CHAPTER 7 — THE RED FOLDER
CHAPTER 7 — THE RED FOLDER
Police officers rushed outside.
George vanished behind the stone wall before anyone reached the gate.
Audrey grabbed the folder while Richard helped Elena into the house.
The shattered window had cut Elena’s cheek, but she remained conscious.
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Lock the doors.”
Clara stared at her.
“Why did George try to stop you?”
Elena wiped the blood from her face.
“Because I can prove Sienna was murdered.”
Julian had been released temporarily while prosecutors reviewed the wedding-night recording. He returned to the house under his attorney’s supervision just as Elena began speaking.
No one welcomed him.
He stood near the doorway, silent and pale.
Elena opened the red folder.
Inside were photographs of Sienna’s damaged vehicle.
Close-ups showed a clean cut in the brake line.
“This wasn’t road damage,” Elena said. “Someone used a precision tool.”
She placed another photograph on the table.
It showed George entering Sienna’s parking garage the afternoon before her death.
Julian stared at it.
“No.”
“The image came from a private security camera across the street,” Elena continued. “The original police file never included it.”
“Why didn’t you come forward?”
“I tried.”
Elena looked at Richard.
“Then someone broke into my office, stole the original evidence, and left a message threatening my daughter.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Elena’s voice hardened.
“I entered protection because George was connected to a money-laundering investigation. I was told contacting this family would expose my location.”
Audrey placed the blue flash drive beside the photographs.
“Sienna named George in her recording.”
Elena nodded.
“She discovered Westbridge had replaced certified steel with cheaper material in four public projects.”
Clara’s stomach turned.
“Greyford Bridge?”
“And three schools.”
Julian stepped closer.
“Why was my signature on the approval?”
Elena removed several documents.
“Because George used your engineering credentials to make the reports appear legitimate.”
Julian examined the signature.
“That looks exactly like mine.”
“It was copied from consulting paperwork.”
Audrey watched him.
“You never noticed?”
Julian’s silence answered for him.
Elena leaned forward.
“Sienna asked you to review those files two weeks before she died.”
Julian’s face collapsed.
“I was busy.”
“You told her to talk to George.”
Julian remembered.
The room seemed to close around him.
Sienna had called three times.
He had ignored the first two.
On the third, he told her he was preparing for a major presentation and could not get involved in office politics.
Elena’s expression softened, but her words did not.
“She trusted you. You sent her back to the man she was afraid of.”
Julian sat down slowly.
Audrey looked at him.
“This is what George used against you. Your guilt.”
Elena reached into the folder.
“There’s one more thing.”
She produced a photograph of George meeting with another person outside the bank where box 317 was now stored.
The second person was Richard.
Clara turned toward her husband.
Richard went completely still.
May you like
Elena asked the question everyone was thinking.
“What did George pay you to hide?”
