Chapter 6: The Man Who Had Never Once Been Caught
I kept my voice flat.
"I don't know who this is."
"Of course you do.
Garrett is standing right there.
He's told you my name by now." A pause.
"Hello, Garrett."
Garrett's jaw tightened.
He said nothing.
"You're Paul Renner," I said.
"I prefer a conversation without labels.
This is just two people discussing a misunderstanding." His tone was almost warm.
"Nicole, I want you to know I have no interest in harming you or your son.
That text was sent by someone overzealous.
I apologize for it."
"Someone overzealous."
"People who work for me sometimes lack nuance.
It's a management frustration."
I looked at the officer.
He was already on his phone, presumably trying to trace the call.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"The drive.
That's all.
Whatever Daniel told himself he was building — it's incomplete.
It's based on misunderstandings of complex financial structures that he, frankly, lacked the expertise to interpret correctly.
Turning it over to anyone would only cause unnecessary disruption to a great many innocent people."
"And if I don't?"
"Then I think you'll find that life becomes complicated.
School records.
Custody questions.
I understand you've been managing alone since Daniel passed — it would be a shame if certain agencies began asking questions about your household stability." He let that sit for a moment.
"I'm not threatening you.
I'm describing a landscape."
Garrett leaned close to my ear and whispered: "Keep him talking."
"What did you do to my husband?" I said.
The first silence he'd given me.
"Daniel made choices," Renner said finally.
"Choices that put him in a difficult position.
I tried to reason with him.
He wasn't interested in reason."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer I'm going to give you on an open line." His voice shifted slightly.
Still smooth, but something underneath it now.
"Nicole.
You have a nine-year-old son.
You have a life.
Daniel's crusade — whatever he believed he was doing — it's over.
It's been over for three years.
The only question is whether you're going to pick it up and carry it, or whether you're going to set it down and live."
I looked at Ethan, standing in the kitchen doorway.
"Give me twenty-four hours," I said.
Another pause.
Shorter this time.
"By tomorrow evening," he said.
"Leave it at the storage unit.
The same unit.
Lock it and leave the key under the mat.
I'll know if you've copied anything."
"Understood."
He ended the call.
The kitchen was silent for a moment.
Then the officer said, "We got a cell tower.
Broad area, but it's a start."
Garrett was looking at me carefully.
"You're not giving him the drive."
"No," I said.
"I'm giving us twenty-four hours."
"To do what?"
I set my phone down on the counter.
"Daniel spent fourteen months building something.
He didn't finish it." I looked at Garrett.
"You've been watching this house for six weeks.
You knew about Renner before I did.
You knew about Carol.
You knew about the drive." I crossed my arms.
"So what do you have?"
Garrett was quiet.
"You're not just a colleague of Daniel's," I said.
"You're not just someone who felt guilty and decided to watch over us.
Who do you actually work for?"
He looked at the officer.
The officer looked back at him.
Then Garrett reached into his jacket again.
This time he produced a badge.
Federal.
"I've been building a parallel case for two years," he said.
"Daniel's drive is the piece I've been missing.
With it, we have enough to move." He held my gaze.
"But I needed it to come from you.
Voluntarily.
Through proper channels.
Or Renner's lawyers bury it in a year of motions."
"You've been waiting for me to find it."
"I was hoping you'd find it before they got to it first."
"You could have just knocked on my door."
"If I'd approached you directly, Renner's people would have known within forty-eight hours.
They have eyes on anyone connected to the original investigation." He paused.
"I needed you to come to this on your own."
I thought about three years of grief.
Of not opening that box.
Of the exact Tuesday three weeks ago when I'd finally felt ready.
"So what happens now?" I asked.
"Now," Garrett said, "you let me take the drive through the right channels tonight.
And tomorrow, when Renner expects you to be at that storage unit — we'll be somewhere else entirely."
I picked up the drive one more time.
Fourteen months of Daniel's work.
Sitting in my palm.
I handed it to Garrett.
"If this disappears," I said quietly, "I will make a great deal of noise."
"It won't disappear."
I believed him.
I wasn't entirely sure why.
But I did.
My phone buzzed one more time.
A text from Carol: *Nicole, I heard there were police at your house.
Are you okay?
Call me.*
May you like
I set the phone face-down on the counter.
I didn't call her.
