Chapter 9 - The Deal Marcus Offered
Daniel did not speak for almost ten minutes.
He sat in the library office staring at Celeste's signature as though concentration alone could change the letters.
I understood the feeling.
Evidence had already rewritten one dead parent for me that morning. Now it was rewriting his living sister.
"Maybe the document isn't what it looks like," I said.
He gave me a tired glance.
"You don't believe that."
"No. But you deserve the same caution you gave me about my father. Evidence first. Conclusions second."
He nodded.
"She signed four years ago."
"What happened four years ago?"
"Our father died. The board nearly split the company. Celeste wanted us to sell maritime and focus on technology. I refused."
"Could this have been a governance plan, not a murder plan?"
"Possibly."
"Then ask her."
Daniel laughed without humor.
"My family is not particularly gifted at asking direct questions."
"Maybe start a new tradition."
Before he could answer, my phone vibrated.
I had turned it off the previous night. I did not remember turning it back on.
A message filled the screen.
I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER.
Then another.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH.
A location pin followed.
Old North Pier parking garage.
Daniel saw my face.
"What?"
I showed him.
"No."
"We don't know who sent it."
"Exactly."
"It could be Marcus."
"Almost certainly Marcus."
"Then he wants something."
Daniel stood too quickly and winced.
"You are not going."
I stared at him.
He stopped.
"Bad wording," he said.
"Very."
He took a breath.
"I don't want you to go."
"Better."
"Because Marcus already framed you for kidnapping, threatened your father, and sent armed men into your workplace."
"Also better."
"Are you grading me?"
"Yes."
Despite everything, his mouth twitched.
Then I looked at the message again.
"He thinks I don't know about the locker."
Daniel understood immediately.
"You want to make him talk."
"If he believes I'm desperate for answers, maybe he tells me what he thinks he controls."
"Too dangerous."
"Probably."
"Anna."
"We don't do it stupidly. We involve federal investigators."
"I don't know which federal contacts I can trust."
Mei cleared her throat from the doorway.
"I might know someone."
Her brother worked for the U.S. Attorney's Office in public corruption. Within an hour, we were sitting in a conference room with Assistant U.S. Attorney Elena Park and two federal agents who had no ties to Boston Police.
I expected Daniel's name to change the temperature of the room.
It did not.
Elena Park looked at him and said, "If your evidence is real, we'll verify it. If you interfere with the investigation because you think being CEO makes you special, I will personally remove you from the room."
I liked her immediately.
Daniel nodded. "Understood."
We gave them copies of the files.
Park listened to my father's recording twice.
"This is serious," she said. "But we are not sending you into a garage alone to provoke a confession."
"What if he contacts me again?"
"You respond under supervision."
Marcus did.
At 5:20 that evening, he called.
His voice was warm.
"Anna. I'm glad you're safe."
I nearly laughed.
"Are you?"
"You've gotten involved in something much larger than you understand. Daniel uses people. He always has."
Across the room, Daniel heard every word through the recording system.
His face did not move.
"What happened to my father?" I asked.
Marcus sighed.
"Thomas was a decent man who became obsessed with irregularities he misunderstood."
"He recorded you threatening him."
Silence.
Just one second.
But it was the first crack.
"You found the locker."
I looked at Park.
She nodded for me to continue.
"I found enough."
Marcus's tone changed.
"Then you know Daniel's family buried the problem. His father protected the company. Your father paid the price."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Did you kill him?" I asked.
"No."
The answer came quickly.
Too quickly.
"But you know who did."
Another silence.
"Meet me, Anna. I can give you the full report. In exchange, you tell me where Daniel's children are."
My blood went cold.
Across the table, Daniel's hand curled into a fist.
"Why do you need the twins?"
"I don't want to hurt them. I want stability. Daniel's voting trust transfers temporary control to the twins' legal guardian if he's incapacitated. His appointed guardian is Celeste."
Daniel's eyes opened.
Everything changed again.
Marcus continued.
"Bring me their location, and I give you proof that Daniel's father covered up Thomas Bennett's death."
I kept my voice steady.
"And if I refuse?"
Marcus answered softly.
"Then by tomorrow morning, the whole world will believe you killed Daniel and stole his children."
The call ended.
No one spoke.
Finally, Elena Park looked at Daniel.
"Your sister is the guardian?"
"If my wife and I died, yes. We never changed the trust after my wife passed."
I looked at him.
"Your wife?"
The pain in his face was immediate.
"Elise died after the twins were born."
I had known he was a father in danger. I had not known he was also a widower carrying a grief large enough to hide behind an empire.
Park closed the evidence folder.
"Then Marcus doesn't just want Daniel removed. He needs Celeste controlled."
Daniel stared at his sister's signature on the contingency plan.
"Or she was never being controlled at all."
The thought sat between us like a loaded object. Daniel wanted to call Celeste immediately. Park stopped him.
"Not until we understand what Marcus believes she knows," she said. "If she is involved, warning her hurts us. If she isn't, contacting her carelessly may put her in danger."
Daniel hated the logic because it required patience. I could see it in the way he paced the room.
I thought about Celeste's face on the boardroom screen when Daniel appeared alive. Surprise could be performed. Relief was harder. Hers had looked real to me, but I had learned enough in twenty-four hours to distrust instinct when evidence was available.
"We verify," I said.
Daniel stopped pacing. "You're enjoying using my own rules against me."
May you like
"A little."
For the first time since hearing Marcus's demand, he smiled. It lasted only a second, but it reminded me there was still a person underneath the crisis.
