Chapter 10 - The Red LedgerDamon denied meeting Harrison.
Then Malcolm showed him the photograph.
Damon leaned back.
“My lawyer was present nearby.”
“He wasn’t.”
Silence.
“What did Harrison give you?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you give him?”
“Nothing.”
Another photograph.
The envelope.
The document.
Malcolm placed them side by side.
“You have a fascinating definition of nothing.”
Damon looked away.
His attorney requested a break.
Malcolm refused.
“You’re already charged with hurting the girls.”
Damon’s jaw tightened.
“You want to make this worse?”
“Threatening me?”
“No.”
Malcolm leaned forward.
“I’m explaining leverage.”
He placed one photocopied page from Box 214 on the table.
Damon went pale.
Natalie’s red ledger.
Every fraudulent vendor.
Every payment.
Initials.
Dates.
Amounts.
Damon stared.
“She kept it.”
“Yes.”
“Harrison knows?”
“Not from us.”
Damon laughed softly.
Then louder.
His attorney whispered, “Stop.”
Damon shook his head.
“You think Harrison wanted those girls because he suddenly grew a conscience?”
“We know he wanted the box.”
“He wants more than that.”
“What?”
Damon hesitated.
Then he said:
“Briar has a hidden liability.”
Malcolm frowned.
“What liability?”
“A property called Laurel Court.”
The financial investigator beside Malcolm opened her laptop.
Damon continued.
“Ten years ago Briar bought it for redevelopment. Harrison authorized demolition work.”
“What happened?”
“Asbestos.”
Malcolm’s expression hardened.
“Was it properly abated?”
Damon said nothing.
That was the answer.
“Harrison used an unlicensed contractor?”
“Yes.”
“Were workers exposed?”
“Possibly.”
“Did Natalie know?”
“Not at first.”
“What did you do?”
Damon stared at the table.
“I helped bury the invoices.”
Malcolm sat back.
There it was.
The crime underneath the money crime.
Not murder.
Not some random secret.
A decision to save money and hide unsafe work.
Several laborers later sued a shell contractor, never realizing Briar controlled it.
The case settled cheaply because the shell company claimed insolvency.
Harrison and Damon hid Briar’s involvement.
Natalie discovered the connection years later.
Box 214 likely contained proof.
Malcolm asked, “Why does Harrison care now?”
“Statutes. Civil exposure. Fraud exceptions. Insurance. The trust.”
“Explain.”
“If Briar’s trust assets are tied to undisclosed liabilities, there could be claims.”
“So Harrison wants to destroy evidence to protect himself.”
“And Damon?” the investigator asked.
Damon looked at her.
“I’m Damon.”
She didn’t blink.
“So why were you helping him?”
His mouth tightened.
“Because if Harrison goes down for Laurel Court, I go with him.”
Jocelyn learned none of those details immediately.
Claire and Miriam deliberately gave her only what affected her safety.
But Jocelyn knew something had changed because Malcolm placed an officer outside the Carter house.
“Is Dad coming?”
“No evidence of that,” Claire said.
“Then why police?”
“Because adults are making bad decisions.”
Freya looked up from coloring.
“That’s everybody.”
Claire laughed despite herself.
“Fair.”
Miriam’s home-study process moved quickly but carefully.
Background checks.
Interviews.
Financial review.
Home inspection.
Miriam flew back to Portland for two days, then returned.
Jocelyn worried she would disappear.
Miriam noticed.
“You can ask.”
“Ask what?”
“If I’m coming back.”
Jocelyn looked away.
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
Miriam paused.
“I promise I’m booked on Thursday’s flight.”
Jocelyn almost smiled.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
Miriam sat beside her.
“I’m trying not to promise things I can’t control.”
Jocelyn looked at her.
That sounded like Claire.
Safe adults, Jocelyn was discovering, often sounded less reassuring than dangerous ones.
Dangerous adults said:
Everything will be fine.
Safe adults said:
Here is what I know.
Miriam continued.
“I want you and Freya with me.”
Jocelyn’s throat tightened.
“But?”
“But the court decides temporary placement. And you two get a voice too.”
“You really want us?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Miriam’s eyes filled.
“Because I love you.”
“You don’t know us.”
“I loved you before I knew who you’d become.”
Jocelyn did not know how to answer that.
Freya did.
She climbed onto Miriam’s lap.
Miriam laughed through tears.
Jocelyn waited three minutes.
Then moved closer.
That night Malcolm called Claire.
“We found Laurel Court files in Box 214.”
“How bad?”
“Bad enough that Harrison and Damon both have motive to destroy evidence.”
“Are they working together?”
“Temporarily.”
“Why?”
“Mutually assured destruction.”
Claire looked toward the bedroom where the girls slept.
“Then why fight over custody?”
“Harrison believed the girls knew where Natalie’s key was. Damon believed keeping them close gave him leverage.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“They were using children as access points.”
“Yes.”
“Anything suggesting physical danger now?”
Malcolm hesitated.
“We recovered a message from Harrison to Damon.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“What does it say?”
Malcolm read it.
If Miriam opens the box, we lose control. Get the girl to tell you what Natalie told her.
Claire went cold.
“Which girl?”
“No name.”
Jocelyn and Freya were both targets of pressure.
May you like
Again.
But this time, the adults protecting them knew before the men reached them.
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