Chapter 22 - The Flash Drive Contained My Father’s Voice
Detective Ortiz called us the next afternoon.
The flash drive contained one audio file.
Twenty-nine minutes.
Recorded twenty-eight years earlier.
The first voice belonged to Thomas.
The second belonged to my father.
At first, they argued about money.
Then Thomas said:
“You cannot keep hiding shipments.”
Samuel replied:
“I’m trying to keep people alive.”
I stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
My father explained that organized criminals had been using regional freight companies to move stolen pharmaceutical products.
Morgan Logistics had become one of their targets.
Thomas wanted to go directly to the police.
Samuel refused.
Why?
Because someone inside law enforcement was apparently involved.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
“I’m moving the shipments myself so I can document the entire network.”
My father had not been stealing.
He had been building evidence.
Thomas had discovered part of the operation and assumed the worst.
But the recording ended before they resolved their argument.
Ortiz removed her headphones.
“This changes the situation.”
“For Thomas too.”
“Yes.”
I stared at the waveform on the computer screen.
My father wasn’t innocent because I wanted him to be.
He was complicated.
Afraid.
Secretive.
Possibly reckless.
May you like
But he had been trying to expose something dangerous.
And somebody had spent twenty-eight years making sure nobody knew.
