Chapter 9 - THE WITNESS WHO VANISHED
The investigation intensified.
Grant Holloway hired attorneys.
Blackridge denied wrongdoing.
Daniel stopped answering calls.
Then a former warehouse supervisor named Elias Turner contacted Rebecca.
He claimed to have witnessed suspicious activity the night Caleb died.
Rebecca arranged a meeting.
Elias never arrived.
His car was found abandoned near a service road.
His phone lay on the passenger seat.
Nathaniel was furious.
I found him in his office.
He stood beside the window.
His hands clenched.
“Don't,” I said.
He turned.
“Don't what?”
“Whatever you're thinking.”
He stared.
“Someone may have taken a witness.”
I nodded.
“Then let the police find him.”
Nathaniel laughed bitterly.
“You think they'll move fast enough?”
“I think you making threats will give Grant exactly what he wants.”
He looked away.
I stepped closer.
“Your brother wanted the truth exposed.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Then don't turn this into revenge.”
Silence.
Finally, he exhaled.
“Okay.”
The next morning, Elias was found alive.
He had fled after receiving threats.
Investigators arranged protection.
His testimony changed everything.
Elias said Caleb had discovered illegal shipments.
He had copied documents.
Then confronted a senior Blackridge executive.
That executive was Grant Holloway.
Elias also claimed he saw Daniel Reeves near the warehouse hours before the fire.
My stomach dropped.
Rebecca looked at me.
“Emma, are you okay?”
I nodded.
But I wasn't.
Daniel had been twenty-one when Caleb died.
Young.
Ambitious.
Already working for Blackridge.
Had he known?
Had he helped?
I stared at the evidence.
Then whispered:
“Ask him.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“What?”
I swallowed.
May you like
“Ask Daniel what happened that night.”
For the first time, I wanted the truth more than I wanted an explanation.
