I play the clip.
I pause it at the moment Rachael’s gloved hand closes around the phone.
“Note that she’s wearing gloves,” I say. “On a tropical island, inside a hardware store. She is wearing gloves so that her prints don’t go on that phone. Magma’s do. One set, neat as you please. It has been verified that the phone is the same make and model as the one planted.”
Reed leans closer to the screen.
“Show me again.”
I play it twice more.
“All right.” She straightens. “I take it that you know who this female is. That you have more.”
“We do, indeed. Flint pulled her registration from the parking lot footage. He ran the plates. The female is Rachael Da Silver.” I tell Reed about our interview and findings.
“You have her in a safe house?”
“Yes, and she’s willing to testify, if it comes to it. She was approached and tasked with getting Magma’s prints on the burner, then handing it off at the park to a contact. They threatened her daughter. They told her exactly what they were going to do to her little girl if she didn’t cooperate. She did what they asked because she didn’t have a choice. She is terrified, Councilor.”
Reed lets out a breath through her nose.
“Show me the handover.”
“Flint went through every angle of footage from the park. He got a clean shot of who Rachael Da Silver handed the phone over to. It’s someone with access to Magma. Someone who could have planted that burner and the documents.”
“Who is it?”
I pull up the second image. The high-resolution one. The female getting out of a car at the park, her face turned toward the camera as she shuts the door.
Reed leans forward.
“Is that…?” Her eyes narrow. “Can’t be.”
“It’s exactly who you think it is.”
“Layla Hamilton?” Reed says.
“My PA. Yes.” Saying it out loud doesn’t help. “She works closely with Jess, Magma’s PA. They’re friends. They have lunch together twice a week. Magma’s office is on the same floor as mine. Layla has been to his place before. She has dropped documents off there before on my behalf. She has access to his office. She is often in the building before sunrise. She would have known his schedule, his routine, the location of his spare key. All of it.”
Reed has gone very quiet.
“Are you sure about this, Ridge?”
“I’m sure. Flint just had Rachael Da Silver confirm that she handed over the burner to Layla Hamilton, who must have planted the items. I’m sure of it.”
I think about Layla’s warm smile. How she has pictures of her grandkids and her cats on her desk.
“But Layla…” She shakes her head once. “She is a sweet female who wouldn’t hurt a fly. I’m struggling to see it.”
“Agreed.” Her thoughts mirror my own. “The Mainland threatened Rachael Da Silver’s daughter to force her tocooperate. What if they threatened Layla’s husband? Or someone else in her family? She would have felt like she had no choice either. She hasn’t been herself for the last week or two. I put it down to her nephew being killed in the vaccination center raid. Maybe there was more to it than her grief. We won’t know for sure until we ask her.”
Reed rubs a hand over her face. She turns, walks two steps away from the table, then walks back.
“You need to pick Layla up.” Her voice has gone businesslike. “Right now. I want?—”
“I can’t.” I groan. “She’s on the Mainland.”
“What?”
