Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Recording
The police arrived before midnight.
Grant told them the guard had misunderstood him.
The guard said almost nothing.
Rosa gave her statement with an ice pack against her elbow.
Noah sat beside her, wearing shoes Andrew’s driver had brought from the car.
They were too large.
He kept his dusty feet inside them anyway.
Andrew’s attorney wanted the flash drive.
Lily closed her fist around it.
“No.”
“Lily, we need to preserve—”
“Then make a copy where I can see.”
The attorney studied her.
Then she nodded.
“My name is Claire Benton.
And that’s a reasonable request.”
It was the first reasonable thing an adult had called Lily’s demand all night.
They used a clean laptop from the hotel business center.
There were photographs of vehicle inspection reports.
Spreadsheets.
Emails.
And one video.
Her mother appeared on the screen wearing a gray sweatshirt, her hair twisted into a loose knot.
Lily stopped breathing.
The camera sat on a kitchen counter.
Their kitchen.
“Rosa, if you’re watching this, something has gone wrong.”
Andrew lowered himself into a chair.
On the screen, Emily Whitmore rubbed her forehead.
“I’m probably being dramatic.
I hope I’m being dramatic.”
Her tired smile nearly broke Lily.
“The foundation bought six passenger vans from a company called Northline Mobility.
Grant approved the purchase.
The brake inspection reports were altered.”
Claire leaned toward the screen.
Emily held up a folder.
“These are the originals.
Three vans failed.
One was assigned to me anyway.”
Andrew whispered, “No.”
Emily continued.
“I told Andrew.
He said Grant would straighten it out.
Now the reports are gone from the foundation server, and Grant wants me to sign a statement saying I misunderstood them.”
Lily looked at her father.
He wasn’t looking at her.
“I’m taking the originals to an independent attorney tomorrow,” Emily said.
“If anybody tells you I changed my mind, don’t believe them.”
The video ended.
Noah stared at his hands.
“My mom said your mom was scared.”
Andrew shook his head.
“She never said scared.”
Lily turned toward him.
“She said the brakes failed.”
“I thought she meant paperwork.”
“Did you look?”
He had no answer.
Claire opened another folder.
Inside was a dated receipt from an automotive testing lab.
The date was three days before the crash.
Attached was a short email from Grant to Andrew.
Handle Emily.
She’s going to destroy everything we built.
Below it was Andrew’s reply.
I’ll take care of it.
May you like
Lily read it twice.
Then she moved her chair away from her father.
