Chapter 14 - Six in the Morning

By five twenty, Mercer House stood behind chain-link fencing beneath a sky turning from black to steel gray. Its windows were boarded. A demolition excavator waited at the curb. Mara could still picture the bedroom where Ben had slept, the stairwell her father had inspected, and the kitchen where a neighbor named Mrs. Alvarez used to hand out warm tortillas.

Amara Holt arrived with a petition and Rosa's carbon notes. She couldn't guarantee a judge would sign the order in time. She had requested an emergency video hearing, but the demolition company's permit remained active.

"We're filing against a schedule, not just two corporations," she warned.

Detective Brooks had located Rosa alive at a private garage. She was frightened and bruised, but she agreed to speak on camera. Pike's men had abandoned her when police checkpoints closed the main roads.

At five forty, Rosa appeared on Amara's screen. She held the faded report close enough for the judge to see the serial number. Her voice shook only once.

"I inspected the doors. They were not safe. The official report bearing my name is not the report I wrote."

The judge ordered a temporary halt until the city could examine the evidence. The excavator's engine fell silent.

Mara felt the air return to her lungs.

Then Grant Varrick arrived in a black car with two attorneys. He strode to the fence, his silver hair perfectly combed, and demanded to know who had authorized entry to his property.

"The court," Amara answered.

He looked past her at Mara. "You're Daniel Keene's daughter. You're as stubborn as he was."

"He was right about the doors."

Grant's expression didn't move. "The courts said otherwise."

Adrian stepped forward, holding the camera bag. "You and Dad were there that night. We have photographs."

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For the first time Grant's practiced calm slipped. He stared at the battered bag and said, almost to himself, "Evelyn kept them?"

Before Adrian could reply, Grant's phone rang. He listened for three seconds, turned away, and shouted, "Start the demolition anyway!"