Chapter 18 - THE SECOND LEDGER
Victor Hale was serving his sentence in a federal facility three hours away.
When Naomi confronted him about Celeste’s claim, he denied that a second ledger existed.
Then she showed him the photograph from the hidden room.
Victor stared at Lydia’s face.
“She kept that?”
“What did you give her?” Naomi asked.
“Nothing.”
“Your cooperation agreement can be revoked.”
Victor looked toward his attorney.
The attorney said nothing.
Finally, Victor leaned back.
“The second ledger wasn’t about Westbridge.”
“What was it about?”
“The people who protected us.”
According to Victor, the Mercer operation had survived because bankers, property appraisers, consultants, and company directors approved documents they knew were false.
Some accepted money.
Others received favors.
Lydia recorded every payment.
“She said loyalty was temporary,” Victor explained. “Evidence lasted longer.”
“Where is the ledger?”
“I saw it once. It was stored on a black drive.”
“Where?”
“Lydia carried it at the wedding.”
Elena remembered the security drive Brianna had removed from Celeste’s safe.
Investigators had believed it contained recordings from the safe’s camera.
It had contained only three weeks of footage.
“What did the black drive look like?” Naomi asked.
Victor described a small device with a gold stripe along one side.
Brianna closed her eyes.
“The photographer.”
Everyone turned toward her.
During the wedding reception, Lydia had summoned the photographer to take private family portraits in Celeste’s dressing room.
Brianna remembered seeing Lydia place a small object inside the photographer’s equipment case when Daniel began arguing with Elena.
The photographer, Julian Price, had left before the arrests.
Investigators located him in Rhode Island.
Julian insisted he knew nothing about the drive.
He had found it in his camera bag after the wedding and placed it in a box with unused memory cards.
The box had remained in a storage unit for more than a year.
Naomi’s team recovered it that evening.
The black drive was still inside.
It contained the second ledger.
Hundreds of names appeared in encrypted files.
Among them was Graham Sloane, regional director of the bank that had processed Elena’s forged transfer.
There were judges, accountants, executives, and local officials.
One name appeared more often than the others.
Senator Malcolm Reed.
Robert read the payment history.
“Reed helped Westbridge obtain development approval.”
Naomi nodded.
“And Lydia has enough evidence to destroy him.”
Elena looked at the final access record.
Someone had opened the drive three days earlier.
“That storage unit wasn’t forgotten,” she said.
Julian’s face went pale.
“I never opened it.”
Naomi checked the security logs.
The unit had been accessed using Julian’s code.
Surveillance footage showed a woman wearing a hood.
She entered with empty hands.
She left carrying nothing.
May you like
Lydia had not gone there to take the drive.
She had gone there to copy it.
