Chapter 8 - Melissa's FileThe next morning, Derek called Hawthorne.
He expected confusion.
Instead, Evelyn Shaw became very quiet.
“Melissa Brooks?”
“Yes.”
“Your wife?”
“She died four years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You knew her?”
“I knew of her.”
Derek stood by the kitchen sink.
Hailey watched from the table.
“What does that mean?”
“Melissa worked in our finance office before my time. Her name appears in archived compliance records.”
Derek felt his stomach tighten.
“What kind of records?”
“I’d prefer to review them before answering.”
“No.”
“Mr. Brooks—”
“My daughter’s teacher told her kid that I should be careful asking questions about Hawthorne money. My wife worked there. Tell me what you know.”
A long pause.
Then Shaw said, “Melissa was involved in identifying accounting irregularities.”
Derek sat down.
“What irregularities?”
“Expense reimbursements.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Who was involved?”
“I can’t responsibly say.”
Derek closed his eyes.
“This is connected.”
“I don’t know that.”
“You don’t believe in coincidences that much.”
“No,” Shaw admitted.
Neither did Derek.
An hour later, he received a scanned copy of an old internal memo.
Melissa Brooks had not written it.
But she was listed as the employee who first flagged improper reimbursement claims submitted through a district partnership program.
The amounts were not enormous.
Four hundred dollars.
Eight hundred.
Several thousand over time.
But the name attached to one set of reimbursements made Derek’s hands go numb.
Raymond Holt.
Current district assessment director.
At the time, Holt had been an assistant coordinator for academic programs.
Hailey read over Derek’s shoulder.
“Mom reported him?”
“She flagged expenses.”
“That’s the same person who might’ve gone to Madison’s house.”
“Yes.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Derek kept reading.
The reimbursements had been classified as “administrative errors.”
Holt repaid part of the money.
No criminal action.
No public discipline.
Melissa resigned six weeks later.
Derek remembered that period.
She had been unhappy.
Quiet.
She had started working for a medical office.
When he asked why she left the foundation, she had said, “Bad management.”
Nothing more.
Hailey whispered, “Why didn’t she tell you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe she wanted to protect you.”
Derek looked at her.
The irony was painful.
Everyone in his family apparently believed silence was protection.
Later that day, Anthony Price came to the apartment.
Derek had never expected a district compliance officer to sit on his secondhand couch drinking instant coffee.
Price examined the memo.
“This changes the scope.”
“Does Holt know who I am?”
“Almost certainly now.”
“No. Before.”
Price looked at the paper.
“If he remembered Melissa.”
“Would he?”
“People remember the person who catches financial discrepancies.”
Hailey sat across from them.
“So if he knew I was Melissa Brooks’s daughter…”
Derek said quickly, “We don’t know that.”
Price nodded.
“We do not.”
“But Mrs. Callahan said my dad should stop digging.”
“According to Madison.”
“She knew the name.”
“Parent names are in school records.”
Hailey frowned.
Price leaned forward.
“Hailey, this could be connected. But I don’t want you building the worst version before we have evidence.”
She hated that he was right.
Derek asked, “What happens now?”
“We interview Holt.”
“You haven’t?”
“We scheduled him for tomorrow. He retained counsel this morning.”
Derek laughed bitterly.
“That’s encouraging.”
“It means he understands the seriousness.”
“Same thing.”
Before leaving, Price asked Derek for permission to copy the old records.
Derek agreed.
After the door closed, Hailey stood by the window.
“Mom never talked about Hawthorne.”
“No.”
“Do you think Mrs. Callahan knew about her?”
“I don’t know.”
“What if she did?”
Derek looked at Melissa’s photograph.
“Then we find out how.”
That night, Madison texted Hailey.
Can we talk?
Hailey called.
Madison whispered.
“I found something else.”
“What?”
“Mom has a locked drawer.”
Hailey sat up.
“Don’t break into anything.”
“I didn’t.”
“Madison.”
“I found the key.”
“That counts.”
“I already opened it.”
Hailey rubbed her forehead.
“What did you find?”
“Printouts.”
“What kind?”
“Emails.”
“To who?”
Madison was silent.
“Madison?”
“One is from Mr. Holt.”
Hailey stood.
“What does it say?”
“I only read part.”
“Read it.”
Madison’s voice shook.
“‘Melissa Brooks caused enough trouble the first time. Her daughter doesn’t need special treatment now.’”
Hailey stopped breathing.
Madison continued.
“There’s another line.”
“What?”
“‘If the ranking is corrected before certification, nobody needs to know.’”
Hailey felt sick.
“Take pictures.”
“I did.”
“Send them to Principal Evans and Mr. Price.”
“I will.”
“No. Now.”
Madison hesitated.
“My mom could go to jail.”
“I don’t know.”
“She could lose everything.”
Hailey stared at her bruised palm.
“Madison.”
“I know.”
“Send them.”
A few seconds later, Hailey’s phone buzzed.
Photographs.
Emails.
Names.
Dates.
One message from Mrs. Callahan to Raymond Holt.
ONE SCORE ADJUSTMENT ISN’T ENOUGH. BROOKS IS STILL AHEAD.
Another from Holt.
THEN FIND SOMETHING OBJECTIVE.
Hailey read the words twice.
Objective.
Attendance.
Missing work.
Discipline.
Anything that looked neutral on paper.
Anything that could hide the jealousy underneath.
The ruler had been emotional.
The plan before it had not been.
May you like
And for the first time, Hailey understood why Mrs. Callahan had looked almost relieved when Hailey missed school sick.
She had been waiting for something she could use.
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