Chapter 13 - The City Started Calling
By sunrise, three people had called Dante.
A retired judge.
A state senator.
And the CEO of a national construction company.
None admitted knowing about the ledger.
All asked the same question in different language.
Did Evelyn Carter possess copies?
I didn’t.
Dante told them that.
They didn’t believe him.
Then the threats began.
My mother received flowers with no card.
My sister found someone parked outside her house.
A reporter called my office asking whether I was under federal investigation.
The walls were closing in.
I called my mother.
“Go to Aunt Rachel’s house.”
“Why?”
“Please.”
“Is this about Nolan?”
My silence answered.
Then she said something I didn’t expect.
“I never liked him.”
I almost laughed.
“You told me he was perfect.”
“I told you what I thought you needed to hear.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Her voice softened.
“I saw you disappearing.”
“I just didn’t know how to reach you.”
I closed my eyes.
For months I had blamed everyone for not seeing.
Maybe some had seen.
Maybe Nolan had simply made sure I stopped listening.
When I returned to Dante’s office, Bianca was waiting.
“I deserve whatever you think of me.”
“Yes.”
She accepted it.
“I sold the trust information because I needed money.”
“For what?”
“My son.”
I hadn’t known she had one.
“He had gambling debts.”
“Dangerous ones.”
“I thought Nolan’s group only wanted investment leads.”
“I didn’t know they would target beneficiaries personally.”
“But once you knew?”
She looked down.
“I was afraid.”
That word made me angry.
“So was I.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You don’t get to use fear as an excuse for helping build mine.”
Bianca nodded.
Then she placed a folder on the desk.
“This is how I can help.”
Inside were payment records.
Luca to Nolan.
Nolan to private investigators.
Payments to a doctor.
A notary.
And someone from my company.
I froze.
“What is that?”
A transfer to my direct supervisor.
Harold Finch.
The man who hired me four years earlier.
The man who encouraged me to attend the fundraiser where Nolan first approached me.
My relationship hadn’t been engineered eighteen months ago.
It had started years earlier.
Before Nolan had ever touched my life.
And according to Bianca’s records, Harold received another payment that morning.
One million dollars.
For a service labeled simply:
May you like
CARTER TERMINATION.
---
