Chapter 35 Betting It All On A Stranger
Harper Pov,
$5,000.
That was almost everything I had left in my savings account.
“What if you don't find anything?"
"Then you're out five grand and I've wasted three weeks of my life.” Mike said dryly.
“But Ms. Sinclair, I don't take cases I’m not sure I can win. And this case? Richard's been sloppy. He's left a trail. I just need time to follow it."
I looked at Maya. She gave me a slight nod.
"How long would it take?"
"Three weeks minimum. Possibly longer depending on what I find and how cooperative people are." Marcus paused.
"I know your trial is in less than two months. If I'm going to find something useful, I need to start now."
Three weeks.
That would give him until right before Crew came home.
"Okay," I said. "Let's do it."
"I'll need a contract signed and payment up front."
"Sure, I'll transfer the money today."
"Good. I'll start immediately." He paused again.
"Ms. Sinclair, I can't promise I'll find a smoking gun. But I can promise I'll find something. Richard's been coordinating this campaign for months. Nobody's that careful for that long. He made mistakes, and I'm going to find them."
He hung up.
I sat there staring at my phone, my heart pounding.
Five thousand dollars.
That was everything I had left. My entire safety net. If Marcus didn't find anything, I'd be completely broke with a trial in seven weeks and no way to pay for anything.
But if he did find something—if he found proof that Richard had been coordinating with prosecutors and the Titans and Brianna's lawyers—then it would all be worth it.
"You're really doing this," Maya said.
"Yes I am."
"That's all your money, Harper. If he comes up empty, you're bankrupt."
"I know."
"And you're okay with that?"
I thought about Crew in that treatment facility, clean for two weeks, trusting me to handle things while he focused on recovery. I thought about Richard Moss sitting in his office right now, probably laughing about how he was going to destroy me. And I thought about David Morrison and Jennifer Walsh and everyone else who'd tried to make me disappear quietly.
"Yeah," I said. "I'm okay with it."
Because this wasn't just about me anymore. This was about proving that people like Richard couldn't get away with weaponizing the system against people who threatened their clients' brands.
This was about making sure that when Crew walked out of that facility in two days, he had something to come home to.
Even if it meant risking everything I had left.
Maya pulled up Marcus's contract on her laptop. "Let's read through this before you sign anything. Make sure he's not screwing you over."
We spent the next hour going through every clause, every condition, every disclaimer.
Marcus's terms were straightforward: five grand up front, non-refundable. Three weeks minimum investigation. Full report delivered regardless of findings. No guarantees of results.
I signed it anyway.
Then I transferred $5,000 from my savings account to his business account and watched my balance drop to $743.
That was it.
All I had left.
$700 and the hope that Marcus Chen was as good as he claimed to be.
My phone buzzed with a confirmation that the payment had gone through.
Two seconds later, Marcus called.
"Payment received. I'm officially on your case." I could hear him typing in the background.
"I'm starting with financial records. Richard's made payments to Emma Rodriguez that are documented. I want to see if there are similar payments to other people. Journalists, witnesses, anyone who might have been incentivized to cooperate with his campaign."
"How do you access financial records?"
"I have sources. Don't ask questions you don't want answered." More typing.
"I'm also going to look into Jennifer Walsh's connection to Richard's wife. Law school classmates is one thing, but I want to know if there's ongoing contact. If they're friends, if they socialize, if there's any financial relationship. Anything that would constitute a conflict of interest."
"What about the Titans?"
"That's trickier because team communications are usually privileged. But I can look at phone records, see if there's a pattern of contact between Richard and Morrison that predates your relationship with Crew. If I can prove they were coordinating before you ever became a problem, that undermines the Titans' claim that they were just concerned about Crew's welfare."
"How long before you have preliminary findings?"
"Give me a week. I'll have something by then, even if it's just a clearer picture of the network Richard's been operating within." Marcus paused.
