Chapter 9 - My Own Voice
The recording arrived through the company’s attorney.
I listened to it in Ortiz’s office.
My voice said, “Use whatever you need.
I don’t care how you get it.”
Then:
“Just make sure it doesn’t come back to me.”
I knew the words.
I had said them.
But not together.
The first came from a call about emergency equipment after a flood damaged a job site.
The second came from a private argument with Emily about a birthday surprise.
I stared at the speaker.
“They cut it.”
Ortiz nodded.
“We’ll compare it against the source material.”
“He can make me say anything.”
“He can make a recording appear to say something.
That’s different from proving it.”
It didn’t feel different.
By noon, three people who had called me a friend were asking whether I should step away from the company.
I agreed to a temporary leave while the evidence was reviewed.
Ben sounded surprised.
“You’re not going to fight it?”
“I’m going to find Caroline.”
After the call, Ortiz studied me.
“Your attorney should handle all business communication for now.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
I put the phone down.
“Yes.”
That afternoon, Emily arrived at the police station with an attorney.
She asked to speak to me privately.
I refused.
Then she agreed to speak with attorneys present.
She wore the blue coat I’d bought her for our anniversary.
For some reason, that hurt more than the messages.
“You look terrible,” she said.
“Where’s Caroline?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who called me?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“Then why are you here?”
Her eyes filled.
“I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes?”
“I was trying to protect us.”
“From what?”
She looked at the table.
“There were debts.”
I waited.
“My brother needed help.
Then the money kept growing.
Colin said a few harmless details would settle it.”
“And when the debts were paid?”
She didn’t answer.
I leaned forward.
“When were they paid, Emily?”
Her attorney touched her arm.
But she answered.
“Two years ago.”
The room went still.
For two more years, she had kept listening.
Kept selling.
“Where is Caroline?” I asked again.
Emily’s face changed.
The tears stopped.
“If you keep pushing Colin, you may not like what happens.”
Her attorney immediately ended the meeting.
As they stood, Emily looked at me one last time.
May you like
“Ask the girl what her mother took from the wall.”
Then she walked out.
