Page 87 of Everyone’s a Liar

“It was never an official report.”

“So why keep it?”

“I kept it because I thought it might be important after I heard Ms. Benoit had died.” He shrugged. “But when there was no investigation I packed it away and forgot all about it.”

“You kept it here, not at your office?” Bryce pressed.

A slow smile curled his lips. As if he approved of her question. “Very good, Bryce. At that time, the Benoits had the sort of power to make investigations disappear.” He shot Livia a quick glance before heading toward the arched opening that led into a narrow hallway. “Excuse me.”

There was a tense silence as Bryce and Livia waited for the man’s return. Neither wanted to be the one to suggest their luck might finally have turned. Everyone knew that was a jinx.

Within minutes, Jonathon was back holding a thin manilla folder. He waved it in the air as he resumed his seat.

“This is it. As you can see, it’s not much.”

Bryce resisted the urge to reach out and snatch the folder from his hand. She sensed that Jonathon was pleased to have the opportunity to be included in the investigation. She wasn’t going to take that away from him.

“Any information would be greatly appreciated,” she assured him.

Flipping open the folder, Jonathon pulled out a sheet of paper. Bryce blinked. He hadn’t lied when he said he didn’t have much intel.

“I jotted down a few notes during our phone conversation,” he explained. “Back then I was a young field agent so it didn’t occur to me to pass the call up to someone with more authority once she said the name Giselle Benoit.”

“I’m relieved you didn’t.” Bryce didn’t doubt that any file mentioning the Benoits would have been conveniently lost over the years. It was unfortunate, but justice would always be for sale when it came with enough money and power. “What did she say?”

“She told me that she’d witnessed a crime at the Willows.”

Bryce stiffened. “Wait. She used that word—‘crime’?—not something illegal?”

“Crime.” He turned the page so she could see the neatly written note. “I underlined the word.”

“Interesting.” Bryce tried not to read too much into Giselle’s claim. A crime could be anything from littering to murder. Still, it did make it sound as if it was a particular act that had prompted her to call the FBI, not an ongoing series of events.

Jonathon turned the paper back to read the rest of his notes. “I suggested that she call her local law enforcement and speak with them, but she insisted that they were too afraid of her father to investigate.” The older man paused, sending Livia a tight smile. “If I’m being honest, I thought she was being overly dramatic. She sounded upset on the phone and I assumed she was a rich, spoiled girl who was mad at her parents and wanted to punish them. I regret that now.”

Livia’s face was pale, her hands clenched in her lap. It was obvious she was struggling to control her emotions.

“But you agreed to a meeting?” Bryce asked, diverting the attention back to herself.

“Yes. She said she would keep calling until she found someone who would believe her, so I finally suggested we meet at the park. That way I didn’t look foolish if it turned out to be nothing more than a childish tantrum, and she didn’t have to worry about anyone in her family finding out she’d called us.”

“But she never showed up?”

“Correct.”

There was a pause, as if Jonathon was done with the conversation. With a low hiss of frustration, Livia abruptly surged to her feet, glaring at the older man.

“That’s it?” she rasped. “That’s all she said?”

Jonathon lifted his head, his dark gaze taking in the tension vibrating through Livia’s body before returning to study her flushed face. At last he gave a slow nod, as if coming to some sort of decision of whether or not to reveal what was on the paper.

“There was one more thing,” he admitted. “I have quotes around it, so I must have thought it was odd.”

“Tell me,” Livia demanded.

“Your mother said that the Benoits couldn’t hide their sins in the swamps. Not anymore. This time they were going to pay.”

CHAPTER 21