Chapter Twenty-Three #2
It’s one thing to have a feeling about something, but it’s entirely another when the proof is sitting right in front of me.
So many people lost their lives, and for what?
A selfish man’s greed for money and power?
A cold sweat breaks on the back of my neck, and I push down the bile threatening to rise.
“Tris,” Rory says, the sound of her worry pulling me from my spiraling. “Some of these bank statements have your name on them.”
“What?” I lean forward, checking it all for myself.
“What does this mean?” Rory asks, leaning over my shoulder.
I turn the pages of the statements, and sure enough, my name and a signature that looks nothing like mine are all over them.
“It means I need a lawyer,” I tell her, pulse jumping. I place the paperwork back into the folder and into my bag before putting everything else back the way we found it. “Let’s go.”
We bolt from the study, rushing down the stairs to the front door. My hand hits the handle at the exact moment someone else pushes it open, and both Rory and I scream.
“Nice to see you ladies, too. At least it would be nice if you weren’t both trespassing,” Sergeant Tom Hadley says, crossing his arms and blocking our exit.
“Tom,” Rory exclaims, her face settling into an innocent smile. “Hi! Is that what that tape was about? Tris was just showing me where she grew up, but we’re all done here now, so we’ll be on our way,” she says on a hopeful and enthusiastic note.
Too bad Tom isn’t buying it. His brow raises, and he looks between us before something shifts.
His shoulders drop, and gone is Sergeant Hadley, the man who stood in this house around a year ago and spoke to me like I was a stranger.
Instead, all I see is Tom, the man who’s Levi’s best friend and, as of recently, became one of mine.
“What are you two thinking?” he asks, exasperated, sounding more like an angry parent than an officer of the law.
There’s even a hint of concern in his voice that surprises me, but makes me realize that he’s exactly who I need right now... well, him and Callie that is.
“Before I tell you, I need a lawyer,” I say, making him take a surprised step back. “It’s not like that, Tom. We found something,”
“Tris,” Rory warns, nervous about what I’m about to say since she hasn’t known Tom as long as I have.
But I do know Tom Hadley, and one thing this town can count on is that he always does what he believes is the right thing. I just need to convince him that this is it.
“I want to help you and the FBI bring my father down, but I can’t do that without speaking to a lawyer first. I can’t trust any of the lawyers my family has used.
I’m sure my father has them all in his pocket.
Can I trust you? Will you help me?” I ask, my pulse beating so loud that I can hear it in my ears.
“Trust goes both ways, Tris,” Tom says, tilting his head down and narrowing his eyes.
I nod my head slowly, understanding what I have to do.
This is the moment of truth, and there’s no turning back.
I reach into my bag and hand him the folder. He opens it, and the more pages he reads, the wider his eyes open.
“Where did you find this?” he asks, still turning page after page.
“Hidden compartment in the drawer of the desk.”
Tom shakes his head and pulls out the USB. “What’s on this?”
“No idea,” I tell him.
He closes the folder, runs a hand through his hair, and looks away before meeting my gaze.
“I see now why you need a lawyer. This is incriminating but not enough to prove you had any idea—”
“I didn’t,” I clarify quickly, ready to defend myself if I have to.
“I know,” he says. Maybe it’s because, for once, I’m not being looked at as the bad guy that hearing him say that makes my throat constrict with emotion.
Rory must notice, because she steps closer and links her arm through mine.
“This evidence is enough to convict your father, Tris,” he says slowly.
“I know.”
The weight of everything settles over us, and for a beat, no one says anything.
“Alright. Here’s the plan. Tris, you and I are going back to my place.
Callie is home, and between the two of you, I’m confident you’ll have this figured out quickly.
After you do that, I’m taking this evidence back to the station and filing it.
No matter what.” His gaze passes between Rory and me, and he closes his eyes as he shakes his head.
“The story is you came to me wanting to help, and we came here together to follow the lead. The tip led us to the collection of this evidence. Our warrant to search this place is still valid, but it doesn’t cover protecting anyone from trespassing charges, so Rory, you were never here. ”
“Never here, got it.” Rory salutes Tom, and he rolls his eyes, but a smirk tugs at his lips.
“How did you know we were here?” I finally ask as Tom locks the front door behind us.
“You tripped the silent alarms when Miss Locksmith over here unlocked the door,” he says, looking over his shoulder with a raised brow at Rory. “Wave to the camera.”
He points to one of the decorative trees on my family’s porch that I didn’t notice earlier. Sure enough, there’s a small hidden camera inside of it.
“It belongs to me. I’m the only one who gets the live notifications, so you have nothing to worry about.” He turns to face me. “Now let’s go, we have work to do. And Rory,” he says, pinching his lips together and raising a brow. “Tell Ainsley I said hello.”
Rory and I exchange glances and try not to laugh.
I suppose Ainsley isn’t as good at being a lookout as Rory is at breaking into houses.
Noted. Rory double-checks that I’ll be okay before leaving me with Tom, and soon, we’re all on our way, leaving the Thorne Lake House for what’s likely the very last time.
