“What specifically?”
I told her.
Not everything.
Just enough.
She listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she said, “Then your interests are officially separate from Claire’s.”
“I know.”
“No, I mean legally and strategically separate.”
Claire sat down again.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Emma should not become a witness-management service for your family.”
“I wasn’t asking her to.”
“You will.”
Claire looked offended.
Maya raised an eyebrow.
“You called her thirty-seven times last night.”
Claire looked at me.
“You counted?”
“My phone did.”
“Oh.”
Maya turned to me.
“You may need your own counsel if Bellamy’s defense escalates the accusation.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“That sentence has purchased a great many lawyers’ vacation homes.”
Claire covered her mouth.
A laugh escaped anyway.
She immediately looked guilty.
Maya did not.
“I’m serious.”
“I know,” Claire said.
“But that was funny.”
“Those things can coexist.”
The tension eased for a moment.
Then my phone buzzed again.
Aunt Denise.
I answered this time.
“Please tell me Dad is still at the vineyard.”
“He is.”
“Good.”
“But your mother isn’t.”
I stood.
May you like
“What do you mean?”
“She left twenty minutes ago.”
