“Did she ever mention Nolan’s business?” Ortiz asked.
“She said he had investors who wanted their money back. She found a ledger. She was scared, but she thought if she copied it, she could protect herself.”
“Did she say where she kept the copy?”
Elise paused. “She said there were two places nobody would look. One was with her. The other was somewhere that belonged to his family.”
The north cellar, I thought.
“Would you recognize her handwriting?” Ortiz asked.
“In a heartbeat.”
After the call, I stared at the dark screen. Elise had lived five years inside a question that other people treated as an inconvenience. I had been accused of killing my father and sentenced in a courtroom; at least the world knew my name and my location. Mara had been erased from the conversation entirely.
“Promise me something,” I told Ortiz. “If you find her, don’t let Nolan make her another footnote in my case.”
