Chapter 16 - The Other Passenger
Nora had practiced her first words a hundred times in borrowed rooms. She wanted to say she was sorry, even though she wasn't responsible for the crash. She wanted to ask whether Julian remembered her singing badly to the radio in the car. Instead she introduced herself like a stranger because the months of hiding had taught her that recognition could be dangerous.
When Julian finally said, "I remember your laugh," she began to cry.
"There was no other passenger," Julian said.
Victor shut his eyes. "There was."
The car had carried a young accountant named Nora Bell, he explained. She had insisted on delivering audit files to Julian personally. After the crash, police reported her dead. Victor had believed it.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Julian demanded.
"Because I was ashamed. I sent her with you. She thought you could protect her."
Brooks investigated. Nora Bell's death certificate was filed in another county; the medical examiner's signature appeared on several unrelated fraudulent documents. The body had never been independently identified by her family.
Maya searched the old audit files. Nora had left hundreds of notes in plain language, frustrated by people who talked about money as if nobody had earned it.
One note read: Those numbers are cafeteria workers and welders and people whose backs gave out before they turned sixty. Don't call them exposure.
Julian read that line aloud.
A woman arrived at the hospital's reception desk that evening and asked to see him. She wore a dark baseball cap and held her arm stiffly against her side.
"My name is Nora Bell," she said to the nurse. "But if you put that on your screen, someone will come looking."
Brooks took her to a secure room. Nora removed the cap, revealing a thin scar along her temple.
"I didn't die in your car," she told Julian. "I crawled out. And I heard Graham arguing with someone while you were unconscious."
"Who?"
May you like
Nora looked toward the door.
"Your father."
