Chapter 6 - THREE DEAD MEN
We spread the records across the dining table.
The same table where Garrett’s family had probably hosted governors.
Senators.
Judges.
Now it held evidence that his father had hidden worker deaths.
The inspection reports were clear.
A pressure valve on Pier Nine had failed testing twice.
Victor Sloane ordered the equipment kept in service.
Why?
Replacing it would have delayed a major contract.
The explosion happened nine days later.
Three men died.
One was Anthony Russo.
One was Malik Turner.
The third was Ernesto Delgado.
I remembered their names from the newspaper.
My father remembered them for the rest of his life.
His handwritten notes listed witnesses.
Supervisors.
Dates.
And one sentence repeated twice.
GARRETT HARWICK SR. INFORMED.
Garrett read it silently.
Then again.
“My father knew before the explosion.”
Bess whispered.
“I’m sorry.”
He looked at her.
“You knew?”
“Not before.”
“After?”
She nodded.
Garrett stood.
He walked to the windows.
Nobody followed.
I understood that kind of silence.
It was what happens when a parent dies twice.
Once physically.
Once when you learn who they really were.
Victor watched him.
“You think this changes what your father accomplished?”
Garrett turned slowly.
“It changes everything.”
Victor scoffed.
“Three men died in an industrial accident twenty years ago.”
I felt something cold move through me.
“Say their names.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“Anthony Russo.”
“Malik Turner.”
“Ernesto Delgado.”
I stepped closer.
“If you’re going to reduce them to an inconvenience, at least say their names.”
He smiled faintly.
“Your father was sentimental too.”
“No.”
“He had a conscience.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“Conscience is expensive.”
Garrett answered.
“So is prison.”
That stopped him.
Garrett picked up his phone.
“I’m calling the state attorney general.”
Celeste stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She had lost the polish now.
The calm.
“You can’t.”
Garrett stared.
“Why?”
“Because these documents implicate your father.”
“He’s dead.”
“They implicate the company.”
“Then the company answers.”
Celeste looked genuinely frightened.
“You don’t understand what that will cost.”
Garrett’s voice turned quiet.
“Now you sound like him.”
Victor looked toward the door.
Security blocked it.
Garrett continued.
“Neither of you leaves until law enforcement arrives.”
Victor laughed.
“You think you can detain me?”
“No.”
Garrett gestured toward the front doors.
“You can walk out.”
“Every camera will record you.”
“And the sheriff already has your license plate.”
Victor stared at him.
Then at the documents.
Then at me.
“This girl has no idea what she started.”
I looked back.
“My father started it.”
Victor smiled.
“No.”
“He failed.”
That sentence hit hard.
But before I could answer, Bess spoke.
“No, he didn’t.”
We all turned.
She reached into her apron.
Her hand shook.
“I lied earlier.”
Garrett frowned.
“About what?”
May you like
Bess placed an old brass key on the table.
“Thomas Beckett didn’t leave only one copy.”
