Layla was quiet for exactly seconds. "Give me an hour," she said.
It took less. When Layla called back, her voice had a different quality: tight and focused, the way voices get when something important has just been confirmed.
"Consulting fees," Layla said. "Caldwell has been receiving regular payments from a private security firm called Meridian Group. Meridian has been actively lobbying the city to take over Clover Ridge's K9 training program."
Jade's hand tightened on the pen.
"Your contract," Layla said. "If the military dog classifications change, the city's existing K9 contract resets. Meridian steps in. Caldwell gets paid."
"How much is the contract worth?" Jade asked.
The answer came back flat and clear: "Millions over several years."
The kitchen was absolutely still. Jade set her pen down. Harlan was the instrument; she had known that, she had felt it from the beginning. A man that arrogant, that reckless, doing something that organized did not add up unless someone was steering him. Caldwell was the architect. This was never about a parking lot; it was never about two dogs; it was never about a Black woman who refused to back down. It was about money. It was always about money.
Carla Mendoza called the state attorney general's office soon after. Jade did not hear that conversation; she was not supposed to. That was Carla's lane, and Carla knew how to drive it.
What Jade heard was the call back later that morning, Carla's voice carrying the particular flatness of someone delivering facts that had already set things in motion: "Formal inquiry is open," Carla said. "The AG's office issued a preservation order on Caldwell's financial records an hour ago. Everything gets frozen: no deletions, no transfers, no paper going anywhere."
Jade wrote it on her legal pad.
"It also means," Carla continued, "that Caldwell knows. His attorney will know within the hour. Whatever moves he was planning to make, he is about to get a lot more careful."
"Good," Jade said. "Let him be careful. Careful people make mistakes trying to cover things."