Chapter 6 - The Traitor in the Ranks
The next morning, my phone buzzed with an encrypted message from an unknown number.
Meet me at the botanical gardens. The glasshouse. 1:00 PM. Come alone or they’ll see me.
It was Natalie.
When I arrived at the tropical greenhouse, the air was thick, warm, and smelled of damp earth and orchids. Natalie was standing near the rear exit, nervously looking over her shoulder, her oversized sunglasses hiding her face.
"Valerie, thank God you came," she said, pulling me into a shadow behind a massive fern. "They're losing their minds. Arthur and Victoria are packing up the house. They're planning to wire the remaining funds from the offshore account tonight and catch a private flight to a non-extradition country."
"They're fleeing?" I asked, my heart hammering.
"Yes. Diego’s bail was posted anonymously this morning. He's at the estate right now, destroying hard drives and shredding financial documents," Natalie whispered, her voice trembling. "My husband, his brother, wants to go with them. He's trying to force me to pack my bags. But I won't do it. I won't be an accessory to their crimes."
She reached into her coat and pulled out a small, metallic object. It was a digital voice recorder.
"I caught them talking last night in the study," Natalie said, pressing it into my hand. "Diego admitted to throwing the plate. He laughed about it, Valerie. He said he should have hit you harder so you wouldn't have been able to talk to the cops. And Victoria... she admitted on tape that she forged your signature on the building permits for the concrete foundation of the new downtown medical center."
My blood ran cold. The downtown medical center was a massive public project. If the foundation concrete was substandard, thousands of lives were at risk.
"Natalie, you need to come with me to the police right now," I said firmly.
May you like
"I can't," she choked back a sob. "If they find out I gave you this, they’ll kill me. Just take it and stop them. Please, stop them before they ruin anyone else."
She turned and vanished through the greenhouse doors before I could stop her. I stood alone among the exotic plants, holding the key to their absolute destruction.
