Chapter Nine The Betrayal
That evening, Detective Brooks examined the documents.
Within minutes, he looked up.
"I remember this account."
He pointed to several bank transfers.
"Someone paid witnesses."
Julian stared at him.
"To lie?"
Brooks nodded.
"To change their statements."
Another document showed altered police reports.
Several pages had been replaced.
The forged diary pages.
Anonymous phone records.
Threatening letters.
Everything connected.
Someone had spent seven years rewriting history.
George suddenly stopped turning pages.
"Wait."
Everyone looked up.
"This address."
He pointed to an invoice.
Emily Carson's forwarding address.
Richmond.
Only fifteen minutes from Julian's engineering office.
Julian felt sick.
"Impossible."
"I've worked there for six years."
Richard looked at him.
"What if she wanted that?"
The room became silent.
Julian remembered every strange coincidence.
Running into Emily at conferences.
Her encouragement whenever he spoke about Sienna.
Her sympathy.
Her tears.
Every time she had quietly whispered,
"You deserve justice."
Never once had she suggested forgiveness.
Only revenge.
Late that night...
Julian sat alone outside the house.
He replayed every conversation he'd had with Emily over the years.
Then one memory surfaced.
Six months earlier.
She had smiled and asked,
"So...
When are you finally going to make Audrey pay?"
At the time...
He had believed she understood his pain.
Now...
The words sounded different.
Planned.
Calculated.
Manipulative.
Just after midnight...
Richard's phone rang.
Detective Brooks answered before Richard could speak.
"I need all of you to leave the house."
Richard stood immediately.
"Why?"
Brooks' voice was urgent.
"Because someone broke into the evidence room tonight."
"They didn't steal anything."
"They were looking for one file."
"What file?"
Brooks paused.
"The original autopsy."
Richard's blood ran cold.
"Someone's trying to erase the truth."
As everyone rushed to lock the doors...
None of them noticed a woman standing across the street beneath a flickering streetlight.
Emily Carson smiled quietly.
May you like
"They're getting closer."
She turned and disappeared into the darkness.
