Chapter 9 - Raymond Comes Back Alone
No one moved toward the door.
Raymond knocked again.
Three slow knocks.
Not angry.
Not impatient.
Almost defeated.
Detective Ortiz remained on the laptop screen in the dining room.
"Do not let him in until officers arrive."
Samuel relayed the instruction through the closed door.
Raymond leaned closer to the glass.
"Elena, I know you're in there."
I stood several feet away.
"Where is Julian?"
He closed his eyes.
"I don't know."
"You have his truck."
"He left it."
"Where?"
"At the old marina."
Claire wrote the location down and sent it to Detective Ortiz.
"Why were you with him?" I asked.
Raymond looked toward the street.
"Because he called me."
"After he stole Folder Three?"
His jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he was panicking."
I almost laughed.
"He should be."
Raymond's expression hardened for a second.
Then it collapsed.
"You think I don't know that?"
Police arrived six minutes later.
They searched Raymond for weapons and brought him inside only after Detective Ortiz approved it.
Raymond looked older than he had that morning.
His wet hair clung to his forehead.
The expensive wool coat he had worn to the funeral was streaked with mud.
He sat in Dad's living room beneath the family photograph taken at my parents' thirtieth anniversary.
In that picture, Dad had one arm around me and the other around Julian.
Raymond stood behind us smiling.
I wondered how many secrets could hide inside a single photograph.
Detective Ortiz joined the conversation by speakerphone.
"Mr. Mercer, where is Julian?"
Raymond rubbed his hands together.
"I told you."
"Tell me again."
"He called me from a grocery store parking lot."
"What did he say?"
"That Elena had ambushed him with bank people."
I stared at him.
Even now, Julian had framed himself as the victim.
"He asked me to pick him up."
Raymond continued.
"I did."
"Where did you take him?"
"The warehouse."
"Why?"
Raymond looked at the floor.
"Because he wanted to put something back."
Samuel leaned forward.
"Folder Three."
Raymond nodded.
"He said taking it had been a mistake."
"That realization came quickly," Claire said.
Raymond ignored her.
"He was talking too fast."
"He kept saying everyone was twisting things."
"He wanted to leave town for a few days."
"And you helped him?" Detective Ortiz asked.
Raymond looked ashamed.
"I drove him to the marina."
"Why the marina?"
"A friend of his keeps a boat there."
My stomach tightened.
"What friend?"
"Calvin Roarke."
Serena inhaled sharply.
The private lender.
The man Julian owed money.
Detective Ortiz's voice sharpened.
"Did Julian leave on the boat?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"The boat wasn't there."
Raymond rubbed his face.
"Julian got angry."
"He started accusing me of ruining everything."
"Then he walked away."
"Which direction?"
"Toward the service road."
"And you took his truck?"
"I didn't want it abandoned there."
The explanation sounded thin.
Detective Ortiz thought so too.
"Why didn't you call police?"
Raymond looked at me.
"Because I was still trying to protect him."
I felt something hot rise in my chest.
"From what?"
"Consequences?"
He flinched.
"He's my nephew."
"I'm your niece."
Raymond looked away.
I continued.
"Dad was your brother."
"I know."
"Do you?"
My voice shook.
"Because every time Julian does something unforgivable, you find another excuse."
Raymond stood suddenly.
An officer immediately stepped forward.
Raymond raised both hands.
"I'm not threatening anyone."
He looked at me.
"You want the truth?"
"Yes."
"I owed Julian too."
The room went silent.
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The warehouse was failing."
He swallowed.
"Taxes."
"Repairs."
"A lawsuit from a tenant."
"I borrowed money from your father."
"Ninety thousand."
"Then I lost most of it."
"How?"
Raymond looked humiliated.
"A development deal."
"Julian brought it to me."
Marcus, who had returned with Samuel, leaned forward.
"What development deal?"
"A group was buying properties near the river."
"Julian said if I invested early, I could double my money."
"Was there actually a group?"
Raymond shook his head.
"I don't know anymore."
He looked at me.
"When I realized the money was gone, I couldn't repay your dad."
"Julian said he could fix it if I helped him secure financing."
A terrible clarity began to form.
"So you witnessed the forged mortgage."
Raymond's face crumpled.
"I didn't know Serena's signature was forged."
Serena stood.
"You watched him sign my name."
"No."
"Then when did I supposedly sign it?"
Raymond could not answer.
Serena laughed bitterly.
"Exactly."
He looked toward her.
"Julian brought the documents already signed."
"And you didn't call me?"
"He said you knew."
"You believed him?"
Raymond stared at the floor.
"I needed to."
Those four words explained more than any confession could have.
He needed Julian's lies to be true because the alternative required him to admit he was participating in fraud.
I sat across from him.
"What does 'medical incapacity' mean?"
His head came up sharply.
"Where did you see that?"
"Folder Three."
Fear moved across his face.
"That wasn't supposed to be in there."
Samuel leaned forward.
"What wasn't supposed to be in there?"
Raymond realized he had trapped himself.
Again.
His eyes darted toward the officer.
"I want a lawyer."
Detective Ortiz immediately ended substantive questioning.
But I did not need another answer.
Raymond knew what the phrase meant.
And he was terrified of explaining it.
The officer escorted him to another room while arrangements were made for formal questioning.
Serena returned to the guest room.
Samuel and Claire began organizing the recordings for police.
I stayed in the living room alone.
Rain tapped against the windows.
Then Dad's landline rang.
No one had called that number in months.
I stared at it.
It rang again.
And again.
I picked up.
"Hello?"
Julian whispered on the other end.
"You need to stop digging."
My entire body went cold.
"Where are you?"
"That doesn't matter."
"The police are looking for you."
"I know."
His breathing sounded ragged.
"Elena, listen to me."
"No."
For the first time in my life, I cut him off.
"You listen to me."
"You stole from Dad."
"You forged documents."
"You hit me at his funeral."
"And now you're hiding."
Julian was silent.
Then he said something I did not expect.
"Raymond is lying to you."
I looked toward the doorway where my uncle had disappeared with police.
"About what?"
Julian's answer came in a whisper.
"About the night Dad collapsed."
May you like
Then the line went dead.
