Devon handed her the paper silently. Gabe moved to read over her shoulder.
The exchange was between Harold and an unknown number, dated two days after Emery had started working at Stone Bridge:
Unknown:I need you to recreate a set of forged documents.
Harold:I did what you asked. It was a one-time thing.
Unknown:If you don’t do it, business goes away, and maybe things get leaked.
Harold:Are you threatening me?.
Unknown:I’m telling you that I need one more favor. It’s a simple one—same forged document. C and I need her gone. C will resort to drastic measures if she’s not. C’s already talking crazy shit. Just do it.
Harold:Fine. But this is the last time.
Emery's hands shook so badly the paper rattled.
"C," Gabe said. “I’m thinking that’s short for Callie?”
"We don't know that for certain," Walter said carefully.
"Who else would it be?" Bryson asked. “That’s got to be Winston. I’m sure a good IT forensics guy could figure out who that unknown caller is. It’s so easy these days to mask your phone number, or even have it flash a different one, but IT can still trace it.”
“One thing that reporters learned the hard way was to do more diligent checks on whether things are real or not instead of jumping into a juicy story,” Riley said. “Proving those are real, having them authenticated, and then how we got them, that all might be an issue.”
“I know they’re real. I can show you the cloud backup, the metadata, everything. And I’m allowed access, so I’m not violating anything. Or at least, I don’t think I am.” Vanessa reached up and grabbed a lock of her hair, twisting it through her fingers.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but you’ve known about this for a long time. Why did you wait?” The question burst out of Emery harsher than she intended. “You could’ve stopped this. Or at the very least help save an innocent man.”
Vanessa dropped her hands to the table and her shoulders hunched forward. “Winston and Callie scare me. They have powerful friends. And coming forward would end my career. I need this job. I have two little kids. My husband recently lost his job, and it’s been hard for him to find work. And if Harold would do that to you—someone he thought so highly of--for money. I can only imagine what he might be willing to do to me.” She looked down at her hands. "I told myself it wasn't my business, that maybe there was a legitimate reason. But when I heard you'd been shot at—that someone actually pulled a trigger—I realized I'd been complicit through my silence."
Emery wanted to stay angry, wanted to hold onto the rage. But looking at Vanessa's tear-streaked face, her trembling hands, the obvious terror in her eyes—Emery couldn't sustain it.
"Thank you," Emery said quietly. "For coming forward."
"It's not brave. It's the bare minimum." Vanessa wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner. But I'm here now. I just worry what will happen to me.”
“For right now, you don’t say anything to anyone,” Devon said. “No one needs to know you came forward. But I’m sure Sandy will need to speak to you.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.” Vanessa sat up taller.
Walter gathered the documents carefully. “I’ll call Sandy and Harlan. You’ll need an attorney, and he’s the best.”
"What do we do until then?" Emery asked. So many things still didn’t make sense.
"We stay together," Devon said. "We stay vigilant. And we wait for the police to do their job."
After Vanessa left, promising to remain available for questioning, the kitchen fell into heavy silence. Emery sat, staring at the documents spread across the table—proof of Harold's betrayal, evidence of conspiracy, text messages discussing her elimination as if she were nothing more than a problem to be solved.
“I can’t believe Harold sold me out,” she said finally. "For money. Harold sold me out for money and business deals."
"I'm sorry," Devon said, pulling her closer. "I'm so sorry."
"And someone's still out there. Whoever Harold was texting. Whoever's been doing the actual—" She couldn't finish the sentence.
"We'll find them," Gabe said quietly. "Sandy will find them. It’s only a matter of time.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
