Detective Mitchell arranged for an officer to sit nearby.
I had never felt so watched in my life.
When Courtney entered the café, she looked nothing like the confident woman who had laughed on my porch.
Her hair was pulled back.
Her eyes were swollen.
She sat across from me and immediately began crying.
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
I kept my voice calm.
“What happened the night Lucas died?”
Courtney looked at Samantha.
“Is she your lawyer?”
“Yes,” Samantha answered.
Courtney nodded.
“Then I want her to hear this.”
I folded my hands on the table.
“Tell me.”
Courtney took a deep breath.
“Charles had been planning something for months.”
“What?”
“He wanted control of the company. He said Lucas was going to destroy everything.”
“Why?”
“Because Lucas had started asking questions about money.”
I looked at Samantha.
Courtney continued.
“Charles told me he had a plan. He said Lucas would sign over certain assets once he realized how much debt the company had.”
“That makes no sense,” I said.
“It didn’t to me either. But Charles told me he had documents.”
“What documents?”
“I don’t know. A contract. Some kind of authorization.”
I remembered the folder Charles had dropped on my kitchen table.
“Did he forge my signature?”
Courtney looked down.
“I think so.”
My hands tightened.
“Did you know?”
She hesitated.
“I knew he was doing something wrong. I didn’t know how far he would go.”
“Then why did you come with him?”
Courtney started crying again.
“Because I was afraid of him.”
I stared at her.
“You laughed when he dragged me out.”
Her face crumpled.
“I know.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know what else to do. He told me that if I didn’t act like everything was normal, he would blame me for the whole thing.”
I felt anger rise in my chest.
“You watched him hurt me.”
“I know.”
“You laughed.”
“I know.”
I looked away.
For a moment, I wanted to believe her.
But I couldn’t forget the sound of her laughter.
“Tell me about the warehouse,” I said.
Courtney glanced toward the window.
“Charles met Lucas there the night of the accident.”
“Why?”
“He said they needed to settle something.”
“What happened?”
“I drove Charles there.”
My heart stopped.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see Lucas?”
“Yes.”
“Was he alive?”
Courtney nodded.
“He was standing outside the warehouse. He was arguing with Charles.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“Money. And a man named Richard.”
Samantha leaned forward.
“Richard Hale?”
Courtney nodded.
“Charles told Lucas that Richard had betrayed him. Lucas said he had proof that Charles had been stealing from the company.”
I could barely breathe.
“What happened next?”
Courtney looked down at her hands.
“Charles told Lucas to get into the car. Lucas refused. They started shouting.”
“Did Charles hurt him?”
“I didn’t see him hit him.”
“Then what did you see?”
Courtney swallowed.
“Lucas walked away. He got into his car. Charles stood there watching him.”
“And then?”
“Charles called someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you leave?”
“Yes.”
“Did Charles come with you?”
“No. He told me to go home.”
I stared at her.
“You left him there?”
She nodded.
“I was scared.”
“Did you see another vehicle?”
Courtney’s eyes lifted.
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“A dark SUV.”
“Whose?”
“I don’t know.”
I looked at Samantha.
The detective had mentioned a dark SUV.
Courtney continued.
“It was parked near the warehouse. The driver was someone Charles knew.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know his name.”
“Did you see his face?”
“Only briefly.”
“What did he look like?”
“Tall. Dark hair. A scar near his left eyebrow.”
Samantha suddenly went still.
“Victoria,” she said quietly, “do you know anyone who looks like that?”
I thought about Lucas’s company.
The warehouse workers.
My father’s business associates.
Then Courtney whispered:
“Richard Hale.”
The café seemed to fall silent.
I looked at Samantha.
“Richard was there?”
“We need to verify this,” she said.
Courtney reached into her handbag and pulled out a small flash drive.
“I took this from Charles’s desk.”
Samantha immediately stopped her.
“Don’t plug that into anything.”
Courtney placed it on the table.
“What is it?”
“Videos. Documents. I don’t know. Charles told me never to touch it.”
“Why did you take it?”
“Because I knew he was going to destroy everything.”
I stared at the flash drive.
“Did you copy it?”
“No.”
“Then why bring it here?”
“Because I want protection.”
Samantha looked at Detective Mitchell, who had approached the table.
He took the flash drive and placed it into an evidence bag.
“Thank you,” he said.
Courtney began crying again.
“I didn’t kill him.”
No one had accused her.
But the words hung in the air.
I looked at her.
“Did you know Lucas was going to die?”
“No.”
“Did Charles?”
Courtney didn’t answer.
That silence was worse than anything she could have said.
The detective took Courtney aside.
Samantha stayed with me.
I watched them leave through the café door.
Then I turned to Samantha.
“What do you think?”
“I think Courtney knows more than she has told us.”
“Do you believe her?”
“I believe she is frightened. That doesn’t mean every word is true.”
I looked at the evidence bag.
“What if the flash drive proves my father killed Lucas?”
“Then the police will investigate it.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then we keep looking.”
That evening, the detective called.
The flash drive contained several documents and one video.
The video had been recorded inside the warehouse.
It showed Charles arguing with Lucas.
The audio was faint, but one sentence was clear.
Charles shouted:
“You don’t understand what happens if that money disappears.”
Lucas replied:
“I understand exactly what happens. You go to prison.”
Then the video ended.
I sat on my bed, staring at the phone.
“Did it show Richard?”
“No,” Detective Mitchell said. “But we found another file.”
“What file?”
“A scanned document. It appears to be an agreement between Charles and Richard Hale.”
“What kind of agreement?”
“We are still analyzing it.”
“Does it mention Lucas?”
“Yes.”
My heart began pounding.
“What does it say?”
“We cannot confirm the meaning yet. But it appears to involve the company’s insurance policy.”
I closed my eyes.
The warehouse fire.
The missing money.
The insurance records.
Lucas’s investigation.
My father’s threats.
Everything seemed connected.
Then Detective Mitchell said something that made my blood run cold.
“Mrs. Gallagher, we also found a second phone registered to your father.”
“A second phone?”
“Yes. It was activated three days before the accident.”
“Who did he call?”
“We are working on that.”
“Did he call Richard?”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“Seven calls on the night your husband died.”
I couldn’t speak.
After the call ended, Samantha sat beside me.
I stared at the wall.
“My father knew.”
“We don’t know what he knew,” she said.
“He knew Lucas was investigating him. He knew about the company. He knew about the money.”
“Yes.”
“He knew I was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“And he came to my house three weeks after Lucas died.”
Samantha took my hand.
“Victoria, we will find the truth.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t want revenge.”
“What do you want?”
“I want my husband back.”
The words broke something inside me.
I began crying.
Samantha held my hand while I wept.
For the first time since Lucas died, I let myself admit how angry I was.
Not just at my father.
At the world.
At the highway.
At the terrible randomness of death.
At the fact that Lucas had been trying to protect me while I had been planning nursery decorations.
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message.
You are looking in the wrong place.
Another message followed.
The man who caused the crash was not Richard Hale.
I stared at the screen.
A third message appeared.
Ask Samantha who signed the final insurance papers.
I slowly turned toward my lawyer.
“Samantha?”
She looked at me.
“What?”
“Who signed the final insurance papers?”
Her face changed.
And I knew, before she answered, that the next truth would hurt.
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