Chapter 4 - The Recording
Sofia Marquez arrived before sunrise.
She burst into Elena’s room wearing jeans, a wrinkled hoodie, and the expression of someone prepared to fight the entire state.
“Oh my God.”
Elena tried to smile.
“Hi.”
Sofia stopped beside the bed.
Then slapped her arm.
“Ow!”
“You almost died!”
“That’s why you hit me?”
“I’m working through complicated emotions.”
Elena laughed.
It hurt so badly she cried.
Then Sofia cried too.
For a few seconds, they simply held hands.
Later, Elena told her everything.
The bribes.
The files.
The balcony.
The second murder attempt.
Sofia listened without interrupting.
When Elena finished, her sister said, “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“We bury him.”
Elena blinked.
“Sofia.”
“Legally.”
“Thank you.”
“Mostly.”
Deputy Price contacted an investigator he trusted at the state attorney general’s office: Special Agent Naomi Brooks.
Brooks arrived that afternoon with no uniform, no marked car, and no patience for powerful men.
“You understand something?” she told Elena. “If Vale has federal contacts, we move quietly until we know where the leak is.”
“I understand.”
“Show me the cloud account.”
Sofia opened her laptop.
Elena entered her credentials.
A folder appeared.
VOICE NOTES.
Twenty-seven files.
Elena’s hand shook as she clicked the latest.
UPLOAD FAILED.
Her stomach dropped.
“No.”
She clicked again.
Corrupted file.
The recording from the study was gone.
Sofia whispered, “Can it be recovered?”
Brooks frowned.
“Maybe.”
The other files contained pieces of conversations. Vale talking about meetings. Names. Dates.
Suspicious.
Not enough.
Then Sofia noticed a synchronization folder.
“What’s this?”
Elena leaned closer.
“I don’t know.”
Inside was a tiny audio file.
Thirty-eight seconds.
Timestamped twelve minutes before the fall.
She pressed play.
Harrison’s voice filled the room.
“…you think one recording destroys me?”
Elena’s recorded voice answered.
“It’ll be enough to start looking.”
“You have no idea what you’re touching.”
“Then tell me.”
A pause.
Then Harrison laughed.
“You really believe Mercer is the only badge I own?”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Brooks finally said, “That’s useful.”
“Useful?” Sofia snapped. “He basically confessed.”
“No. He implied corruption. Defense attorneys eat implications for breakfast.”
Elena stared at the screen.
“There was more.”
“I believe you.”
“A lot more.”
Brooks nodded.
“But juries don’t convict on what I believe.”
That evening, Brooks arranged to move Elena under an alias.
Only five people knew.
Elena.
Sofia.
Price.
Brooks.
And the hospital administrator.
At 2:13 a.m., an orderly entered Room 608 with an empty wheelchair.
He pulled back the blanket.
The bed was empty.
Across town, Elena was being transferred to a private rehabilitation facility.
She had almost reached safety when Brooks’ phone rang.
She listened.
Said nothing.
Then slowly looked at Price.
“What?” he asked.
Brooks hung up.
“The new facility just received a call.”
Elena felt her chest tighten.
“What kind of call?”
Brooks looked at her.
“Someone asked what room Elena Marquez is being moved into.”
Price went pale.
“That location was confidential.”
May you like
Brooks nodded.
“Which means one of the five people who knew just told Judge Vale where you’re going.”
