Chapter 10 - SAMUEL'S STORY
Samuel Pierce had a split lip, two cracked ribs, and a bruise running from his temple to his jaw.
That was what the hospital report said.
He also had an attorney before investigators finished his first cup of coffee.
That told me Samuel was frightened, but not unprepared.
Ruiz would not let me speak to him directly.
Leah agreed.
“You are emotionally compromised where Samuel is concerned.”
“I’m emotionally compromised where everyone is concerned.”
“Exactly.”
Samuel gave his statement at the hospital.
Ruiz returned three hours later with only the portions prosecutors authorized him to share.
Samuel claimed he entered my father’s house because I had called him about Arthur’s records.
That part was true.
He claimed he remembered the hidden safe from years earlier.
That part might be true.
He claimed he went there to retrieve evidence before Brenda could destroy it.
That was harder to believe.
“What did he take?” I asked.
“A metal archive box.”
“The one in the SUV?”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“Video recordings and original Northstar board minutes.”
The missing security footage.
My pulse quickened.
“Where are they now?”
Ruiz’s face tightened.
“Missing again.”
“Of course.”
“Samuel says Connor took the box.”
“After attacking him?”
“Yes.”
“Where was Brenda?”
“In the SUV.”
“So Samuel admits he was with them.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He says Brenda called him after the restaurant raid.”
“And he just went?”
“He says she threatened his daughter.”
I had forgotten Samuel had a daughter.
Rachel.
I met her once at my father’s funeral.
She had been pregnant then.
“What threat?”
“Brenda allegedly has evidence tying Rachel to falsified compliance reports at Apex.”
“Does Rachel work there?”
“She did.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Another connection I never knew.
“Why does everyone in my father’s life eventually work for Apex?”
Ruiz did not answer.
Maybe because there was no answer that would make me feel less manipulated.
Samuel’s story continued.
He said Brenda ordered him to bring the archive box to our marital home.
Connor was there.
The three argued.
Connor wanted to destroy the contents.
Samuel refused.
Then they left together because Brenda claimed Calvin had arranged a safe place to review the material.
“That explains the SUV,” I said.
“Partly.”
“What happened at the airfield?”
“Samuel says Connor turned on him.”
“How?”
“Connor demanded the box.”
“Samuel refused.”
“They fought.”
“Brenda took Connor’s side.”
“Samuel says he lost consciousness briefly.”
“When he woke up, they were gone.”
“With the box.”
“Yes.”
“And his gun?”
“Under the seat.”
“Did he put it there?”
“He says he had it in a shoulder holster.”
“Then Connor took it?”
“Possibly.”
“Did Samuel explain my fingerprint?”
“He says he has never seen you touch the weapon.”
That helped.
Not much.
“What about the napkin?”
“He says Brenda brought it.”
I went still.
“Why?”
“He does not know.”
Leah looked at me.
“She was planting your DNA.”
Ruiz remained cautious.
“That is one interpretation.”
“It is the obvious interpretation.”
“Obvious and provable are different things.”
My father would have liked him.
That irritated me.
“Did Samuel send the anonymous messages?”
“No.”
“Does he know who did?”
“He says no.”
“Do you believe him?”
Ruiz gave me a look.
I lifted both hands.
“Fine.”
Leah flipped through her notes.
“What did Samuel say about Northstar?”
Ruiz sat down.
“That is where it gets complicated.”
“More complicated than my husband marrying me after recognizing my father’s name?”
“Yes.”
I did not like the answer.
“Samuel says Arthur discovered Brenda’s diversion of Northstar funds.”
“That matches the letter.”
“He says your father planned to report it.”
“Also matches.”
“But Samuel asked him not to.”
“Why?”
“Samuel had approved several vendor payments without adequate diligence.”
My stomach sank.
“He was involved.”
“He says negligently, not knowingly.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
“What did Brenda do?”
“She threatened to make Samuel the primary suspect if Arthur went to authorities.”
“And Samuel chose himself.”
Ruiz did not soften it.
“Yes.”
My father’s warning made sense.
Fear made him choose Brenda once.
Samuel had betrayed my father to save himself.
“He testified against Dad in the civil dispute.”
“Yes.”
“He let people believe Dad stole the money.”
“Yes.”
“And then he came to my father’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
Something inside me hardened.
I had spent three days thinking Samuel was the last safe piece of my father’s world.
He was not.
“What was on the video?”
Ruiz looked at me carefully.
“Samuel claims there was a camera in Northstar’s executive conference room.”
“Why?”
“Eleanor installed it after she became suspicious of Brenda.”
“Suspicious of what?”
“Financial manipulation.”
