Chapter 17 - The People Behind the NumbersThere were six names in the Oak Ridge records besides mine. I couldn't know their stories simply because my name appeared beside theirs. Detective Bell said each person needed privacy, careful contact, and the chance to decide whether to speak.

One did. Her name was Jasmine Reed, and she'd worked as a bookkeeper for Richard until she questioned transfers out of a housing renovation fund.

"I told him the invoices didn't match the work," she said when we met through Elena. "He told everybody I'd stolen money. I lost my job and nearly lost my apartment."

She had kept copies of time-stamped spreadsheets. They showed renovation costs inflated and routed to companies tied to Richard's associates. The documents needed forensic review, but Jasmine's account gave investigators a path to follow.

Another woman, a tenant named Grace Porter, described being pressured to sign away relocation rights. Not everybody was ready to speak on record. Not everybody wanted their trauma turned into somebody else's victory speech.

I began to see Mom's building differently. It wasn't just money or a title deed. It held lives. Rosa's bookstore hosted tutoring after school. A tailor on the second floor repaired prom dresses for free. The ground-floor hallway smelled of coffee because the cafe owner opened before dawn.

Richard wanted to turn those people into vacant units in a financial projection.

Nicole met me outside Elena's office. She looked younger without the expensive makeup and the careful confidence she'd worn in the kitchen.

"I gave the detective every backup I could find," she said. "And I told her what Dad asked me to do."

"That's good."

"Do you think you'll ever forgive me?"

I considered lying to make the conversation easier. "I don't know."

She nodded, accepting the truth. Then she reached into her purse and produced a hospital visitor badge.

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"Paige gave me this before you were admitted," she said. "It was supposed to let Mom in if your baby came early."

The badge carried someone else's name and a photograph of Helen.