Chương 11
He looked at me.
Then Daniel.
Then back at my mother.
“When Howard’s fees were reduced, we expanded another agreement.”
My stomach turned.
“With whom?”
Dad did not answer.
I stepped closer.
“With whom, Dad?”
“Whitmore Commercial.”
“For what?”
“Property management for the event company’s Clark Street offices.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You gave them more business?”
“It offset revenue they were losing under the corrected fee schedule.”
Mom let go of his hand.
“So you hid the missing money by changing contracts.”
“No.”
“That is exactly what it sounds like.”
“The company recovered financially.”
“On paper.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
I felt suddenly dizzy.
The entire conflict had changed shape again.
Linda was still cruel.
She had still assaulted my mother.
But my father was no longer standing outside the mess.
He had helped build part of it.
“What was the contract worth?”
I asked.
Dad looked at the floor.
“About one hundred and eighty thousand a year.”
Daniel whispered, “Oh my God.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
Mom stared at him.
“You rewarded them.”
“I stabilized the relationship while protecting our interests.”
“That is a sentence people use when they know the plain version sounds terrible.”
Dad flinched.
He looked at her.
“I was trying to prevent everything from blowing up.”
Mom’s eyes filled, but her voice stayed controlled.
“And how is that working?”
He had no answer.
A loud metallic scrape came from below.
Everyone turned.
The female officer’s voice carried up the stairwell.
“Mrs. Whitmore, step away from the shelving.”
Then Linda screamed.
Not in fear.
In rage.
“You’re all protecting him.”
Something crashed.
Daniel took one step forward.
The officer near the stairs, who had returned without us noticing, raised a hand.
“Stay back.”
Another crash followed.
Then silence.
The radio crackled.
“Door’s open.”
Dad exhaled.
The officer disappeared downstairs again.
Daniel’s hands shook at his sides.
I reached for one before I could stop myself.
He grabbed mine.
For a few seconds we stood that way.
Not reconciled.
Not even close.
Just two people waiting to find out what our parents had done.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Linda appeared first between the two officers.
Her hair had fallen loose on one side, and dust streaked the sleeve of her coat.
Her wrists were not cuffed.
She looked furious rather than frightened.
Then she saw us.
Her eyes landed on Dad.
A smile appeared.
It was small and exhausted and somehow worse than shouting.
“Well,” she said.
“At least now your daughter knows what kind of man you are.”
Dad said nothing.
One officer carried a cardboard archive box behind her.
Its lid had been torn.
Papers protruded from one side.
Marcus came up last.
His face was grim.
Dad looked at the box.
“What did she touch?”
Marcus glanced at Linda.
“Not just the Whitmore records.”
He held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside it was a small black USB drive.
“She brought this with her.”
Linda’s smile vanished.
Daniel stared at the drive.
“What’s on it?”
Marcus looked at Dad.
“We don’t know yet.”
Linda pulled against the officer’s guiding hand.
“Give that back.”
The officer stopped.
“Ma’am, don’t do that again.”
Linda froze.
Everyone stared at her.
That reaction told us more than the drive itself.
Dad looked at Marcus.
“Where did you find it?”
“Behind the archive computer.”
Linda’s voice sharpened.
“I dropped it.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You told us you came downstairs looking for your purse.”
No one spoke.
Linda’s breathing quickened.
The officer beside her asked, “Mrs. Whitmore, do you want to change your explanation before we continue?”
Linda looked at Daniel.
“Danny.”
He did not move.
“Tell them this is ridiculous.”
His grip tightened around my hand.
“What’s on the drive?”
She stared at him.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
His face hardened.
“Then why are you scared of us seeing it?”
“I am not scared.”
“You are.”
“Daniel.”
He let go of my hand.
For one second I thought he was going to step toward her.
Instead, he stepped back.
“No.”
Linda’s mouth tightened.
“No what?”
“No more helping you pretend.”
The officer looked between them.
Linda’s expression shifted from anger to disbelief.
Daniel swallowed.
His voice was quieter when he spoke again.
“If that drive has anything to do with my father’s business, my fiancée’s family, or the records downstairs, you tell the truth now.”
Linda stared at him.
Then she looked at me.
Something ugly returned to her face.
“You still think she’s your fiancée?”
The words hit harder than I wanted them to.
Daniel looked at my hand.
The ring was still there.
Barely.
Linda saw it too.
She smiled again.
“Interesting.”
I pulled my hand away from my body.
For months, that ring had meant promise.
Tonight it had become evidence of indecision.
I slid it off.
Daniel’s face changed.
I held it in my palm rather than handing it to him.
“I’m not making that decision because of her.”
He looked at me.
“I know.”
“I’m making it because I don’t know what’s real anymore.”
He swallowed.
“I know.”
Linda gave a low, satisfied laugh.
Daniel turned on her so fast the officer shifted position.
“You didn’t win.”
Her smile faltered.
He pointed toward the archive box.
“You don’t get to turn this into proof you were right about Emily.”
“I was right about her family.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You were wrong about her every day.”
For once, Linda had no immediate answer.
Marcus held up the evidence bag.
The USB drive caught the fluorescent light.
Dad stared at it.
Mom stared at Dad.
I closed my fingers around the ring.
The female officer looked toward Marcus.
“Do you have a secure place where this can be logged without anyone accessing it?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Linda’s head snapped toward her.
“You cannot keep my property.”
May you like
The officer looked at her.
“If it’s relevant to a possible unlawful entry or attempted access to computer systems, we can document and preserve it while we determine what happened.”
