Chapter 6 - THE FLASH DRIVE
No one moved.
Marcus remained in the doorway with one hand in his pocket.
Ethan could not see what he was holding.
Noah noticed too.
“Marcus.”
His voice was steady.
“Take your hand out of your pocket.”
Marcus smiled.
“It’s my phone.”
“Then show us.”
Marcus slowly withdrew his hand.
Phone.
Nothing else.
The security men moved closer.
Ethan held the flash drive.
Marcus looked at it.
“Whatever Evelyn told you, she’s protecting herself.”
Evelyn gave a bitter laugh.
“Of course that’s your first defense.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You stole money too.”
“I processed accounts you created.”
“You took your percentage.”
Vanessa stared at her mother.
Evelyn’s face hardened.
Marcus continued.
“So maybe before everyone decides I’m a monster, we should remember that Evelyn Hart made millions helping me.”
Ethan looked at Evelyn.
“Is that true?”
She did not answer.
Marcus smiled again.
“There it is.”
“Silence.”
“Evelyn’s favorite confession.”
Ethan moved toward him.
“What’s on the drive?”
Marcus looked at the object.
“Old files.”
“From Laura?”
“Maybe.”
“You gave it to Evelyn the night Laura died.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Ethan saw it.
“Who told you that?”
Evelyn answered.
“I did.”
Marcus stared at her.
For the first time, the calm disappeared.
“You stupid woman.”
Vanessa moved between them.
“Don’t speak to her like that.”
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
“You’re really doing this?”
Vanessa’s face was pale.
“Yes.”
“After everything your mother sacrificed to keep you comfortable?”
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“You mean everything she stole.”
Marcus laughed softly.
Ethan had heard enough.
He handed the drive to Noah.
“Copy everything.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“No.”
The security men moved instantly.
Marcus stopped.
Noah slipped the drive into his jacket.
Marcus looked at Ethan.
“You think this ends well for you?”
“I’m starting to think it ends badly for you.”
“Be careful.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“That sounded like a threat.”
“It’s advice.”
Noah spoke.
“Advice usually doesn’t require disabling hotel security cameras.”
Marcus looked at him.
Noah continued.
“We have the access records.”
Marcus’s face remained neutral.
“Then you know the wedding coordinator used her credentials.”
“Why?”
“I don’t manage hotel employees.”
Ethan said.
“But you were standing beside her.”
Marcus shrugged.
“A wedding has people standing beside each other.”
Rachel’s voice came from the hall.
“Not usually while they’re planting forged boarding school paperwork.”
Everyone turned.
Rachel had arrived with Alan from hotel security.
She held a laptop.
Ethan stared.
“What are you doing here?”
“Finishing what we started.”
Rachel entered.
Alan followed.
Rachel looked at Marcus.
“We found Rebecca.”
Marcus’s expression did not change.
But Vanessa’s did.
“Where?”
“Airport.”
“She was trying to catch a flight to Montreal.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why Montreal?”
Rachel looked at Marcus.
“Maybe because someone transferred fifty thousand dollars into her account yesterday.”
Marcus laughed.
“And naturally you think that someone was me.”
Alan opened the laptop.
“The transfer came from Marlow Consulting.”
Ethan recognized the name immediately.
One of the old shell vendors.
Marcus’s eyes hardened.
Noah whispered.
“That company still exists?”
Ethan looked at Marcus.
“Apparently.”
Marcus turned to Evelyn.
“You kept that active?”
Evelyn snapped.
“Don’t put this on me.”
For the first time, Marcus looked genuinely surprised.
That interested Ethan.
Perhaps the recent transfer had not come directly from Marcus.
Maybe someone else still controlled the old accounts.
Noah left the room to call federal financial investigators.
Ethan wanted professionals handling the drive.
Marcus remained because security blocked the doorway.
He could leave if Ethan ordered them aside.
Ethan did not.
Legally they could not detain him forever.
But Marcus did not seem eager to leave either.
He wanted the flash drive.
That was obvious.
Vanessa sat down.
She looked suddenly exhausted.
Ethan noticed her hands shaking.
“Why were you helping him?”
She looked up.
Marcus answered first.
“Because Vanessa wanted a life her design business couldn’t buy.”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“Shut up.”
“You wanted the houses.”
“The travel.”
“The Cole name.”
“I said shut up.”
Marcus smiled.
“Tell Ethan how we met.”
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
She closed her eyes.
“Two years ago, my business was failing.”
“My mother owed money.”
“Marcus offered contracts.”
“In exchange?”
Ethan asked.
Vanessa whispered.
“At first, introductions.”
“What introductions?”
“To you.”
Ethan already knew.
It still hurt.
Marcus leaned against the doorframe.
“Ethan was lonely.”
