CHAPTER 3: The Lawyer Beside the Hood

Julian's eyes moved to the key before he could stop them.
It was small, scratched, and old enough to look useless. Not the electronic fob on Adrienne's purse. Not a vault badge. Not a boardroom credential.
That made Julian nervous.
"A key proves nothing," he said.
"Neither did your memo calling me unstable," Noah answered.
The words settled on the asphalt between them. Adrienne's smile thinned.
Three years earlier, Noah had been removed from Marlow Freight after a warehouse argument that Adrienne later described as a breakdown. She sent flowers to his apartment the next week. She also sent security to collect his badge.
Noah had been angry then. Angry enough to make her story easy to sell.
Tonight he had come with no shouting, no whiskey on his breath, no broken sentence for Julian to turn into evidence.
He had come with a key, an envelope, and a dead man's instructions.
That frightened them more than rage ever had.