Chapter 16 - What the Fire Did Not Destroy
The break-in at Denise's home became a separate police matter. Nobody was hurt, and the documents had already been copied under controlled conditions. Knowing that didn't stop Mara from picturing her mother alone in the dark, hearing glass break.
“Come stay with Aunt Rachel until the locks are fixed,” Mara said over the phone.
“I already am,” Denise replied. “And Mara? They don't get to make me regret helping you.”
Investigators continued tracing the missing papers and requested security footage from nearby homes. Mara did not try to solve that case herself.
Over the next week, Harbor Shield suspended its fundraising operations pending an independent review. Some employees cooperated immediately. Others said they had never seen the contracts now being examined. Publicly, Sutter denied wrongdoing and argued that investigators had misunderstood legitimate consulting fees.
At the base, Voss was reassigned away from supervising potential witnesses while the command reviewed the allegations. Price was relieved of certain administrative responsibilities. Neither change established guilt, and Mara knew better than to call it justice complete.
Nina came to the library after her formal interview. She sank into the chair across from Mara and put her forehead in her hands.
“I was terrified,” she said.
“Did you tell them what you saw?”
“Everything. Including that I almost signed their statement.”
“That's part of the truth too.”
“What if they think I'm unreliable?”
“They'll assess what you say against the records. That's why records matter.”
Nina looked up. “I'm sorry I stood there while everyone laughed.”
Mara remembered the bright cafeteria, the yellow drink crawling across gray tile, the ugly pleasure on Voss's face.
“You didn't knock the tray out of my hands,” she said. “But next time somebody's on the floor, help them up.”
Nina's eyes filled. “I will.”
The following morning, Mara received an official notice that investigators had recovered a copy of the original convoy video from an archival backup not known to the witnesses. The source had been preserved with documented handling procedures.
It showed the lead truck, the explosion behind it, and the decision to continue forward.
But the video contained something else.
In the last clear frame, before the vehicle rounded a bend, the camera captured a hand reaching for the radio. The insignia on the sleeve belonged to someone seated beside Sutter.
May you like
Someone no witness had mentioned.
It was Calvin Price.