“Did Brenda know?”
“Samuel thinks not.”
“What did it record?”
“One meeting.”
My pulse quickened.
“The June fourteenth meeting?”
“Yes.”
Arthur finally knows everything.
“What happened?”
“Arthur confronted Brenda with payment records.”
“Calvin was present.”
“Samuel was present.”
“Eleanor?”
“No.”
“She was hospitalized.”
Ruiz paused.
“According to Samuel, Brenda admitted creating the vendor entities.”
My hands tightened.
“On camera?”
“Yes.”
“She admitted stealing?”
“Samuel says she described it as reallocating family assets.”
“Family assets that belonged to a corporation.”
“Yes.”
“What did Calvin say?”
“He told Arthur to accept a buyout and keep quiet.”
“How much?”
“Three million dollars.”
My father refused money I had never known existed.
Brenda’s words at the restaurant came back.
You should have taken the money.
The money your father refused.
“What happened next?”
“Arthur threatened to report them.”
“And?”
Ruiz hesitated.
“Brenda threatened you.”
The room became silent.
“What?”
“You were twenty-four at the time.”
“I know how old I was.”
“Samuel says Brenda told Arthur that if he destroyed her family, she would destroy his.”
My throat tightened.
“Specific threat?” Leah asked.
“Not physical.”
“What then?”
“She said she would make sure Jessica inherited every accusation, every debt, and every enemy Arthur created.”
I sat back.
Eleven years later, that was exactly what she had tried to do.
A fraudulent lien against my house.
A shell company in my name.
Old financial transfers routed through my father.
A divorce petition accusing me of fraud.
A false medical note.
Evidence under my bed.
My fingerprint on a gun.
Brenda had not improvised when I refused to sell.
She had revived a threat she made to my father eleven years earlier.
“Why didn’t Dad go to police?”
Ruiz looked uncomfortable.
“Samuel says he did.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Arthur contacted a federal investigator.”
“What happened?”
“The meeting never occurred.”
“Why?”
“Your father withdrew.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Samuel says Arthur received something the night before.”
“What?”
“A photograph.”
My skin went cold.
“Of me?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Outside your apartment.”
At twenty-four, I had lived alone in a studio across town.
I suddenly remembered my father insisting on installing a new deadbolt that summer.
I had teased him for being paranoid.
He never explained.
“He backed down because of me.”
“That is Samuel’s account.”
I closed my eyes.
Brenda had been using photographs as threats for eleven years.
My house.
My father’s grave.
Me.
Same method.
Same cruelty.
“Where is the video now?” I asked.
“Connor has it, if Samuel is telling the truth.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
This time it was not a text.
A call.
Ruiz activated recording equipment before I answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then Connor spoke.
“Do you want the video?”
My heart pounded.
“Where are you?”
“Do you want it?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell Ruiz to unfreeze my accounts.”
I stared at Ruiz.
He shook his head.
“No.”
Connor laughed softly.
“You really did learn from your father.”
“Where is Brenda?”
“With someone who can still save her.”
“Calvin?”
Silence.
“Connor.”
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop treating me like I am the worst person in this story.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I told you I didn’t.”
“You helped steal my house.”
“I tried to stop that.”
“You filed for divorce yesterday.”
His breathing stopped.
That was the first thing I had said that surprised him.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“Jessica, I didn’t file it.”
“My name is on the petition.”
“I signed something Calvin gave me three weeks ago.”
“What did he tell you it was?”
“A protective financial filing in case Apex collapsed.”
Leah rolled her eyes so hard I almost heard it.
“You signed without reading?”
“I skimmed it.”
“Then you filed for divorce.”
“No.”
“You signed it.”
“Jessica, listen.”
“I have listened enough.”
“Then listen one more time.”
His voice dropped.
“Your fingerprint is on Samuel’s gun because my mother put it there.”
I went cold.
“How?”
“She has something from our bedroom.”
“What?”
“A fingerprint film.”
Ruiz’s eyes narrowed.
Connor continued.
“She made me press your hand onto a glass six weeks ago.”
My stomach turned.
“When?”
“The night you took the sleeping pill Dr. Wallace prescribed.”
I remembered that night.
Connor brought me water.
I fell asleep quickly.
The next morning, a glass sat on my nightstand.
I had thought nothing of it.
“What did she do with it?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She has a private investigator.”
“Name.”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is the video?”
“With me.”
“Give it to Ruiz.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it is the only reason my mother has not handed me to Calvin.”
Before I could ask what that meant, Connor said five words that changed the investigation again.
May you like
“Calvin owns Meridian Ridge now.”
Then the call ended.
