Page 61 of Dead Air
"Witness Blackwell's abduction or possible murder?" Claire finished her question. "Appears so."
"Play it back." Lawson moved toward the laptop. "The last ten seconds before cutoff."
Fiona accessed her recording, rewinding to the final moments. They listened again to the crash, the scream, the approaching footsteps. The mysterious voice delivering a cryptic warning about mentors betraying students.
"'Tom said—'." Claire focused on Blackwell's interrupted question. "Thomas Hutchinson?"
"It doesn't make sense." Lawson shook her head. "We were on a call with him this morning. He called from his New York number. His assistant was there, too."
"Unless he hopped on a private flight. Big law money wouldn't be hard to do." Fiona suggested an alternative."Realized he needed to be here in person to stop whatever happened next."
"Technical difficulties." Claire's voice dripped with skepticism. "Euphemism for an apparent violent abduction during a live broadcast."
Lawson stared at the message while processing the implications. "She was about to name Monica's killer. Someone who directed Ray Hutchinson's actions. Someone with enough authority to ensure evidence disappeared afterward."
"And enough power to orchestrate Ray's murder when he became a liability." Fiona added the logical extension. "The same person who just silenced Blackwell before she could play the second recording."
Claire retrieved her phone. "Who’s your contact that can help? Did you say his name was Parks? This requires immediate police response regardless of departmental politics."
"No." Lawson's response came sharper than intended. "We don't know who to trust inside the department. The person who ordered Monica's death could be anyone with sufficient authority."
"Including Parks?" Fiona raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think so." Lawson considered the evidence Parks had shared. His questions about corruption. His careful documentation of evidence mishandling. "But certainty costs lives at this point."
Claire set her phone down without dialing. "What's our next move then?"
The Dead Air website remained unchanged. No further updates appeared despite five minutes passing since the broadcast interruption. Lawson stood and resumed pacing, her mind processing fragments from Blackwell's presentation.
"Blackwell said the second recording came from Ray's personal cloud storage." She thought aloud while moving. "A digital location accessible from anywhere."
"If we can identify his accounts." Fiona nodded slowly. "Digital forensics might?—"
"His brother would have access." Claire interrupted. "A family member could claim inheritance rights to digital assets."
"Meaning Thomas Hutchinson likely has the recording Blackwell was about to play." Lawson completed the thought. "The same recording his assistant warned him about during our call."
Fiona gathered her equipment with sudden urgency. "I need to get to the Chronicle. Pull everything we have on Thomas Hutchinson's movements today. Cross-reference with potential broadcast locations Blackwell might use."
"Too dangerous alone." Claire objected. "Whoever took Blackwell won't hesitate?—"
"A public newsroom offers safety in numbers." Fiona continued packing. "The Chronicle's security protocols exist for journalists' protection during sensitive investigations."
The argument continued while Lawson replayed the final moments of the broadcast in her mind. Something about the male voice triggered faint recognition. Not enough to identify with certainty, but a familiar cadence beneath the distortion.
"You shouldn't have trusted him. Some mentors betray their students."
The phrasing itself provided a potential clue. A mentor relationship. A betrayal dynamic. A connection to law enforcement or the legal profession where mentorship structures existed formally.
Her phone vibrated with an incoming message. Parks' number:Blackwell's broadcast location identified. River Street Parking Garage. Level 4. Meet me there in one hour.
"Parks just texted." Lawson interrupted Claire and Fiona's ongoing debate. "They've found where Blackwell was broadcasting from. He wants me to meet him at the River Street Parking Garage."
Claire's expression shifted to concern. "Could be a trap. We don't know who to trust right now."
"Maybe the real killer is trying to lure you out." Fiona moved to Lawson's side, reading the message over her shoulder. "After what we just heard happen to Blackwell?—"
"If that's the case, it is what it is." Lawson pocketed her phone with resolute determination. "I want to know the truth. Five years is long enough."