Vanessa looked at him with disgust.
“Don’t.”
Marcus ignored her.
“He had been alone for three years.”
“He dated occasionally.”
“Nothing serious.”
“Chloe rejected every woman.”
“I knew Ethan would never marry someone Chloe hated.”
“So we needed someone patient.”
“Stop saying we.”
Vanessa stood.
Marcus raised his eyebrows.
“You were perfectly happy with ‘we’ when the engagement ring arrived.”
Vanessa’s face flushed with shame.
Ethan felt no sympathy yet.
Marcus looked at him.
“Vanessa was supposed to become part of the family.”
“She would convince Chloe to attend Bellweather.”
“After marriage, she would encourage you to delegate more authority.”
“Nothing dramatic.”
Ethan’s voice was cold.
“You forged legal documents.”
“I prepared contingency documents.”
“You inserted them without my knowledge.”
Marcus shrugged.
“You signed.”
Noah returned.
“That defense will be fascinating to prosecutors.”
Marcus looked annoyed.
Noah continued.
“The drive is being collected by an investigator tonight.”
Marcus looked at Ethan.
“You have no idea what’s on it.”
“No.”
Ethan said.
“But you do.”
Silence.
That was the first time Marcus’s face betrayed him completely.
Fear.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Laura had proof.”
Marcus said nothing.
“You followed her.”
Nothing.
“You knew where she was going.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
Ethan’s voice became quieter.
“What did you do to her car?”
Vanessa stared between them.
Evelyn turned away.
Marcus finally spoke.
“Nothing.”
“Then why were you bleeding?”
“I cut my hand.”
“In the rain?”
“Yes.”
“Doing what?”
Marcus looked Ethan directly in the eyes.
“Trying to save your wife.”
The room froze.
Ethan felt the words hit him.
“What?”
Marcus continued.
“You want the truth?”
“Fine.”
“I followed Laura because I wanted the documents.”
“She knew.”
“She accelerated.”
“The roads were wet.”
“She lost control.”
Ethan’s hands tightened.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
The admission was almost worse than a denial.
“Did you hit her car?”
“No.”
“Did you force her off the road?”
“No.”
“She panicked.”
Ethan stared at him.
“And you never told me.”
Marcus’s voice hardened.
“Because I knew exactly how it would look.”
“How did it look when you went to Evelyn’s house afterward with a bleeding hand?”
Marcus smiled without humor.
“I climbed down the embankment.”
Ethan’s chest stopped moving.
“Why?”
“To reach the car.”
“Was Laura alive?”
Marcus looked away.
That single movement destroyed Ethan.
“Was she alive?”
Marcus did not answer.
Ethan took a step toward him.
Security moved slightly.
“Marcus.”
His voice shook now.
“Was my wife alive when you reached her?”
Marcus looked back.
“For maybe a minute.”
Ethan’s face went numb.
“What did she say?”
Marcus stayed silent.
Ethan grabbed the front of his jacket.
Security started forward.
Noah raised a hand.
“Ethan.”
Ethan did not release Marcus.
“What did she say?”
Marcus’s expression became strangely distant.
“She said Chloe’s name.”
Ethan stopped.
Then Marcus whispered.
“She told me I would never get what belonged to her daughter.”
Ethan’s grip tightened.
“And?”
Marcus looked at him.
“She was right.”
Ethan shoved him backward.
Security stepped between them.
Marcus straightened his jacket.
Noah ordered.
“Leave.”
Marcus looked at Ethan.
“You’re going to regret involving investigators.”
Ethan did not respond.
Marcus walked away.
As he reached the staircase, Rachel called after him.
“Marcus.”
He turned.
Rachel held up her phone.
“You should know Rebecca is talking.”
For the first time all night, Marcus lost color.
He left without answering.
Two hours later, Ethan sat at Rachel’s kitchen table.
Chloe was asleep upstairs.
Noah had gone with investigators.
Vanessa remained at Hart House.
Evelyn had agreed to cooperate.
Ethan felt empty.
Then his phone rang.
Noah.
Ethan answered immediately.
“What did they find?”
Noah’s voice was tense.
“We opened the drive.”
Ethan stood.
“And?”
“There are accounting records.”
“Emails.”
“Photos of transfers.”
“Enough to prove embezzlement.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“What about Laura?”
A pause.
“There’s a video file.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“What kind of video?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“It’s corrupted.”
“Can it be recovered?”
“They’re trying.”
Ethan gripped the table.
Then Noah said.
“There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“A text document.”
“Laura wrote it the day she died.”
Ethan’s throat tightened.
“What does it say?”
Noah hesitated.
“She wasn’t only investigating Marcus.”
Ethan stared into the dark kitchen.
“Who else?”
May you like
Noah spoke quietly.
“Your father.”
