Chapter 11 - A Message From the Dead

Julian read Nora's message three times. He wanted to believe every word. He wanted to drive to the motel and tell Sadie her mother had texted. But a phone could be stolen, and a message could be written by anybody.

He called Serrano instead.

"We haven't opened the drive," she said. "And we won't until forensics preserves it. Where is Faye now?"

"With Sadie. Two officers outside the room."

"I'll move them. Whoever sent that text knows we're getting close."

Julian tried Nora's number. The call connected on the fourth ring. He heard traffic, a clicking sound, and a woman's breath.

"Nora?"

"Don't say my name." Her voice was a thin whisper. "They took my bag. The phone isn't safe."

"Where are you? Tell me one thing I can use."

A man shouted in the distance. Nora spoke faster. "Remember the elevator that never reached the fourth floor? Ask the nurse with the red shoes."

The line went dead.

Julian had no idea what she meant. Then he remembered an old medical-office building his foundation owned near the river. It had been partly renovated into temporary clinics, with a fourth floor closed for years because the elevator kept failing inspection.

Serrano ran the address. Two months earlier, a private company called Hale Recovery Services had leased the upper floors. Grant Baird had signed the agreement on the fund's behalf.

"We need a warrant," Serrano said. "We also need grounds beyond a creepy phone call."

"The lease is tied to the records we're investigating."

"Good. I'll put that in front of a judge. You stay away from the building."

Julian hung up and checked the motel surveillance feed Owen had helped police secure. Faye and Sadie were leaving through a back entrance with an officer. Sadie stopped at the curb and turned toward the camera, as if she knew Julian might be watching.

He raised his hand to the empty screen.

Then a video arrived from Camille. It showed Nora seated in a bare room, eyes open but unfocused. A woman's voice off-camera said, "Tell Julian the fund is clean."

Nora looked straight into the lens.

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"The fund is clean," she repeated.

And beneath the table, where her hands were hidden from the person filming, she tapped three times against the chair.