He told me accounting would review.
A week later, I crashed.
“Did you keep copies?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Could USB have contained them?”
My stomach turned.
“I don’t know.”
Memory flashed.
Not image.
Feeling.
Leaving office late.
Holding keys.
Someone saying:
“Claire, wait.”
Then gone.
Maya told me not to force it.
Investigators obtained old Redstone records where available.
Company had changed ownership since my crash.
Paul Keating had retired.
Summit Aggregate had dissolved.
But records remained.
The audit I started existed.
So did email.
Three days before crash:
PAUL,
THE SUMMIT NUMBERS DO NOT RECONCILE.
I HAVE COPIED THE SUPPORTING FILES AND WILL REVIEW THEM OFFSITE THIS
WEEKEND.
CLAIRE.
Offsite.
USB.
Possibly.
Investigators asked Daniel whether Ryan had connection to Redstone.
He said:
“No.”
Then paused.
“My uncle did.”
“Who?”
“Thomas Mercer.”
Thomas had been operations manager for Summit Aggregate.
I stared at Daniel.
“You knew?”
“Not when accident happened.”
