Chapter 18 — Weightless

A soft knock came at my office door, and Renata, my lead investigator, stepped in with two mugs of fresh coffee and a courier folder.

“Morning,” she said, setting a mug on my desk.

“Good news first: the state oversight committee approved our contract.

We’re officially the lead financial auditors for the county’s victim advocacy network.” I felt a deep, quiet satisfaction at that — the thought of all the careful work we would now do for people in exactly the position I had once been in.

“And,” Renata added, drawing a small white envelope from the folder, “Roman’s former attorney sent this.