Instead of being filled with grief or sadness, I feel lighter.
Like I’m finally making the right choices and exactly where I should be.
My hand itches to pick up my phone and call Levi, to tell him everything that’s happening, but we still haven’t spoken, and I’m not doing this for him.
I’m doing this for me. Not to prove anything to anyone else but to prove to myself that I can be better.
Better than the person I was and better than the person I thought I could be.
“Who’s better than you, Jerry?” Callie asks her lawyer on the phone after we’ve been on with him for over an hour.
I explained the situation to Callie when Tom and I arrived at their home, and she said this sounds like a job for Jerry.
The only Jerry I’ve ever known was a little mouse with a love-hate relationship with a cat named Tom.
Turns out that Jerry is their lawyer who stays on retainer.
From the sound of it, he knows the family well.
“So, Callie, if Tom files that evidence, the FBI will connect the dots themselves, and we lose any chance to control how this comes out. Tris, if we’re going to disclose the accounts and try to negotiate restitution, we need to move before that report lands on a federal prosecutor’s desk.”
“I don’t want to stop Tom from doing his job.” I look over at Tom, who’s leaning against the kitchen island.
He rubs his hand through his hair before sighing. “I’ll do my job, but if Jerry can move fast, I can give him enough time to do his too.”
Warmth blooms in my chest, and I offer him a quiet, appreciative smile.
“The next step is a proffer session with the U.S. Attorney’s office.
That’s a protected meeting where you can tell them what you know without it immediately being used against you,” Jerry explains as he continues to go over the plan.
“We explain the accounts, the money, and how you discovered it. We make it clear you’re willing to make those funds available for the victims. If they’re interested, that opens the door to negotiating a plea agreement for your father.
I’m willing to bet they will be more interested in those contracts you found and whatever is on that USB.
But once we walk into that room, Tris, the government will know it all exists. There’s no taking it back after that.”
I let his words sink in. There’s a possibility in all of this that I can be arrested even though I’m innocent.
I’m at risk. But if I do nothing, I might not ever be able to live with myself.
I’m not doing this to help my father escape justice.
I’m offering a path to accountability and compensation.
Without this evidence, my father will walk, and the families of everyone affected will get nothing.
“I made my decision the second I handed that folder over to Tom. I know the risks,” I assure him. “This is the right thing to do.”
“Alright, I’ll make a few calls and set it up.
This is a big case that the FBI has been chasing down evidence for and turning up with nothing for over a year.
Between the multiple deaths, Mr. Arias still on the run, and this evidence being the key to cracking open this case in the FBI’s favor, I have a feeling things are going to move fast, so be ready,” Jerry says, sounding so confident through the phone that a part of me starts to believe this might actually work.
My shoulders relax, and I take the first full breath in an hour, but stop short when I remember one more thing.
“What should I do about all the cash I found?”
Callie and Tom look at each other before looking back at me. I smile awkwardly at them both and hold my palms up.
“How much cash are we talking about?” Jerry asks slowly.
“Umm.” I open my bag and pour it out onto the table.
Callie laughs. She’s no stranger to money, but at this point, me walking around with this much is actually comical. Tom slides his hand over his face, looking like he wishes he could erase the last two hours from memory.
I mouth a silent “sorry” to him, but he waves me off and pours himself a glass of whiskey. Definitely don’t blame him.
“Looks like about one hundred sixty thousand, Jer,” Callie says.
His hum travels through the phone. “Even if it’s not technically part of the crime, bring it as evidence. If they can’t tie it to any illegal activity, they’ll return it, but we handle it through proper channels. I’ve got a lot of work to do, so I’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you, Jerry,” we all say before hanging up.
Callie leans back and takes a sip of her tea as she looks me over. Her expressive face shows an array of different emotions until she settles on a smirk.
“What?” I finally ask.
“You look like her,” she teases, taking another sip, tapping her finger on the mug. “But I never thought I’d see the day where I was not only impressed by Tris Thorne, but so freakin’ proud.”
My lips tilt up slowly, and I look down. “It doesn’t matter who I was. All that matters is who I am now, and I finally like who I am.”
She nods her head, a soft smile forming. “I think we all do.” She glances at Tom before returning her gaze to me as she twirls her hair. “Seriously, Tris. This is a big deal. Have you told Levi?”
I purse my lips together before rolling my tongue against the inside of my cheek.
“I’m not doing this for him. I’ll tell him eventually, but we need to work this out before I do that. I need him to see the good in me without having to prove it.”
“He will,” she says confidently. “He already does, but he’s too stubborn to get out of his own way.”
“He loves you, Tris,” Tom chimes in, wrapping his arms around Callie from behind and kissing her on the head. “That much is obvious.”
An involuntary smile spreads across my face.
“Yeah, well, he’s not the worst, I guess.” I shrug, pinching my lips together before my smile grows wider.
“You two will be fine,” Callie says, just as confident as before.
But this time, I believe her.