I unclipped my site badge and placed it on his desk. Twenty-one years I had worked at the firm, and I had never been taken off a site for an allegation against my integrity. Ray looked older than he had that morning, and I could tell he did not enjoy the decision. He promised that the review would be prompt and that I would be given an opportunity to provide every relevant record.
"I don't want you to think this is a judgment," he said.
"I know what a suspension pending review is," I answered. "I taught half the people who fill out those forms."
In the parking lot, I sat behind the wheel without starting the engine. For the first time since Vanessa left, my ordinary working life had been taken from me as well. The trust still existed, the properties were still standing, and my own hands could still solve the problems they had always solved. Yet I could not go to Eastgate the next morning, and the absence of that simple routine frightened me more than I wanted to admit.
Constance called while I was still parked. She had reviewed public records concerning Lyall Kesler, a fair-skinned white American attorney known for difficult commercial negotiations. His office had represented Rhodes Capital on leases, lender disputes, and transactions for years. That relationship did not by itself prove a conflict that disqualified him from representing Vanessa, but it meant my wife's lawyer and her new partner shared a significant professional history that had not been disclosed to me.
"We have to be precise," Constance said. "Their interests might overlap, and there may be questions about what Vanessa has been advised. But we're not going to assume misconduct simply because the same attorney has multiple clients. We'll ask appropriate questions through the legal process and document what answers we receive."
"And the engineering complaint?"
"It came from a consulting firm that has performed work for Rhodes Capital. The signatory was a white American consultant who certified one of Julian's earlier projects. That's a connection worth examining, not proof that Julian ordered it. We need to stay disciplined."
I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the steering wheel for a moment. Somebody had put three threats on the table within forty-eight hours: a legal restriction, a damaging article, and a challenge to my professional reputation. Julian had told me that everything was for sale under enough pressure. Whether or not he had arranged each event, the pressure was certainly arriving on schedule.
Terrence called that evening. He admitted that he had shown Vanessa the trust records, and he said Julian had appeared to absorb the information with the focus of a man analyzing a bid package. Terrence had noticed a shift during dinner: Julian stopped offering romantic assurances and began asking whether Vanessa knew the trust's beneficiaries, whether it could pledge its property for loans, and which attorney represented it. Terrence had left early because he no longer wanted to be in the room.
"I tried to tell her he wasn't interested in her for the reasons she thinks," he said. "She told me I was jealous because I'd never built anything like Rhodes Point."
"You didn't cause this, Terrence."
"I gave her the map."
"You gave her the truth. What she did afterward was hers."
He was quiet, then said, "I don't think he's in love with my sister, Elijah. I think he sees something useful, and I don't know how to make her believe it."