Chapter 10 - The Price of Silence
Naomi pulled the children away from the window. Ruby knew a back exit through the library's staff hallway; she had used it during fire drills. They ran while Weller's SUV circled the block.
By noon, attorney Mara Bishop had placed the Bell family in a safe apartment and secured an appointment with the district attorney's public integrity unit. Mara was a housing lawyer who wasn't intimidated by expensive suits.
"I believe you," she told Naomi. "That doesn't mean I can prove it yet."
They met in Mara's office above a bakery. Naomi laid out the notebook, the recorder, June's video, and Eli's archive number. Mara listened without interrupting. Then she drew three circles on a legal pad.
"We have witnesses. We have a system that could trap people. And we have people with a motive to hide what happened. We need the link between those circles."
"G.S. and V.S.," Naomi said.
"Credentials aren't a confession," Mara replied. "People share passwords. Records can be altered. And Weller's involvement means we can't hand everything to the first detective who walks through the door."
Someone knocked. A receptionist slipped in with a cream-colored envelope. A courier had delivered it, prepaid, with no sender.
Inside was a legal agreement offering Naomi two million dollars for emotional distress, conditioned on a public apology to Vanessa, a statement that Elena caused the fire, and a lifetime promise of silence.
"They think money fixes everything," Tess said.
Naomi read the clause twice. Her rent was overdue. She had been dropped from nursing school when she'd started working double shifts after her mother's death. Two million dollars could put her life back together.
But accepting it would take Elena's name away a second time.
Naomi tore the agreement down the middle.
Mara caught the pieces before they hit the floor. "We should keep this as evidence."
"Fine," Naomi said. "Tape it back together."
June's phone rang. She checked the message, and her expression hardened.
"The Sterlings just announced a press conference. Vanessa says she has proof your mother confessed to starting the fire."
Naomi gripped the edge of the desk.
May you like
"My mother never confessed," she said.
June turned her phone toward them. Onscreen was a photograph of a signed confession, bearing Elena Reyes's unmistakable handwriting.
