Chapter 7: The People Who Thought They Were Safe
Raymond's phone went to voicemail.
I called his assistant directly.
"This is Vivian Cole.
Where is Raymond Ellis?"
A pause that lasted one beat too long.
"Ms.
Cole, I'm not able to—"
"He is my attorney of record.
He is handling active litigation on my behalf.
If he has left the city without notifying me, that is a breach of his professional obligations and I will be reporting it to the state bar within the hour.
Now.
Where is he?"
Another pause.
Then, quietly: "He left the office at noon.
He said he had a family emergency.
He took his laptop."
"Did he take any physical files?"
Silence.
"Check the Cole file cabinet," I said.
"Right now.
I'll hold."
I heard footsteps.
A drawer opening.
A longer silence.
"Ms.
Cole." The assistant's voice had changed.
"The physical folder is here, but the secondary binder — the one with the original estate documents — it's gone."
Marina was already on her own phone, calling the investigator Raymond had recommended at the start of all this.
The investigator Raymond had chosen.
I ended the call and looked at Nora, who had been sitting quietly across the table through all of it.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"You came to me for help and I've brought more chaos into your kitchen."
"You came forty minutes to sit at my table," she said.
"That's more than most people have done." She paused.
"What will you do?"
"Raymond took the original estate documents because he thinks they're the only copy." I picked up my phone.
"They're not.
The county clerk's office has the filed originals.
And Dorian Marsh accessed digital versions — which means the firm's server has copies Raymond can't touch."
"And Celeste?"
"Celeste made a threat on your doorstep that you recorded.
She attempted to suborn a false witness declaration.
She moved ten million dollars of fraudulently obtained funds offshore." I stood.
"She's been very busy.
And every action she's taken in the last week is on record somewhere."
Marina finished her call.
"The investigator is already tracking Raymond's credit cards.
He bought a train ticket two hours ago.
Heading north."
"Call the bar's ethics line.
File the report now, not tomorrow." I looked at Marina.
"And get me **Judge Patricia Hale's** clerk.
Raymond filed the emergency asset freeze application with her court.
She needs to know her filing attorney has fled."
Marina nodded and stepped into the hallway.
Nora walked me to the door.
"Ms.
Voss," I said.
"I want to honor what my father intended.
Whatever the court process looks like, I want you to know that."
She looked at me for a moment.
"You don't have to do that."
"I know," I said.
"That's why I'm saying it."
She nodded once.
It was a small movement, but it carried a great deal of weight.
I was halfway to the car when my phone rang.
Adrian again.
I answered this time.
"I know about Nora Voss," he said immediately.
"Celeste told me everything.
Vivian, your attorney has been stealing from your father's estate for years.
Raymond Ellis has been skimming trust disbursements since before your father died.
That's why he set the codicil aside — Nora would have had standing to audit the estate accounts."
I stood beside the car.
"Adrian," I said.
"Are you telling me this because you want to help me?
Or because Celeste told you to call?"
A long silence.
"Both," he said finally.
It was the most honest thing he had said to me in years.
"She thinks if you go after Raymond, you'll run out of legal resources and the asset freeze will collapse."
"And what do you think?"
"I think I've made catastrophic mistakes." His voice was quieter now.
"I think Celeste is not who I believed she was.
And I think you are going to win this, Vivian.
I just don't know yet which side of it I want to be on."
"That," I said, "is entirely up to you."
I got in the car.
Marina looked at me.
"What did he say?"
"He told us Raymond has been stealing from the estate for years." I buckled my seatbelt.
"Which means Celeste has known about it long enough to use it.
Which means she didn't just find a corrupt paralegal.
She found a corrupt attorney first, and built everything else around him."
Marina started the car.
"She's been planning this for longer than three months," Marina said.
May you like
"Yes," I said.
"Which means there's a paper trail going back much further than we've been looking."
