“Her medical information isn't mine to share.”
Hammer nodded.
“Of course.”
Then he looked toward the table.
“I hope she does.”
Naomi studied him.
For a moment, her expression softened.
“Then keep cooperating. And let the family decide whether they want anything to do with you.”
Hammer nodded.
“I will.”
Rook learned about the additional evidence before investigators contacted him again.
His attorney notified him that the inquiry had expanded and that the police were seeking further records.
Rook sat alone in his home office, staring at the framed photograph hanging above his desk.
It showed him and Hammer in 1999, standing beside two motorcycles during a charity ride.
Both men were young.
Hammer had thick black hair.
Rook's beard was still dark.
And their leather vests looked almost new.
He remembered that day.
They rode nearly three hundred miles to raise money for a children's shelter.
At the finish line, Hammer gave his last forty dollars to a woman whose car had broken down on the way to the event.
Rook laughed at him afterward.
“You'll never get rich like that.”
Hammer shrugged.
“Wasn't planning to.”
For years, Rook admired that answer.
Then something changed.
The club became larger.
The charity events attracted wealthier sponsors.
Money began moving through accounts Rook controlled.
And he discovered how easy it was to justify a small expense when nobody asked for the receipt.
At first, he told himself the transfers were temporary.
He had borrowed money to cover problems in his contracting business.
A supplier demanded payment.
A project failed.
Then another.
He shifted money between accounts, intending to replace it after the next big contract.
But the debt grew.
And the amounts became harder to explain.
Eventually, he began creating paperwork that made ordinary expenses appear connected to the charitable project.
He told himself the hospital would still get its garden.
He told himself the club needed him.
And he told himself borrowing money from a project that wouldn't be completed for another year wasn't the same thing as stealing from children.
Then Emma Bennett began checking the invoices.
She asked for proof.
She followed the paper trail.
And she refused to accept Rook's assurances.
He grew frightened.
Fear became anger.
And anger became a belief that Emma was threatening everything he'd built.
On the night he confronted her, he intended to take the copies she carried and frighten her into dropping the questions.