Chapter 57 - The Cost of a Visit
Rebecca spoke with Thomas only after he agreed.
He did not want me present.
That was reasonable.
It still made the following afternoon feel very long.
I worked badly.
Read the same report twice.
Answered a question nobody had asked.
At three, Lena closed my office door.
“Come outside.”
“I have things to finish.”
“You’ve been holding the same pen for twenty minutes.”
We walked around the block.
At the corner, a man struggled to persuade a small dog to continue past a particularly interesting tree.
I looked away before the memory of Charlie could settle.
Lena noticed.
She did not say anything.
Rebecca called as we returned.
Thomas had received a visit from a former contractor who had worked with Victor’s office.
The man had brought a document.
A request to confirm that Thomas’s earlier recollections had been uncertain and might have been influenced by the attention surrounding Jonah’s case.
“He told Thomas that signing would prevent further inconvenience,” Rebecca said.
“What kind of inconvenience?”
“Questions about old work records. Time away from his wife. Possible disputes over obligations he didn’t understand.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Was it a threat?”
“That is for the appropriate people to assess. Thomas has kept the document and described the visit. With his agreement, the information is being provided to the investigators.”
“Does Victor know?”
“We don’t know who authorized the contact.”
I stood beside the porch steps.
A leaf moved in a narrow circle against the pavement.
“What does Thomas need?”
“Independent advice. Clear information. Space to decide how he wants to proceed.”
“I can help with—”
“He has chosen someone to advise him.”
I stopped.
“All right.”
After the call, Lena waited until I put the phone away.
“You wanted to offer protection.”
“Yes.”
“What would that look like?”
I considered the honest answer.
Cars.
People nearby.
Someone checking visitors.
Thomas waking to discover that telling the truth had brought a different group of powerful men into his life.
“I don’t know,” I said.
Lena nodded.
That night, I lay awake beside her.
At two in the morning, I finally admitted what had been troubling me.
“I know how that visit probably sounded.”
She turned toward me.
“I used to call that kind of thing a conversation.”
May you like
In the dark, Lena found my hand.
Neither of us tried to soften it.
