جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 190

Lisa's pov I stopped at the doorway when Julie called my name, but I didn't turn around immediately. My hand stayed on the doorknob as I reminded myself not to rush back into the room. Whenever I reacted too quickly, she found a way to control the conversation.“Lisa, come back here,” Julie called, her voice weaker as she shifted beneath the blanket. “Please. We need to finish talking.”I turned slowly and walked back into the room, but I didn't sit beside her. I pulled the chair opposite the bed closer and lowered myself into it. Julie watched me with tired eyes, one hand gripping the blanket. She looked fragile, but I knew better than to confuse weakness with innocence.“Who was making the final decisions?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. “You said Bruce was afraid of someone. Who was giving the orders?”Julie looked down at the blanket and rubbed her thumb over the fabric. “I don't know,” she replied, her voice barely audible.The answer came too quickly. Her fingers tig

Brandon's povI pulled up the official records and started with the reference number George had written in his notes. I didn't rush through the search. Every page, transfer request, and access record had to be documented properly. If we found something important, nobody could later dismiss it by claiming I had accessed the information improperly or ignored the correct procedure.The missing section appeared under a separate investigation connected to Ralph. At first, that seemed ordinary enough. Several cases involved the same names, and files were often moved when investigators discovered overlapping information. But the date of the transfer made me pause. It happened before George's murder investigation had officially been connected to Ralph.I checked the date again, then compared it with the timeline of George's work. The information had been separated before anyone publicly understood how important the connection might be. That didn't prove someone had planned to hide it, but it

Lisa's pov I read the message again, then again, waiting for the words to lose their meaning. They didn't. Each time, the threat looked worse. Someone knew about the investigation, knew I was involved, and believed losing me would be enough to make Erin stop. My fingers tightened around his phone as I looked up at him.“You need to stay away from this for now,” Erin said, reaching for the phone with a worried crease between his brows. “Let me deal with whoever sent it. Until we know who we're facing, you shouldn't put yourself in more danger.”I pulled the phone against my chest, anger rising faster than fear. “That's what everyone says when they want me out of the way,” I replied, stepping back from him. “They call it protection, but it always ends with me being the last person to know what's happening.”Erin's expression changed, but I wasn't finished. I had heard that excuse too many times, from too many people, and I was tired of pretending it didn't hurt.“Bruce said he was prot

Lisa's pov Julie’s warning stayed with me long after the call ended. The person I should fear was the one who already knew everything I had told them. I kept replaying the words, trying to decide whether they sounded like a threat, a confession, or another attempt to frighten me into silence. None of the possibilities made me feel safer. Erin watched me from across the room, his expression growing more serious with every passing second. Megan sat beside Brandon, waiting for me to explain what Julie had said. The silence pressed against me until I finally placed my phone on the table and looked at them. “Julie said someone inside the investigation might be watching us,” I explained, keeping my voice controlled. “She also said the person already knows everything we’ve told them. She sounded afraid, but she was hiding something too. She recognized Ralph’s name before I explained what I had found.” Megan leaned forward, her fingers resting against the edge of her notebook. “Those wer

Erin's pov The file room had emptied hours ago, but none of us had moved from the conference table. George's old folders covered nearly every inch of polished wood, and the private firm's name appeared on more pages than I wanted to see. I pulled another folder closer, determined to understand what George had discovered before his death tonight. “Start with the requests he made during his final weeks,” I said, opening the oldest folder while Megan sorted the documents beside me. “If he was investigating this firm, there should be something showing what caught his attention.” Brandon nodded and began searching the digital archive, while Lisa sat quietly across from us, watching every page carefully without saying anything. Brandon opened several records before stopping at one dated three weeks before George's death. “He requested documents connected to Ralph,” he said, pointing toward the screen. “But this request also includes Lisa's family records and an old report connected to