Chapter 4 - THE FIRST THING FRANK COULDN’T FIX
Cassidy refused to explain further until Lydia had been formally interviewed.
It was the first boundary she set with Frank.
He respected it.
That did not mean he sat still.
With Cassidy’s permission, Frank contacted the sheriff’s office and requested that any vehicle-location data connected to Brock’s cruiser be preserved pending review. Dana helped Cassidy reach a domestic-violence advocate, who explained how to request a temporary protection order and how to keep Lydia away from unnecessary questioning.
Frank also called his attorney.
Not because he wanted somebody arrested by lunchtime.
Because Trent had access to Frank’s construction yard.
For six years, Trent had managed purchasing for Mercer Timber & Build, the small company Frank had spent three decades building.
Frank changed the gate codes that afternoon.
Then he removed Trent’s access to company accounts.
His office manager warned him that several active jobs might stall.
“Then they stall.”
“This could cost you.”
Frank looked through the office window at the Bridgers disappearing into late-winter cloud.
“It already has.”
The next morning, Frank received a call from the sheriff’s undersheriff.
Brock’s vehicle had transmitted location data continuously that evening.
The department would not release the details directly to Frank because the matter was now under administrative review.
But the undersheriff told him one thing.
“You were right to ask us to preserve it.”
Frank drove back to the hospital.
Cassidy was sitting upright for the first time.
He told her what he had done with the company.
She looked exhausted rather than grateful.
“You always fix the thing that costs money.”
Frank stopped.
Cassidy looked toward the empty visitor chair.
“The harder thing was believing me before it cost you something.”
He could not argue.
Then Cassidy said something that shifted the problem again.
“When Brock came over, Trent told him I’d been drinking.”
Frank frowned.
Cassidy had not had alcohol in nearly four years.
“Brock knows that.”
“I told him.”
“And?”
May you like
Cassidy looked at him.
“He asked me where I’d hidden the bottle.”
