Chương 8
Thomas placed a small metal box on the table. “This blocks wireless signals. The drive stays inside until we decide where it can be examined.”
“We?” Sophia asked.
“You own the evidence,” Thomas said. “Mr. Reeves owns the compromised office.”
Julian looked at him.
Thomas’s expression did not change.
Elena pulled out a chair. “So decide.”
Julian sat opposite Sophia. “You believe the drive contains payroll records.”
“Maybe.”
“Marcus believes it connects to me.”
“Yes.”
“He sent the video to your sister because he wanted you to fear giving it to me.”
“Yes.”
“Yet he arranged for me to find you.”
Sophia folded her arms, then stopped because of her ribs. “He wanted you to know I had it.”
“Why?”
“So you would come after me.”
“I did.”
“And now you have the drive.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed. “You think this was his plan.”
“I think I’m sitting in your safe house while you hold the thing he wanted you to find.”
Elena looked from the red case to Julian. “Maybe it has a tracker.”
Thomas opened the signal-blocking box. “We scanned the exterior before bringing it inside. No detectable transmitter.”
“Could be inside,” Elena said.
“It could.”
“What happens if you open it?”
Thomas glanced at Julian. “We do not open it here.”
Sophia stared at the red plastic. During her captivity, Marcus had asked where she moved it. Then he had asked whether she gave it to Reeves. Those were not the same question.
She had been too busy surviving to notice.
“He doesn’t want the drive back,” she said.
Julian waited.
“He wants you to open it.”
Elena pushed her chair back slightly.
Thomas placed the case inside the metal box and shut the lid.
“What would happen?” Sophia asked.
“Possibilities range from nothing to malicious software designed to copy information from a connected system,” Thomas said. “It may also contain files arranged to implicate Mr. Reeves.”
“Or it could explode,” Elena said.
Thomas looked at her. “A device that size could contain a small charge.”
Sophia’s heartbeat stumbled.
“You brought it into the house.”
“It was scanned for explosive compounds.”
“You just said—”
“I said possible. Not likely.”
Elena leaned toward Sophia. “This is why I told you never to pick up random drives.”
“You told me because of a school assembly.”
“It was a good assembly.”
Julian placed both hands on the table. “There is a laboratory in New Jersey that can examine it offline.”
“No,” Sophia said.
His eyes moved to her.
“You take it to your people, and I never know what was actually there.”
“What do you propose?”
“A lawyer.”
Thomas’s eyebrows lifted.
“A labor lawyer?” Elena asked.
“I spoke to one in April. The workers’ center gave me a card.”
“Where is it?” Julian asked.
“My wallet.”
“Marcus took your wallet.”
“The lawyer’s name is Nora Bell.”
Julian’s expression changed so slightly that Sophia might have imagined it.
“You know her,” she said.
“I know of her.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means she is not a labor lawyer.”
“She works with wage-theft cases.”
“She is an assistant district attorney assigned to organized crime and financial offenses.”
Sophia stared at him. “She never said that.”
“She may have been working through the legal clinic to identify a larger pattern.”
Elena whispered, “You almost gave evidence to a prosecutor.”
“I was supposed to call her back.”
“When?”
“After I had proof.”
“You have a timing problem.”
Julian looked at Thomas. “Find a secure number.”
Thomas left the kitchen.
“You want to call a prosecutor?” Sophia asked.
“I want to know why an assistant district attorney approached employees connected to Marcus Lane.”
“Maybe she’s investigating him.”
“Maybe she’s investigating me.”
Sophia’s voice hardened. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
“I am worried about every person whose interest intersects with that drive.”
“Including yours.”
“Especially mine.”
The answer was too direct to dismiss.
Naomi returned with medication and a glass of water. Sophia took the pills while Julian waited. Elena folded the empty cocoa packet into smaller and smaller rectangles.
Thomas came back carrying a different phone.
“Nora Bell is awake,” he said. “She will speak only to Ms. Alvarez.”
Julian held out the device.
Sophia did not take it. “What did you tell her?”
“That you were alive, injured, and in possession of evidence connected to Marcus Lane.”
“You told a prosecutor where I am?”
“No location was given.”
“What did she say?”
“She said if Julian Reeves is within fifty feet of you, you are not safe.”
Julian’s face remained still.
Elena looked at him. “Is she wrong?”
He handed Sophia the phone. “Ask her.”
Nora Bell’s voice was low and hoarse from sleep.
“Sophia?”
“Yes.”
“Are you somewhere you can speak freely?”
Sophia looked at Julian.
He stood and moved toward the doorway.
“Stay,” she said.
His gaze returned to her.
Nora heard the movement. “Who is there?”
“Julian Reeves. My sister. Two other people.”
“Are you being held?”
“No.”
“Are you able to leave?”
Sophia glanced at the dark windows, the guards outside, the long private road. “Probably.”
Julian’s mouth tightened.
Nora paused. “That is not a good answer.”
“It’s the honest one.”
“Have you received medical care?”
“Yes.”
“Did Marcus Lane assault you?”
Sophia’s fingers closed around the phone.
Elena stopped folding the packet.
“Yes.”
“Did you see anyone else during the assault?”
“Men came and went. I don’t know their names.”
“Did Lane ask about a storage device?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have it?”
“It’s here.”
Nora exhaled slowly. “Do not connect it to any computer. Do not give it to Reeves.”
Julian looked toward the metal box.
Sophia said, “He already retrieved it.”
“Has he opened it?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m looking at it.”
“That does not answer whether he opened it before bringing it to you.”
Sophia looked at Julian.
“No,” he said. “It remained sealed from retrieval through arrival.”
Nora went silent.
May you like
Julian’s voice seemed to travel through the phone even without speaker mode.
“Ms. Bell,” he said.
