Chapter 8 - The Prosecutor in the Garage
Maya traced the photograph to a courthouse employee.
He was terrified.
He had seen Bell meeting Saye before Saye officially agreed to cooperate.
That meant the deal might have been arranged illegally.
Lena needed proof.
Julian knew how to get it.
“No breaking laws,” Lena warned.
Julian looked offended.
“I’m capable of subtlety.”
“You threatened a man with a staple gun last month.”
“He deserved clarity.”
Despite herself, Lena laughed.
It felt strange.
Good.
They followed Bell.
Two nights later, Bell met Saye’s attorney at a private club.
Maya photographed the exchange of an envelope.
Federal investigators obtained bank records.
Bell’s sister had received $240,000 from a consulting company tied to Vane.
The case collapsed spectacularly.
Bell was suspended.
Saye’s cooperation agreement was withdrawn.
Then Saye disappeared.
During a transfer.
A transport van was found abandoned.
One guard unconscious.
One missing.
Julian immediately knew where Saye would go.
“Harbor House.”
Lena frowned.
“It’s gone.”
“The original building is gone.”
Julian pulled out a map.
“But its foundation remains beneath Vane’s riverwalk.”
Why would Saye go there?
Thomas provided the answer.
“Because Gabriel hid more than the ledger.”
Before the fire, Gabriel had copied payment records onto a portable drive.
Thomas believed he concealed it somewhere inside Harbor House.
Saye must believe it still existed.
They reached the old site after midnight.
Rain hammered the river.
Police were searching elsewhere.
Lena and Julian entered through a maintenance hatch.
Beneath the polished riverwalk were the blackened remains of Harbor House’s basement.
Charred brick.
Old pipes.
Ghosts.
Julian stopped.
For eleven years, he had never returned.
Lena took his hand.
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes.”
He squeezed hers.
“I do.”
They found Saye near the old boiler room.
He had ripped bricks from a wall.
“You two just don’t know when to quit.”
He raised a gun.
Julian stepped in front of Lena.
Saye laughed.
“Still playing hero?”
“No.”
Julian answered calmly.
“Just finally choosing my own side.”
Saye fired.
Julian pulled Lena down.
The bullet missed.
They separated among the pillars.
Lena noticed markings carved into the brick.
G.O.
Her father.
Below them:
LENA’S BIRTHDAY.
She understood.
Eight-sixteen.
Brick eight.
Row sixteen.
She pulled it loose.
Behind it was a waterproof pouch.
Saye saw.
“There!”
He charged.
Julian tackled him.
They crashed through rotten boards.
Saye grabbed Julian’s throat.
Lena seized the pouch and ran.
Saye broke free.
He chased her toward the river tunnel.
“You think your father was some saint?” he shouted.
Lena kept moving.
“He made deals too!”
She stopped.
“What deals?”
Saye smiled.
There it was again.
A secret.
“Ask your mother what Gabriel promised Vane before the trial.”
Lena’s confidence cracked.
Saye lunged.
Julian struck him from behind.
Police arrived seconds later, guided by Lena’s emergency beacon.
This time Saye left in chains.
The waterproof pouch contained a flash drive.
Old.
Damaged.
But recoverable.
When Maya’s forensic technician opened it, they found payment spreadsheets.
Photographs.
Emails.
And one audio file.
Gabriel speaking with Halden Vane.
Vane said:
“Take the plea. Your wife and daughter stay untouched.”
Gabriel answered:
“And the tenants?”
“They’re already dead.”
A pause.
Then Gabriel said something Lena never expected.
“Then we have a deal.”
Lena stared at the waveform.
Her father had agreed to something.
May you like
Something Sofia had never told her.
And suddenly the man she had spent months trying to clear became a mystery all over again.
