Chapter 13 - GRANT’S SECOND VERSION
Grant did not deny going to Boston.
Not after we showed him Thomas's note.
He sat in Andrea's office without a lawyer.
Probably should have had one.
“Your father asked me to come.”
I stared.
“You told me you never spoke to him after he left Sentinel.”
“I said I never interviewed him again.”
“That is not the same sentence.”
“No.”
I stood.
Andrea said:
“Claire.”
I sat.
Barely.
Grant explained.
Thomas invited Dad to Boston.
Dad insisted Grant come because he did not trust Thomas to use the pages carefully.
The meeting happened in a hotel conference room near Logan.
Dad brought photocopies of two red-book pages.
The same ones Thomas kept.
Dad's condition:
Do not reopen his employment case unless Sentinel repeated the practice or Hudson used the 2018 incident to certify the contract controls as fully resolved.
“What did you do?”
I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Why?”
“Sentinel changed procedures.”
“Did they?”
“At the time, yes.”
Individual admin credentials.
Longer log retention.
Separate overflow code.
Dad accepted that.
Thomas did not.
“So everyone agreed to bury it.”
Grant's expression hardened.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Peter chose not to pursue his personnel case.”
“He was tired.”
“Yes.”
“You liked that.”
Grant did not answer immediately.
Then:
“Yes.”
There.
Because reopening would expose weaknesses in his report.
He knew.
Not fraud.
Self-interest.
“I told myself the corrective action solved the public issue.”
“And your report?”
“I told myself personnel findings could remain separate.”
“You got to keep your clean case.”
“Yes.”
Ava stared at him.
“My husband kept the pages because he didn't trust you.”
“Yes.”
“Did Peter?”
“Not completely.”
Good.
No fighting that.
Then Andrea asked the question that mattered now.
“Did you access Thomas Bennett's archive six weeks ago?”
“No.”
“Did you know the trigger envelope existed?”
“No.”
“Did you send anonymous messages?”
“No.”
“Did you arrange Ava's fake pickup instruction?”
“No.”
“Did you send Mason the red-book image?”
“No.”
Grant's device records showed nothing obvious.
But old investigators know how not to use their own devices.
That did not make him guilty.
Then Grant produced something.
An email from Thomas after the Boston meeting.
If Sentinel ever reverts, I'll use the package. If I'm not around, someone else should.
No name.
Grant asked Thomas who.
Thomas replied:
Someone who doesn't owe Hudson anything.
That was all.
Ava stared.
“Did he mean me?”
Grant shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“I didn't know the package existed.”
“I know.”
Maybe Thomas had another person.
Former colleague.
Attorney.
Friend.
Then Grant said:
“There was one more person at the Boston hotel.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
“Not in the room.”
“Grant.”
He thought.
“Your mother.”
I went still.
“Mom?”
“She drove Peter.”
Mom had told me Dad went alone.
Another lie.
Why?
Grant said Elaine Carter sat in the lobby for two hours.
Never joined.
But she saw:
Dad.
Thomas.
Grant.
She knew the meeting happened.
When I called her from Andrea's office, Mom answered on the fourth ring.
I asked one question.
“Were you in Boston with Dad?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father asked me not to.”
“He's dead.”
“I know.”
“That request died too.”
“No.”
Mom's voice hardened.
“Some promises don't belong to the dead person alone.”
There was more.
“What did he ask you to do?”
Another silence.
Then:
“Not over the phone.”
I looked at Grant.
Ava.
May you like
Andrea.
The current anonymous actor had finally brushed against my family.
