BUILT ON BONES

Chapter seven

"The building's owner is Victor Hutchinson Junior, who is the actual suspect in his father's murder." Vivian's voice was steel wrapped in silk. "My client is a building inspector who discovered evidence of a crime and attempted to report it. The building collapsed due to structural failure caused by Mr. Hutchinson's own negligence in burying a body in the foundation."

"That's quite a story."

"It's the truth. And we have evidence to prove it." Vivian pulled a flash drive from her briefcase, set it on the table. "This contains a forty-three-minute audio recording made by my client while trapped in the parking garage of Celestial Heights Tower. In it, Victor Hutchinson Junior explicitly threatens my client's life and admits to multiple murders spanning twenty years."

Reeves stared at the flash drive like it was a live grenade.

"You'll find Mr. Hutchinson's voice clearly identifiable," Vivian continued. "You'll hear him order his security personnel to detain and harm my client. You'll hear him make a phone call requesting 'another cement truck' to bury another body—specifically, my client's body." She smiled. "It's quite damning, actually."

"If this recording exists, why didn't your client mention it during our conversation?" Reeves asked.

"Because you never asked him any questions that would elicit that information. You made accusations. You implied guilt. You attempted to manipulate a traumatized victim of attempted murder into making statements without his attorney present." Vivian's eyes were cold. "Which, I should mention, will look very bad in court. Particularly when we introduce evidence of your financial relationship with Hutchinson Development."

Reeves went very still. "Excuse me?"

"Badge number 642," Vivian said pleasantly. "You've been on Victor Hutchinson Junior's payroll for six years. Security consulting fees, paid through a shell company. Twenty thousand dollars per year to feed him information about investigations into his properties." She pulled out another document, slid it across the table. "I have bank records. I have email correspondence. I have enough evidence to end your career and put you in prison for obstruction of justice."

The silence in the room was absolute.

Reeves's face had gone from pale to red to pale again. Her hands trembled slightly as she picked up the document, scanned it, set it down.

"This is..." She cleared her throat. "This is fabricated."

"No, Detective. It's meticulously researched truth." Vivian leaned forward. "And here's what's going to happen. You're going to release my client immediately. You're going to drop all charges. You're going to open a formal investigation into Victor Hutchinson Junior for the murder of his father and conspiracy to commit multiple other murders. And you're going to recuse yourself from the case due to conflict of interest."

"Or?" Reeves's voice was barely a whisper.

"Or I go public with everything. The bribes. The obstruction. The fact that you've been protecting a serial killer for years." Vivian's smile was razor-sharp. "I'll hold a press conference this afternoon. I'll name names. I'll destroy you so thoroughly that you'll never work in law enforcement again. Your pension? Gone. Your reputation? Buried. Your freedom? Questionable."

Marcus watched the detective's face crumble. It should have felt like victory. Instead, it just felt sad. Reeves had probably started with good intentions, maybe. Then Hutchinson had gotten his hooks in. A little money here, a favor there, and suddenly she was in too deep to get out.

Now she was trapped. Just like all of Hutchinson's other victims.

"I didn't know," Reeves said quietly. "About the murders. I swear to God, I didn't know. He just asked me to... to keep him informed. About inspections. About investigations into his properties. He said it was competitive intelligence, nothing illegal."

"Save it for Internal Affairs," Vivian said coldly. "Because they will be investigating you. Thoroughly. But that's not my concern right now. My concern is my client's immediate release."

Reeves looked at Marcus. Really looked at him for the first time. Saw the bruises, the bandages, the exhaustion in his eyes.

"You really saw it, didn't you?" she asked. "The murder. You saw what happened to Victor Senior."

Marcus hesitated, then nodded.

"How?" Reeves's voice cracked. "How is that possible?"

"It doesn't matter how," Vivian interrupted. "What matters is that my client is a witness to a crime, not a perpetrator. Release him. Now."

Reeves stood slowly, like she'd aged ten years in the last ten minutes. "You're free to go, Mr. Chen. No charges are being filed at this time." She walked to the door, paused. "For what it's worth... I am sorry. About everything."

She left.

Marcus and Vivian sat alone in the interrogation room.

"That," Marcus said shakily, "was terrifying."

"That was necessary." Vivian began packing her briefcase. "Reeves was blocking our investigation. Now she's neutralized. The case will be reassigned to a detective who isn't in Hutchinson's pocket, and we can proceed."

"Proceed with what?"

"Finding the other twelve victims." Vivian looked at him. "Are you ready to start hunting, Mr. Chen?"

Marcus thought about Victor Sr.'s skeleton. About the twelve others still buried somewhere in the city. About families who'd spent years wondering what happened to their loved ones.

About his mother's last words: You're going to be special.

"Yes," he said. "I'm ready."