Chapter 12 - The Engineer Who Would Not LieSimon Ortiz answered the video call from his workshop in Baltimore.
He was fifty-three, with a close-cropped beard and the tired, deliberate manner of someone who had spent decades telling clients things they did not want to hear.
Rebecca Sloan had arranged the conversation with Simon's attorney.
Daniel and Hannah sat in separate chairs in Rebecca's office.
Hannah had been discharged from the hospital that morning. Ruth was caring for Lucy, and Jonah had Theo for the afternoon.
It was the first time Daniel and Hannah had sat together outside a hospital in almost seven years.
Neither seemed comfortable.
Simon looked at Hannah's face on the screen.
"Ms. Reed."
"Hello, Simon."
He gave a sad smile.
"I hoped we'd never have to revisit that project."
"So did I," Hannah replied.
Rebecca began.
"Mr. Ortiz, we're reviewing events from November 2019. We understand you prepared a report warning that the restoration work was incomplete."
"Correct."
"Did you later approve the work?"
"No."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Then why did our records contain a completion certificate bearing your professional seal?"
Simon's expression hardened.
"I have been asking that question for years."
Simon explained that he had been contracted to assess damaged framing and moisture intrusion at Oak Terrace.
He submitted a report identifying several areas requiring further work before certification.
Three days later, Robert Vale called.
"He said the lender needed a simpler statement," Simon recalled. "Something confirming that work was substantially complete."
"Did you issue one?" Rebecca asked.
"No. I told him the repairs couldn't be certified without a follow-up inspection."
"What happened next?"
"My contract was terminated."
Hannah looked down.
Simon continued.
"A month later, an insurer's consultant called asking why my report appeared inconsistent with a certificate in the project file. He sent me a copy."
"Was it yours?"
"The letterhead was mine. The seal image had been copied from another document."
Daniel felt his chest tighten.
"Did you report it?"
"Yes. I wrote to Mercer Renewal and to the appropriate licensing and insurance contacts. I retained copies."
Rebecca made a note.
"Do you have those copies?"
"Yes. My attorney has them."
"Would you provide them through a formal request?"
Simon nodded.
"Gladly."
After the call, Hannah remained seated.
Daniel watched her twist the strap of her handbag.
"You tried to tell me this," he said.
She nodded.
"I did."
"I remember you saying the contractor report was wrong."
"You told me Robert had already investigated it."
Daniel closed his eyes.
He remembered the argument.
Hannah standing in their kitchen.
Her voice raised in frustration.
Please just look at the dates.
He had thrown a stack of paperwork onto the table.
I am tired of you attacking people who've spent years building this company.
He opened his eyes.
"I said you were jealous of Celeste."
Hannah looked at him.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry."
She turned toward the window.
"You've apologized several times."
"I know."
"Sometimes I think you believe that if you find exactly the right words, you'll repair everything."
Daniel said nothing.
Hannah looked back.
"Words matter. But they aren't the same as changing."
He nodded.
That afternoon, Hannah visited Oak Terrace with Rebecca and Marisol Alvarez.
Daniel was not permitted to conduct company business during his leave, so he did not accompany them.
Marisol led the women through the damaged apartments.
Hannah paused outside Unit 4B.
She remembered standing there in 2019 with a clipboard, recording water damage.
A little boy had lived there.
His mother had asked when the repairs would be finished.
Hannah had promised to find out.
Seven years later, the door was freshly painted.
But the wall beside it was still stained.
Marisol noticed her expression.
"You know this place?"
"I used to work on the restoration records."
"Then you know what happened."
Hannah looked at the floor.
"I know part of it."
Marisol folded her arms.
"Everybody knows part of it. Nobody takes responsibility for all of it."
Hannah accepted the criticism.
"You're right."
She looked at the stained wall.
"I should have found a way to make more people listen."
Marisol's expression softened slightly.
"You tried?"
"Yes."
"Then you were different from most of them."
Hannah shook her head.
"Trying wasn't enough."
That evening, Simon's attorney sent Rebecca an inventory of preserved records.
It included the original engineering reports, correspondence, and an audio recording of a business voicemail left by Robert.
Rebecca reviewed the inventory.
One item was especially significant.
A letter Simon had written to Warren Mercer personally.
Dated December 3, 2019.
The subject line read:
URGENT: UNAUTHORIZED USE OF ENGINEERING SEAL
Daniel stared at the title when Rebecca showed it to him.
His father had received a direct warning.
Not a rumor.
Not an employee complaint.
A professional engineer had told him that a document in the company's project file appeared to contain a misused seal.
Daniel called Warren.
His father answered on the fourth ring.
"We need to talk."
"About what?"
"Simon Ortiz."
May you like
Silence.
Then Warren said, "I wondered when you'd find him."
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