Chapter 2 – Seventy-Two Hours Begin
After closing early, Evelyn locked the diner doors.
The handwritten sign in the window read:
Closed for Family Emergency.
Inside, Hannah sat at a corner booth with a mug of untouched tea while Evelyn opened an old filing cabinet behind the register.
Most people thought the cabinet held tax records.
Instead, it contained something far more valuable.
Every document related to Carter's Table.
Mortgage papers.
Business licenses.
Insurance files.
And one thick envelope labeled Attorney – James Whitaker.
James had been Evelyn's lawyer for more than twenty years.
He had handled her late husband's estate, helped her purchase the diner, and once defeated a predatory developer who tried to force her off the block.
When he answered the phone, Evelyn didn't waste time.
"I need you."
His voice turned serious immediately.
"Who's dead?"
"Nobody."
"Yet."
Twenty minutes later, James arrived carrying a leather briefcase.
He listened without interrupting while Hannah described everything.
The insults.
The isolation.
The financial control.
The beatings.
Grant's threats.
Margaret's violence.
When Hannah finished, James quietly removed his glasses.
"Did anyone ever witness this?"
Hannah wiped her eyes.
"The security cameras."
"What cameras?"
"They're everywhere."
"The hallways."
"The kitchen."
"The living room."
"The garage."
"The nursery."
"They recorded everything."
James leaned forward.
"Do you know where the recordings are stored?"
Grant always bragged about his 'state-of-the-art' home security system.
"Cloud storage."
James exchanged a long look with Evelyn.
"Good."
Evelyn frowned.
"Good?"
"If those recordings still exist," James said carefully, "Grant Holloway may have just documented his own criminal case."
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For the first time all day...
Hope entered the room.
