Chapter 6: The East Parking Structure
Warren came back to the table at a controlled pace — not running, but the kind of walking that covered ground quickly without announcing itself.
"We have a problem," he said.
"Devereux is here," Adrian said.
Warren stopped.
"How do you know that?"
Adrian showed him the phone.
Warren read the second message.
He looked around the room, then back at Adrian.
"Someone in this building is feeding you information.
Someone who knows the players and knows the layout."
"Yes."
"And you have no idea who."
"None."
Warren pulled out the chair and sat back down.
He lowered his voice.
"Philip Devereux being here tonight is not a coincidence.
If he came with Garrett, and Garrett left right after Claire, then this was coordinated.
Claire was the visible piece.
Devereux and Garrett are the structure behind her."
"What do they want?" Elena asked.
"The Harwick property is currently in a legal gray area because of the disputed signature," Warren said.
"If the original agreement is invalidated — which a forged signature would do — the property reverts to a pre-agreement state.
At that point, whoever files the correct paperwork first has a claim."
"And if Devereux already has paperwork ready," Adrian said.
"Then tonight wasn't about humiliating you," Warren said.
"It was about getting you to react publicly, discredit yourself, give them grounds to question your judgment or your fitness to manage the asset.
A man in a wheelchair losing his composure at a charity dinner, making accusations about a document—" He stopped.
"It would have been very useful to them."
Adrian was quiet for a moment.
"But I didn't lose my composure," he said.
"No," Warren said.
"You didn't."
"And Elena recorded everything."
They both looked at her.
"The recording starts from when she grabbed the chair," Elena said.
"Her exact words.
The envelope being produced.
Everything Warren said to her.
The moment she and Grant left." She looked at her phone.
"It's forty-one minutes of clean audio."
Warren held out his hand.
"May I?"
She placed the phone in his palm.
He listened to thirty seconds with the volume low, then handed it back.
"That's enough to establish the setup," he said.
"Combined with the document irregularities, the retired notary, and Devereux's presence here tonight, we have the shape of something."
"What kind of something?" Adrian asked.
"Fraud," Warren said simply.
"Coordinated property fraud.
Possibly with a municipal official involved, which makes it considerably worse for everyone concerned." He straightened his jacket.
"I need to go to the east parking structure."
"I'll come," Adrian said.
"Adrian—"
"I'm not going to confront anyone.
I want to see who's there." He looked at Warren steadily.
"It's my property.
My name on the original agreement.
I want to see the people who decided to use it."
Warren looked at him for a long moment, then nodded once.
Elena stood.
"The east structure connects through the service corridor," she said.
"I know the layout.
I can get you there without going through the main lobby."
Warren looked at her.
"Ms.
Marquez.
You've already done more than—"
"I know the layout," she said again.
Quietly.
Firmly.
Warren looked at Adrian.
Adrian said nothing.
He simply turned his chair toward the service corridor.
The three of them moved through the kitchen passage — stainless steel and fluorescent light after the warmth of the ballroom, the smell of food giving way to cold concrete as Elena pushed through a heavy door marked STAFF ONLY.
The service elevator was waiting.
She held it open.
They rode down one floor in silence.
The parking structure was cold and half-lit, the kind of light that made everything look like evidence.
Elena led them to the east side without hesitation, past a row of catering vans, around a concrete pillar.
They heard the voices before they saw the people.
Claire's voice.
Then a man's — low, controlled, the voice of someone accustomed to being listened to.
Then a third voice.
Councilman Garrett.
Adrian stopped the wheelchair.
Warren put a hand on his shoulder.
They listened.
"—doesn't matter what the attorney says," the low voice was saying.
"By morning the filing will be complete.
Cole can contest it, but a contest takes eighteen months minimum.
By then the redevelopment vote will have passed and the parcel value will have tripled.
He can have his day in court.
He just won't win anything worth winning."
Claire said something Adrian couldn't make out.
"He brought Warren Chu," Garrett said.
The name sounded different in Garrett's mouth — careful, like something being handled gingerly.
"Chu is one attorney," the low voice said.
"We have four."
Adrian looked at Warren.
Warren was already writing on a small notepad he had produced from his jacket pocket.
May you like
Elena had her phone out.
She was recording again.
