Vince stepped out of the car, and Yates followed close behind. "Where are you headed?" Yates called out.


    Vince filled him in on everything that happened that day, exining that he needed to go over to Zimmerman Mansion. When Yates insisted oning along, Vince decided to leave his own car at home and ride with him instead.


    As they pulled out of the driveway, Yates nced over. "Timothy''s different now."


    "Different how?" Vince asked, his thoughts circling back to the day''s events. In his mind, it was simple-Timothy only realized what he had after he lost it. Now that Jessica mattered to him, of course he''d show up at the critical moment to save her.


    "Last time, he called me, practically begging me not to fight him over Jess. I told him Jess was set on the divorce and asked if he''d ever thought about why. He admitted he''d neglected her too much, but I said it was more than that he was too selfish, their values didn''t line up. He wanted to know why I was telling him this. I told him, ''I''m not like you. I won''t guilt-trip my friends into backing off. I''llpete fair and square for Jess.'' Maybe that finally got through to him. So even when he saw Jess with Herbert, he still went back in to save her."


    Vince was quiet for a long moment before finally replying, "Doesn''t matter if he''s changed or not. The damage is done there''s no erasing it. Even a passing bird leaves a mark in the sky."


    He couldn''t bring himself to feel too sympathetic.


    After all these years, it was hard to bepletely cold toward Timothy, but the old emotions were still there, impossible to shake off entirely.


    "His condition''s pretty serious. You think he''ll recover?" Yates sounded genuinely worried.


    "No idea."


    "I''ll try to visit himter."


    "You won''t be able to see him today-he''s in the ICU. Only one visit a day, and you have to arrange it in advance. If you want to go, you should check with Sallie first to find out the visiting hours."


    It made sense. There was nothing they could do if they couldn''t even see him, but it still left them both uneasy.


    Soon, they arrived at Zimmerman Mansion.


    Since Vince was part of the Zimmerman family, the staff at the management office weed him right away.


    To keep things simple, Vince


    exined that the person injured in the garden ident today was hisz brother-inw. He said he wanted to learn more about what happened and asked which contractor was responsible for the ident.


    The management office said they were investigating and pulled out a list of all the


    Several firms were listed as participants.


    Vince remembered Jessica


    mentioning it was a falling wooden beam that caused the injury. There were plenty of structures on the estate made from timber, so h? specifically asked whichpanies handled wooden construction.


    The supervisor replied, "We''ve already checked the materials records-it was Stonebridge Construction''s timber. The crew said they were hoisting beams onto the roof when one slipped and fell. We''re reaching out to Stonebridge''s project manager now. Rest assured, we''ll handle the incident properly."


    "Good. If you get any updates, let me know immediately."


    As he and Yates left the building, Vince got into the car and called his assistant. “I


    need you to run a background check on Stonebridge Construction."


    When he hung up, Yates looked over. "What''s got you so interested in thatpany?"


    "I don''t know. I''ve just got a bad feeling about this-maybe I''m being paranoid."


    Yates raised an eyebrow. "You think this might not have been an ident?"