But I had known his fear was real.
Not anger.
Fear.
“They recommended preserving records,” I told Ruiz. “Ethan asked for my password.”
“And when you refused?”
My fingers tightened against the hospital blanket.
“Yes.”
No one asked me to describe the rest.
Not yet.
For that, I was grateful.
Ruiz wrote several more notes.
Then she closed the book.
“I need to be very clear about something, Maya. The assault investigation and any possible financial misconduct are separate issues. One does not have to prove the other.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
“Will you take Liam’s drive?”
“With his consent, and with appropriate documentation. But depending on what’s on it, other investigators may become involved.”
I nodded.
“There’s also a cloud archive.”
Liam turned toward me.
“You told me you didn’t trust cloud storage.”
“I didn’t trust my devices.”
A strange silence followed.
“Maya,” he said carefully, “where is the archive?”
