Page 96 of False Evidence
In this instance, the hard disk had been used as a weapon. The police had no reason to look at the files.
Lee promised to do his best to leave the blood evidence intact while he copied the contents of the drive.
Alexandra shook hands with her attorney, Anna Davidson, whom she’d spoken with on the phone before leaving the cabin this morning, officially hiring the woman so she could make arrangements for this interview with Maryland State Police investigators, and was introduced to Anna’s assistant, Raul Peredes.
Next JT reintroduced her to Raptor CEO Keith Hatcher, who’d been instrumental in finding Alexandra a defense attorney and who’d coordinated all elements of Raptor’s investigation since JT called him on the evening of the twenty-third.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done. I— I’m so sorry for disrupting your holiday.”
Keith smiled. “JT’s an honorary member of the Raptor family. So is Lee. Which makes you family too.” He glanced toward the door. “And here’s another cousin.”
Alexandra turned as former US Attorney General Curt Dominick entered the room.
Once again, her eyes pricked with tears. She hadn’t seen Curt since Erica and Lee’s wedding over three and a half years ago, but still, he was here on Christmas Day, forher.
He gave her a hug and said, “I just wanted to let you know Mara and I are here. Keith invited everyone to move our Christmas dinner celebration here, since we were all going to be at Erica and Lee’s anyway. Alec and Isabel will be arriving shortly.”
She turned back to Keith. “I’m…speechless. Thank you.”
“We’ve got your back,” Keith said. “And it made sense to combine our holiday celebrations. Trina and I were hosting a dinner for the live-in operatives today. Now it will be a little larger and a little later, but a lot more fun. We’ll all be in the common room when you’re finished here. JT knows where it is.”
Alone with JT and her legal counsel, Alexandra dropped into a seat at the table, overwhelmed with emotion.
“It was kind of Raptor to offer their offices for us to meet,” Anna said as she and Raul settled in the seats across the table.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to meet on Christmas.”
“My kids are with their dad this year, so it wasn’t an issue for me.” She nodded to her assistant. “And Raul assures me he’s thrilled with the holiday bonus.”
The man grinned. “Gonna upgrade my girlfriend’s gift—February trip to Kauai—to first class.”
Alexandra could see why that would be worth giving up a few hours on Christmas.
Before they began, Anna reiterated the legalities of her retainer and attorney/client privilege. Once that was done, JT kissed her cheek and left the room. If this went to trial, he would certainly be called to testify and anything she said in front of him was not protected by privilege.
Once the three of them were alone with the door closed, Alexandra gave her full account of the events Monday night, including the reason behind her decision to flee.
“There was no working phone at Kendall’s house, so I couldn’t call 9-1-1.”
“But you could have used the police radio.”
“I felt that would put me in danger from the police.”
“You aren’t wrong there, but that will be a sticking point. Really, that video is a godsend.”
“If I had known there would be a recording, I would have used the police radio or tried harder to find a phone so I could make arrangements to safely turn myself in immediately.”
From there, they discussed the officer’s role in events that took place sixteen years ago. Anna took notes on a legal pad while Raul was on his computer, marking locations on maps and looking up dates and case numbers.
There was a knock on the door, and JT poked his head in. “Lex, Lee found the hard drive in the diaper bag.” He held up the drive, which was in the gallon-sized slider-topped bag she’d placed it in the night before last.
She rose and crossed to the door. They’d agreed not to lie and pretend it had been a mistake. They just wouldn’t elaborate. “Thank you.”
JT pressed a kiss to her lips as he handed her the bag with the drive, then he left, closing the door tight.
The slight smile on both Anna’s and Raul’s faces said they knew the drive being in the diaper bag was no accident but wouldn’t make an issue of it. It wasn’t about chain of custody when it came to this piece of evidence. The blood and video were verification enough.
“What’s on the hard drive?” Anna asked.