Chapter 38 The Betrayer Returns
Harper's Pov,
Emma wanted to meet at a Starbucks in Belltown, which felt almost insulting considering the last time we'd met at a coffee shop she'd been secretly recording me for money.
I got there fifteen minutes early and sat in the back corner where I could see the entrance. My heart was racing and I kept checking my phone to make sure Maya knew where I was.
Emma walked in at exactly 2 PM looking like she hadn't slept in days. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and she wasn't wearing makeup, which was unusual for someone who used to spend an hour getting ready just to go to the gym.
She saw me and walked over, clutching a messenger bag against her chest like it might save her life.
"Thank you for coming," she said, sitting down across from me without ordering anything.
"You said you have information about Robert Cross."
"I do. But first I need to know something." Emma leaned forward and her hands were shaking. "Are you working with a private investigator?"
I hesitated.
Marcus had told me to keep the investigation confidential. But Emma clearly already knew something.
"Why are you asking?"
"Because Robert Cross called me yesterday. He wanted to know if I'd been contacted by anyone asking questions about his family or his connection to your case." Emma's voice dropped to almost a whisper.
"He threatened me, Harper. He said if I talked to anyone about what I know, he'd make sure I never worked in PR again. He'd destroy my reputation, blacklist me from every agency in Seattle, ruin my career completely."
"What do you know that has him so scared?"
Emma glanced around the coffee shop like she was checking for surveillance. Then she pulled a small digital recorder out of her bag and set it on the table between us.
"I have recordings," she said quietly.
"Conversations between Richard Moss and me where he explicitly talks about coordinating your prosecution. He mentions Robert Cross by name. He talks about Jennifer Walsh at the DA's office and how she's handling your case exactly the way they wanted. He basically confesses to the entire conspiracy."
My heart stopped. "You recorded Richard?"
"I started recording our calls after you showed me those threatening texts. I realized I'd gotten myself into something way bigger and more dangerous than I thought, and I wanted insurance in case Richard turned on me." She pushed the recorder toward me.
"There are seventeen calls total. The most damaging one is from three weeks ago when Richard was celebrating how well the plan was working."
"What did he say?"
Emma hit play.
Richard's voice came through tinny but clear: "Emma, you did excellent work getting that contract. Robert was thrilled when he saw it. He said it proved Harper was exactly the kind of manipulative person his daughter claimed she was. Made the DA's job much easier."
Emma's voice, nervous: "I still feel bad about betraying her trust."
Richard: "Don't. She's collateral damage. Joel's reputation is what matters here. And thanks to you and Robert's very generous donation to Patricia Hammond's campaign, Harper's going to prison where she belongs. Problem solved."
Emma stopped the recording.
I sat there staring at the device, my brain trying to process what I'd just heard.
Richard had said it. Out loud.
Robert Cross was involved. The DA's donation was connected.
And they were trying to send me to prison as part of their plan.
"That's a confession," I said.
"That's seventeen confessions spread across multiple recordings." Emma pulled the recorder back.
"Harper, this proves everything. It proves Richard coordinated with Robert Cross. It proves the criminal charges were retaliation. In fact, the whole thing was planned from the beginning."
"Why are you giving this to me now?"
"Because Robert Cross just threatened me and I realized I'm not safe anymore. I thought I was just helping Richard manage a PR problem. I didn't know I was part of a criminal conspiracy." Emma's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm terrified, Harper. If Richard finds out I recorded him, he'll destroy me. If Robert Cross finds out, he'll destroy me worse. I need protection."
"What kind of protection?"
"Legal protection. Immunity from prosecution. A guarantee that when this all comes out, I'm not going to prison along with Richard and Robert Cross." She wiped her eyes.
"I want to testify against them. I want to give you these recordings and tell a jury everything I know. But I need promises first."
"You need to talk to my lawyer."
"I already did. I called Monica Chen this morning and explained what I have. She said the recordings are potentially inadmissible because Washington is a two-party consent state for recording conversations. I needed Richard's permission to record him and I didn't get it." Emma's voice got desperate.
"But she also said there might be exceptions. That if the recordings prove a crime was being planned, they could be allowed as evidence. But it's complicated and she needs to review them first."
"So you want immunity and you want Monica to figure out how to make the recordings legal."
"I want to not go to prison for helping Richard destroy you. That's what I want." Emma leaned forward.
"Harper, I know I don't deserve your help. I know I betrayed you and lied to you and took money to spy on you. But I'm trying to make it right now. These recordings will win your case. They'll prove everything. But I need you to convince Monica to help me."
When she said that, my mind flashed back to a scene, months ago, when Emma was sitting across from me at that first coffee meetup, smiling and asking about my life while secretly working for Richard. I thought about how she'd extracted the fake dating contract from me and sold it to gossip sites for money.
I thought about how she'd called the DA's office and claimed I'd pressured her to recant testimony, giving the prosecution ammunition to argue I was obstructing justice.
And now she wanted me to help her get immunity.
"Why should I believe you're telling the truth now?" I asked. "You've lied to me about everything since the moment you contacted me. How do I know this isn't another setup?"
"Because Richard threatened to kill me."
The words hung in the air between us.
"What?"
"Two days ago, I told Richard I was having second thoughts about testifying if the case went to trial. I said I didn't want to commit perjury by claiming you'd manipulated Crew when I knew the relationship was real." Emma's voice shook.
"He showed up at my apartment that night. He told me that if I didn't testify exactly the way he wanted, he'd make sure I had an accident. He didn't explicitly say he'd kill me, but the implication was clear."
"Did you report it to the police?"
"And tell them what? That a powerful sports agent with connections all over Seattle made a vague threat that I can't prove? They'd laugh me out of the station." Emma pulled out her phone and showed me a text.
"But he's been escalating. Look at this."
The text was from an unknown number:
"Remember what we discussed. Accidents happen to people who don't keep their promises."
"That's not Richard's number."
"Of course it's not. He's too smart to threaten me from his own phone. But I know it's him." Emma put her phone away.
"Harper, I'm genuinely scared for my life right now. Richard and Robert Cross have too much money and too much power and I'm a liability they can't afford. The only way I survive this is if I go public with everything before they can silence me."
I studied her face, trying to determine if she was telling the truth or if this was another manipulation.
And she looked terrified. Like genuinely, deeply terrified in a way that was hard to fake.
"If I convince Monica to help you get immunity, what exactly are you willing to testify to?"
"Everything. How Richard hired me to spy on you. How much he paid me and how the payments were structured to avoid reporting. How he coached me on what information to extract. How he told me the goal was to make you look unstable so the criminal charges would stick." Emma took a shaky breath.
"And I'll testify about his relationship with Robert Cross. How they coordinated to pressure the DA's office. And about Jennifer Walsh and her connection to Richard's wife. All of it."
"You have proof of all that?"
"Some of it's on the recordings. The rest I can testify to from personal knowledge. I was in the room for some of Richard's calls with Robert Cross's lawyers. I heard things I wasn't supposed to hear." She leaned forward.
"Harper, I can give the prosecution's case apart. But only if I'm protected."
"Monica will want to hear the recordings first."
"I'll give them to her today. But she needs to understand that if these recordings get leaked before trial, Richard will know I'm the source. And then I'm dead."
"You really think he'd kill you?"
"I think men with as much to lose as Richard Moss are capable of anything." Emma stood up.
"I'm going to Monica's office now. Are you coming with me?"
"Yeah," I said softly. "I'm coming with you."