Chapter 6 - The File That Was Never Supposed to Exist
They digitized the recording.
Marianne Hail’s voice filled the room.
“My brother Anthony did not steal from Duca Capital.”
Travis’s entire story began breaking apart.
Marianne described Simon Ward approaching Anthony years earlier.
Ward had used municipal information to identify buildings likely to receive redevelopment funding. Halcyon purchased them early through intermediaries.
Anthony discovered the arrangement.
He refused to participate.
Ward threatened him.
Marianne had witnessed one meeting.
“I heard Ward tell Anthony that nobody would believe him over a city official.”
The recording crackled.
“Anthony told Lorenzo Duca’s father everything.”
Celia looked at Lorenzo.
He stared at the table.
Then Marianne said something worse.
“After Anthony died, Ward told me to stay silent if I wanted Travis safe.”
Celia closed her eyes.
Travis had grown up believing the Duca family caused his uncle’s ruin.
But his mother knew the truth.
Why hadn’t she told him?
The recording answered.
“I lied to my son because I was afraid. I told Travis Anthony had made mistakes with powerful people. I let him believe what he wanted because the truth could put him in danger.”
Marianne began crying.
“I thought silence would protect him. I was wrong.”
The recording ended.
Celia searched public records.
Marianne Hail had died six years earlier.
Cancer.
Nothing suspicious.
Lorenzo leaned back.
“Travis found her statement.”
“And learned she lied to him.”
“Which explains why he started taking money from Halcyon.”
Celia shook her head.
“Not completely.”
“What?”
“If Travis discovered Ward destroyed his uncle, why work for Ward?”
“Money.”
“Maybe.”
But Celia knew Travis.
Not as well as she once thought.
Still, she knew his anger.
His need to control the story.
His obsession with never being made a fool.
“He wanted access,” she said. “Maybe he planned to destroy Ward himself.”
Hannah frowned.
“By helping him?”
“By getting close.”
Lorenzo understood.
“And then Celia got assigned the case.”
“Travis panicked,” she said.
The pieces aligned.
He needed to know what she had.
He tried emotional manipulation.
Then surveillance.
Then intimidation.
At the intersection, he confronted her.
Whether he had intentionally meant to send her into traffic or lost control in the crowd no longer mattered to Celia.
He had grabbed her.
He had refused to release her.
He had created the danger.
And afterward, instead of asking if she was alive, he had lied.
That was enough.
Police located Elaine that afternoon.
She was safe.
Daniel too.
Ward, however, had disappeared.
An arrest warrant was being prepared based on evidence tied to financial fraud, obstruction, unlawful access and intimidation.
Travis was wanted for questioning.
Celia sat with a detective for almost three hours.
She told everything.
Including the cabinet.
Her arm.
The stalking.
The messages.
The break-in.
All the things she once minimized.
When she emerged, Lorenzo waited in the hallway.
“You stayed.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t need to.”
“I know.”
Celia looked at him.
“You’re very irritating.”
“I’ve been told.”
“Mostly because you answer questions with four words.”
“That many?”
She laughed.
It surprised her.
The laugh felt rusty.
But real.
Lorenzo smiled.
Not the controlled almost-smile she had seen before.
A real one.
It changed his entire face.
For one dangerous second, Celia forgot everything else.
Then her phone buzzed.
Hannah.
A photograph.
Travis was standing outside Hannah’s building.
Celia’s blood went cold.
CALL POLICE, she typed.
Hannah replied:
ALREADY DID.
Another message.
HE LEFT SOMETHING.
A photograph followed.
An envelope.
For Celia.
Police collected it before Celia arrived.
Inside was the missing witness statement.
Marianne Hail had signed it.
She confirmed Ward’s role.
But Travis had written something across the bottom.
I KNOW YOU THINK I USED YOU.
Celia read on.
I DID AT FIRST.
Her chest tightened.
BUT THEN IT BECAME REAL.
She stopped.
Lorenzo stood beside her.
“You don’t have to keep reading.”
“Yes, I do.”
She continued.
I TRIED TO GET YOU OUT BEFORE WARD REALIZED YOU WERE THE INVESTIGATOR. YOU WOULDN’T LISTEN. I FOLLOWED YOU BECAUSE I KNEW HE WAS WATCHING. I BROKE INTO YOUR PLACE LOOKING FOR THE FILE BEFORE HE COULD FIND IT.
Celia felt anger rising.
Even now.
Excuses.
Justifications.
He had reasons for everything.
Then:
I DIDN’T MEAN FOR YOU TO GO INTO THE STREET.
She closed her eyes.
Lorenzo said nothing.
Final paragraph:
WARD HAS DANIEL’S ORIGINAL EVIDENCE. HE’S LEAVING CHICAGO TONIGHT. I CAN GIVE HIM TO YOU. COME TO THE OLD HALCYON OFFICE AT 8. ALONE.
Lorenzo took one look.
“No.”
Celia almost laughed.
“I wasn’t going alone.”
“You’re not going at all.”
“That decision isn’t yours.”
“He wants you there.”
“Yes.”
“Which is why—”
“Lorenzo.”
He stopped.
Celia stepped closer.
“For two years, Travis made decisions for me and called it love. He decided who I saw. Where I went. What I should believe. You don’t get to protect me by doing the same thing.”
The words hit.
Lorenzo’s expression softened.
“You’re right.”
Celia had expected resistance.
It disarmed her.
“You’re just agreeing?”
“No. I still think going is a terrible idea.”
“So do I.”
“Good.”
“But we can use it.”
With police involved, they planned controlled contact.
Celia would never enter alone.
Officers would be nearby.
Lorenzo would remain outside.
At 7:52 p.m., Celia stood across from the abandoned Halcyon office.
Her phone vibrated.
Travis.
COME IN.
She looked toward the unmarked police vehicle.
Then toward Lorenzo.
He gave one small nod.
Not permission.
Trust.
Celia crossed the street.
The building door was unlocked.
Inside, one light burned.
“Travis?”
No answer.
She followed the hallway.
A chair stood in the center of an empty office.
On it sat Daniel’s missing evidence box.
Celia approached.
Her phone vibrated.
DON’T TOUCH IT.
She froze.
Another message arrived.
May you like
WARD IS BEHIND YOU.
Celia heard the door close.