"Ms. Sinclair, I need you to understand something. What I'm doing isn't entirely legal. I'm going to be accessing information that people don't want accessed. If Richard finds out I'm investigating him, he's going to come after me too. So we need to keep this completely confidential. Don't tell anyone except people you absolutely trust."
"Just Maya and my lawyer."
"Good. Keep it that way." He hung up.
I turned to Maya. "He said what he's doing isn't entirely legal."
"Of course it's not. You don't expose corruption by playing by the rules." She closed her laptop.
"Harper, you just bet everything on a PI you barely know to find evidence that might not exist. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, I do."
"And you're still okay with it?"
"Of course," I said. "I'm still okay with it."
Because at least I was fighting.
At least I wasn't just letting them win.
…..
LOW BALANCE ALERT: Your checking account balance is below $1,000.
My phone vibrated with a notification from my bank as I stared at the screen.
"You okay?" Maya asked.
"Yeah, I'm just—" My phone buzzed again. Different notification this time.
PAYMENT DECLINED: Your car insurance payment of $347 could not be processed.
Shit.
I'd forgotten about the automatic payment.
My insurance was due today and I didn't have enough to cover it anymore.
"Harper?" Maya was looking at me with concern now.
"My car insurance just bounced." I pulled up my bank app to confirm. "I don't have enough money to pay it."
"How much do you need?"
"$347. But that's not the point. The point is I just spent my last $5,000 on a PI who might not find anything and now I can't even afford to keep my car insured."
Maya grabbed her laptop. "I'll transfer you money for the insurance."
"No. You've already let me live here rent-free for weeks. I'm not taking more money from you."
"Harper, don't be stupid. It's $300."
"Today it's three hundred. Tomorrow it's something else. And then something else after that." I set my phone down before I threw it.
"I'm broke, Maya. Actually broke. And my trial is in seven weeks and I have no income and no way to pay for anything."
"Then we figure it out. You can pick up freelance PT work, cash jobs, something—"
"Who's going to hire me? I'm all over the news as a violent criminal who attacks pregnant women. Every clinic in Seattle knows who I am." I laughed bitterly.
"I can't even get a job at Starbucks right now."
Maya was quiet for a moment.
Then she opened her wallet and pulled out her credit card.
"Maya?! What are you doing?"
"Paying your car insurance." She typed the information into my bank app before I could stop her.
"Maya—"
"Shut up and let me help you." She hit submit and the payment processed.
"There. Done. Your car is insured for another month."
"I can't pay you back."
"I don't want you to pay me back. I want you to stop drowning for five seconds and accept help from someone who actually cares about you." She put her credit card away.
"Harper, you just bet everything on exposing a conspiracy that could send you to prison if it doesn't work out. The least I can do is make sure your car stays legal while you're doing it."
My throat got tight. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now let's talk about your actual financial situation because we need a plan."
She pulled up a spreadsheet and we spent the next hour going through my expenses.
Rent: zero because I was staying with her.
Food: minimal because she'd been buying groceries.
Phone bill: $120 due in two weeks.
Health insurance: lapsed because I'd lost my job.
Credit card minimum payment: $65 due in ten days.
"You've got maybe two months before you're completely tapped out," Maya calculated. "Less if any unexpected expenses come up."
"My trial is in seven weeks."
"Right. So you need to survive seven weeks on $700." She drummed her fingers on the table.
"That's a hundred dollars a week. It's doable if you're really careful."
"What about after the trial?"
"After the trial, you're either acquitted and can start rebuilding, or you're in prison and money doesn't matter anymore." She said it matter-of-factly, like she was discussing the weather.
"So… let's focus on surviving until then."
"That's a depressing way to look at it."
"That's a realistic way to look at it." Maya closed her spreadsheet.
"You made a choice today, Harper. You chose to bet everything on proving you're right instead of saving it for living expenses. I'm not judging you for that. But you need to own the consequences."
She was right.
I'd made a choice.
And now… I had to live with it.