Chapter 4

I looked at the cemetery on the navigation screen, then glanced at the anonymous text.

The police were already on their way. If I drove there now, I still might not arrive in time.

But Hayes was at the office. As long as I kept him occupied, he couldn't direct the evidence destruction on site.

Twenty minutes later, I pushed open the door to the company conference room.

The conference room was brightly lit. Cole sat at the head of the table with a document in hand. Hayes and Mercer sat across from him, the "Voluntary Waiver of Claims" in front of them.

When I walked in, Cole slapped the document on the table. "This is a company suspension notice. Sign to acknowledge receipt."

I walked over, glanced at the paper, and didn't pick up the pen.

Hayes stood and slapped the "Voluntary Waiver of Claims" onto the table in front of me.

"Ma'am, sign it and take the money." He tapped the paper. "Otherwise, the lawsuit will cost you everything you have for the rest of your life. Your reputation, your career, everything will be destroyed."

Cole sighed and pushed a pen to my side. "Lucy, you've been with this company for five years. I don't want to make this any uglier than it has to be."

Cole rapped on the table. "They're saying you used your company email to contact the media and dragged the company into this. If you don't sign, they'll name the company in their complaint, maybe even cancel next year's partnership. Just sign it. You can't fight them alone. Don't drag the company down with you."

Hayes leaned back, turning his coffee mug in one hand. "Ms. Bennett, you're a smart woman. You can find another job, but a hundred-thousand-dollar debt will ruin the rest of your life."

"Sign, and you walk out with the five thousand dollars today."

I looked at the waiver on the table. I did not take the pen. Instead, I raised my wrist and checked my watch.

Eleven forty p.m.

Twenty minutes left before the deadline in Mercer's email.

"Mr. Hayes." I looked up at him, my gaze cold. "You're awfully eager to get my signature. Are you worried something might go wrong at the cemetery?"

Hayes's expression flickered. The hand holding his coffee froze in midair, but he recovered quickly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He leaned back in his chair, though his fingers trembled slightly. "All I know is you're a lunatic who can't even hold down a job."

Mercer jumped in, his gestures growing impatient. "Stop stalling. Our patience has limits. If you sign, Evergreen Memorial won't pursue its claim that you switched the ashes and framed us."

I picked up my phone and opened the attachment in the email I had scheduled. "What you keep calling temporary fill is actually..."

I looked at the chemical composition table on the screen and let the sentence trail off.

A new message notification appeared at the top of the screen. It was from the now-familiar unknown number.

I opened the text. "Police still haven't arrived. They've almost pried open the base. The urn is about to be taken. Where are you?"