Chương 14
"My father can barely sign his own name now."
"I know."
"What did Briggs have?"
Daniel's voice dropped.
"A recording."
Gideon closed his eyes.
Of course.
Not magic evidence.
A piece of leverage.
"What recording?" Evelyn asked.
"Your father."
"Doing what?"
Daniel took a breath.
"Offering to pay a county inspector to delay a competitor's permit."
Evelyn said nothing.
Neither did Gideon.
The silence on both ends felt enormous.
Finally Evelyn whispered, "My father bribed an inspector?"
"No."
"What do you mean no?"
"He talked about it."
"On a recording."
"Yes."
"That's not better."
"I didn't say it was."
"Did he pay anyone?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because the inspector was cooperating with federal investigators."
Gideon sat back down slowly.
Evelyn's voice broke for the first time.
"Federal investigators?"
"Your father found out before money changed hands."
"How?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Briggs told him."
That changed everything again.
Evelyn whispered, "Why would Briggs protect him?"
"He didn't."
Daniel sounded exhausted now.
"He sold him the warning."
Gideon stared at the pharmacy floor.
A frightened subcontractor.
A compromised founder.
A COO who knew too much.
And somewhere in the middle, a fraud scheme dressed in stolen identities.
Evelyn asked the only question that mattered.
"What did my father give him?"
Daniel answered after a long silence.
"The subcontract."
Gideon felt the entire night settle into a new shape.
Then Morales's radio crackled.
She turned sharply.
Gideon heard only fragments.
County Road Nine.
Vehicle located.
Possible occupant.
Morales looked at him.
Her expression told him before she spoke.
"They found Dale's truck."
Gideon stood.
"Is he there?"
Morales pressed a hand to her earpiece.
Another transmission came through.
Her face tightened.
"No."
"Then who is?"
She looked at him.
"Briggs Harland."
Morales was already reaching for her radio.
"Where?"
"Job trailer off County Road Nine."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Armed?"
She listened.
"Unknown."
Gideon grabbed his phone.
Evelyn was still on the line.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes."
"Stay where you are."
"Gideon—"
"Stay there."
"You don't get to order me around."
"Correct."
He looked at Morales.
"Can I go?"
"No."
"He's in Dale's truck."
"I heard."
"Dale may be there."
"And deputies are already on scene."
Gideon took one step toward the door.
Morales moved with him.
"Don't make me physically stop you in front of your kid."
He looked at her.
She looked back.
Maisie said, "Dad."
That stopped him.
She was standing beside the plastic chair with her backpack hugged against her chest.
Her face had gone pale.
Not dramatic.
Not crying.
Worse.
She looked like a child trying very hard to become smaller.
Gideon turned away from the door.
"Okay."
Morales lowered her shoulders a fraction.
"Thank you."
He hated the helplessness immediately.
It crawled under his skin.
He had built an adult life around ordinary problems because ordinary problems could be held in two hands.
Broken alternator.
Leaking seal.
Late piano lesson.
Frozen yogurt.
Now somewhere across town a frightened man was missing, a compromised contractor sat in his truck, and Gideon could do nothing without making the situation worse.
He sat beside Maisie.
She leaned against him without asking.
He put an arm around her.
On the phone, Evelyn said quietly, "I'm still here."
"Good."
"Daniel is too."
Gideon looked down.
"Put him on."
A second later Daniel's voice replaced hers.
"I assume you hate me now."
"Don't know you well enough."
"Efficient."
"What exactly did Briggs get from Evelyn's father besides the subcontract?"
Daniel went silent.
"Daniel."
"Protection."
"From what?"
"Audits."
"How much protection?"
"Not unlimited."
"Enough to submit fake invoices?"
Daniel did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Gideon's jaw tightened.
"Did you approve them?"
"No."
"Did you see them?"
"Some."
"And?"
"I flagged two."
"What happened?"
"They came back cleared by executive override."
"Whose override?"
"Mercer's former CEO."
"Her father."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell Evelyn?"
"Because at first I thought it was debt."
"What kind?"
"Political."
"Then?"
"Then I thought blackmail."
"You were right."
"Partly."
Gideon looked toward the doors.
"What does partly mean?"
Daniel exhaled.
"Briggs wasn't working alone."
The words settled.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"That's convenient."
"I know."
"Who handled vendor setup for Harland's repair invoices?"
"Procurement systems."
"Specific person."
"A manager named Celia Voss."
"Where is she?"
"She resigned three weeks ago."
"Of course she did."
"She moved to Arizona."
"Verified?"
"No."
Gideon closed his eyes.
A name finally had somewhere to land.
"Did she have access to vendor tax data?"
"Yes."
"Personnel records?"
"No."
"My service number?"
"Not through Mercer."
"Then someone else supplied it."
"Probably."
"Could Briggs?"
"Maybe."
Daniel lowered his voice.
"He had a private investigator."
Gideon opened his eyes.
"What for?"
"Leverage."
"Against vendors?"
"Against everyone."
There it was.
Not sophistication.
Paranoia with a budget.
Gideon looked at Maisie.
"Name?"
"I don't know."
"Find it."
Morales's radio cracked again.
She turned away.
Gideon watched her face.
Professional neutrality shifted into attention.
Then concern.
She looked at him.
"They found Dale."
Gideon stood.
"Where?"
"Inside the trailer."
"Condition?"
"Alive."
His lungs unlocked.
"How bad?"
"Beaten."
Maisie pressed closer to him.
"Conscious?"
Morales listened.
"Yes."
Gideon stared at the floor.
Relief came ugly.
Mixed with anger.
Mixed with guilt.
Dale had called him because he was scared.
Then he had left home anyway.
People did that.
They made choices that contradicted the thing they'd begged you to believe five minutes earlier.
Fear did not make people consistent.
"What about Briggs?"
Morales said, "In custody."
"Did he hurt Dale?"
"Unknown."
"Travis?"
"Not there."
Gideon looked at the phone.
"Daniel, did you hear?"
"Yes."
"Call Evelyn back."
"She's standing beside me."
"Good."
Evelyn's voice came through.
"What do we do?"
Gideon almost laughed.
"Don't ask me that."
"I am."
"Call your attorneys."
"They're here."
"Then use them."
"And you?"
"I'm staying with my daughter."
The sentence came easier this time.
Something in Maisie's shoulders loosened.
Evelyn was quiet.
Then she said, "Good."
The line ended.
For the next forty minutes, nothing dramatic happened.
May you like
That was almost harder.
Morales received updates in fragments.
