Then he looked at his attorney.
“If I provide what you’re asking for, what happens to me?”
The attorney did not offer comfort.
“That depends on what the records show.”
Matteo stood near the door.
Lorenzo looked at him.
For once, neither had a quick solution.
“Then we find out,” Lorenzo said.
Chloe agreed to see Lorenzo two days later.
Miriam stayed at her request.
Sarah sat near the window.
Lorenzo stopped inside the doorway.
“May I sit?”
Chloe nodded toward a chair.
He took it.
For a while, she studied him.
This was the man Aaron had described as dangerous.
This was also the man who had called an ambulance while she lay on his carpet.
Both things could be true.
She did not know what to do with that.
“Did you know him?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Well enough that I should have asked more questions.”
Her fingers tightened around the blanket.
“Were you paying him?”
Lorenzo did not look toward Miriam.
“Yes.”
Sarah went still.
Chloe stared at him.
“For what?”
“Information and access he should not have provided.”
The room became very quiet.
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“I won’t ask you to believe I didn’t understand it was wrong.”
Chloe looked toward the window.
For two years, Aaron had told her he could find her anywhere.
She had thought that power belonged to the badge.
Now she understood how many people might have helped make the boast feel true.
Lorenzo spoke carefully.
“I’m giving my attorney the relevant records. The investigators will receive what they’re entitled to.”
“Because of the recording?”
“Because the recording showed me something I had chosen not to see.”
She looked back at him.
He did not reach for her hand.
Did not call her brave.
Did not promise that nobody would ever hurt her again.
Instead, he said, “I’m sorry our arrangement helped him.”
Chloe’s throat tightened.
She nodded once.
