Page 204 of Diego

My stomach tightens with something that has nothing to do with the pregnancy.

What if the evacuation was not about the building being unsafe?

I force myself to slow down.

There is no evidence of that.

Suspicious ownership does not make an engineering report false. Complicated corporate structures do not mean someone manufactured a structural problem just to clear tenants out of a building.

That would require far more than a few strange LLCs.

Still, I open the inspection information again.

The public documentation is frustratingly thin. There is enough to support the closure but not enough detail to tell me exactly what was found or how extensive the issue actually was. I make another note beside the property and add three question marks.

Then I go back to the ownership network.

If I am wrong, I have wasted an afternoon following connections that mean nothing.

If I am right about even part of it, then these properties were never as separate as Meridian’s files made them appear.

I begin mapping the names more carefully, adding dates and entities to the document. The work settles me because facts are easier than theories. I do not need to decide what any of it means yet. I only need to see what is there.

A knock sounds from the front of the house.

I look up, disoriented.

For one second, I have no idea what time it is.

Then I glance at the clock on my laptop and realize I have been working far longer than I thought.

The knock comes again.

I close the ownership records but leave the document open, then set the laptop aside and push myself carefully to my feet. I have barely made it around the sofa when Emilia appears from the kitchen.

“I’ll get it,” she says.

I stop.

Right.

I am still under restriction.

“Fine.”

Emilia gives me a look that suggests she knows exactly how much that concession costs me and continues toward the front door.

A moment later, I hear familiar voices.

Victoria comes in first with Leonardo balanced against one hip and a large bag hanging from her shoulder. Julia follows behind her carrying Cecilia, her red hair pulled back loosely and her expression more animated than usual.

That gets my attention immediately.

“What happened?”

Julia sets Cecilia down and looks at me with a smile she is clearly trying not to make too wide.

“Donna went into labor.”