Chapter 4 - Nine Seconds

"Absolutely not," Tess said. "You're not meeting some mystery person alone. That's how people wind up in true-crime podcasts."

Naomi reread the message. It included an address: a twenty-four-hour laundromat on the South Side, open until dawn. The sender had also typed a warning: No police.

"Whoever sent this was there," Naomi said. "They watched my mom die."

"Or they want you to think they did."

Tess parked across from the laundromat while Naomi went in. A dryer thumped in the nearly empty room. At a folding table sat a woman with short black hair, a yellow notebook, and a mug she hadn't touched.

"Naomi? I'm June Park. I'm a reporter."

"You're the one with the video?"

"Part of it. Someone sent me a copy after your fight at the gala. I've been investigating Sterling Properties for eight months. I was told the Briar House records were destroyed."

Naomi stayed standing. "Show me the rest."

June slid over a tablet. The same woman in the pale coat was visible now. Vanessa Sterling. She stood beside the town car, one hand over her mouth, then turned toward a man in a dark jacket. Caleb Voss.

"She was there," Naomi whispered.

"The report says she was in New York."

Onscreen, Vanessa pointed toward the building. Voss spoke into his radio. The video had no sound. Elena struck the door again and fell to her knees as smoke filled the stairwell. Then the picture cut to black.

Naomi couldn't breathe. "Why stop there?"

"That's all I received. The original footage is still out there."

"So publish it."

"I will. But a blurry clip isn't enough to prove who locked the door. They'll call it fake, then use their lawyers to bury every witness."

Naomi bristled. "My mother is already buried."

"You're right. I'm sorry," June said.

Tess entered carrying two coffees. She turned June's tablet around. "Who's the man beside Vanessa?"

"Voss," Naomi said.

June nodded. "And there's another name. Eli Ward. He was an engineer for the company that installed the locks. His phone was disconnected the day after the fire."

As if on cue, June's own phone rang. The caller ID said UNKNOWN.

She answered on speaker. A man's voice came through, shaking.

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"Stop looking for me," he said. "They just found my daughter."

Then he hung up.