Roman's Temporary Arrest

Nico moves on Roman before dawn the next day, not for the lake or Harbor House because those charges need sturdier pillars, but for witness intimidation, unlawful surveillance, and probable evidence tampering tied to the brick through Callum's window. It is almost funny how small the doorway looks when Roman is walked through it in front of cameras.

I watch the arrest feed from the hotel conference room with coffee gone cold in my hand and feel no triumph worth trusting. Roman keeps his expression bored as agents guide him into the cruiser. Only once does his gaze lift toward a camera, and the look he gives it says he expects to be out by dinner.

"He probably will be," Nico says behind me.

"Then why do this now?"

"Because sometimes you arrest a man for the door he left open, not the house he's hiding."

He hands me a copy of marina maintenance logs retrieved overnight. One entry from six years ago is highlighted in yellow. Harbor House speedboat pulled for cleaning at 4:40 a.m., request authorized by O. Hart. Repair note: port rail impact, blood trace removed.

"You got this without a fight?"

"I got it before people realized what month I was looking at."

I sit with the paper trembling in my hands. Port rail impact. Blood trace removed. The language is so clean it becomes filthy. Poppy's sketch. the dock. Roman's sleeve. Vivian's pale coat. The story has started choosing its own shape.

Mel calls in tears ten minutes later because half the field staff just quit and the other half want to know if they are defending a grieving husband or a criminal organization. I tell her to go home and lock the laptops. It is the closest thing to mercy I have available.

By early afternoon, every cable crawl in the state is running some version of the same sentence: HART SECURITY FIXER ARRESTED IN WIDENING MERCER LAKE INQUIRY. At 3:06 p.m., I get a single text from Owen.

He will not hold.

At 4:02 p.m., Roman makes bail.