Chapter 7 - The Deposition
The conference room on the fourth floor of the state office building in Richmond smelled of old wool carpeting and damp autumn rain. Through the tall vertical blinds, the gray skyline of the capital city stretched out under a heavy, overcast sky.
I sat at the end of the long mahogany table, a cup of lukewarm black coffee cooling beside my legal pad. Across from me sat three members of the state oversight committee, flanked by two attorneys from the attorney general’s office.
The door opened softly, and Arthur Miller walked in, holding a thick stack of verified transcripts.
“The depositions are complete,” Arthur said, taking a seat beside the senior counsel. “Jonah signed the full disclosure statement twenty minutes ago. He’s cooperating in exchange for a recommended sentence reduction on the obstruction charges.”
I didn't feel the surge of vindication I had expected when I started digging through his office desk two weeks ago. I only felt a dull, steady ache behind my ribs—the quiet grief of a marriage that hadn't ended in a sudden explosion, but had simply rotted away from the inside out until nothing was left to save.
“And Grant?” I asked.
“Grant’s private security firm is being dissolved under state racketeering laws,” Arthur replied, sliding a certified copy of the indictment across the table. “Turns out the ‘unauthorized gear’ stored behind the obstacle course wasn't just tactical surplus. It was contraband equipment funneled through shell companies to fund the regional command’s slush fund.”
Senior Counsel Miller—no relation to the aide—looked up from his papers and peered over his half-moon glasses at me. “Maya, the committee wants to formally acknowledge your role in uncovering this breach. Under normal circumstances, an investigator wouldn't be cleared to enter an active facility while carrying a pregnancy past the first trimester, let alone execute a forensic retrieval.”
“My husband told me I was too emotional to understand how the academy operated,” I said, my voice steady, carrying clearly across the quiet room. “It turns out my instincts were the only things in that building that weren't falsified.”
A polite, uncomfortable silence settled over the committee members. They knew the political fallout of this investigation would reach the governor’s desk before the week was out. The Blue Ridge Public Safety Institute was going to be completely restructured, its leadership purged, and its accreditation revoked pending a full federal review.
“What are your plans now, Maya?” Arthur asked gently, after the committee members had filed out of the room to review the final evidentiary exhibits.
I looked down at my hand, resting against the small curve of my jacket. Eighteen weeks. Halfway through a pregnancy that was supposed to be shared, now entirely mine to protect.
“I’m taking a leave of absence from active field investigations,” I said, standing up and sliding my notes back into my leather bag. “And then I’m filing for a full, uncontested dissolution of marriage.”
“You’ll need representation in the property division,” Arthur noted, standing up with me. “Jonah’s personal assets have been frozen, but the family trust—”
May you like
“The family trust was funded by my father’s original land grants,” I interrupted with a faint, tight smile. “I spent six years auditing government fraud, Arthur. Do you really think I didn't verify the deed history before I walked into the academy?”
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