Chapter 9 - MARCUS’S LAST PHONE CALL
Naomi had imagined Marcus’s final minutes a thousand times.
Rain.
Headlights.
A curve in the road.
Metal.
Silence.
She had never imagined him frightened.
Ethan could barely look at her.
“Marcus said a black SUV had been behind him for twenty minutes.”
“What did you tell him?” Naomi asked.
“To drive to the police station.”
“Did he?”
“He said he would.”
Naomi’s voice cracked.
“He never got there.”
Ethan wiped his face.
“I called Victor.”
Damon’s eyes sharpened.
“Why?”
“Because Marcus said the SUV belonged to Ashford corporate security.”
The interview room went still.
Damon felt sick.
“Which vehicle?”
Ethan gave them the fleet number.
Theo checked archived records.
The SUV had officially been out of service that night.
But its GPS history told another story.
It followed Marcus’s route.
Then its tracking signal disappeared twelve minutes before the crash.
Returned forty minutes later.
Naomi stood so abruptly her chair scraped the floor.
“Who was driving?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?”
He looked toward the investigators.
“I know who ordered it.”
Victor.
The name landed without surprise.
Still, hearing it spoken aloud felt different.
Ethan admitted Victor had instructed security contractor Paul Gaines to “scare Marcus into backing off.”
“What does that mean?”
“I swear Victor said scare him.”
Naomi stared at him.
“My husband died.”
“I know.”
“You hugged me at his funeral.”
Ethan broke.
“I know.”
Damon’s voice became ice.
“What about Elena?”
Ethan looked down.
“Different.”
“How?”
“She wasn’t supposed to die.”
Damon moved forward.
One investigator raised a hand.
Ethan continued quickly.
“Victor was altering the contents of her medication bottles.”
Naomi closed her eyes.
“Why?”
“To make her look confused. Weak. Unreliable.”
Damon felt physically ill.
“He wanted me to think my wife was unstable?”
“He wanted Charles to think it too. Elena was getting too close to the foundation accounts.”
“Did Victor cause the cardiac event?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I don’t know!”
Ethan’s panic looked genuine.
“But something happened that night.”
Damon froze.
“What?”
“Victor called me from your estate.”
The room disappeared around him.
“What did he say?”
Ethan swallowed.
“He said Elena had collapsed.”
Damon remembered arriving home.
Paramedics.
Margaret crying.
Victor appearing at the hospital later.
“What time did he call you?”
Ethan gave the time.
Theo checked.
11:36 p.m.
Damon stared at the number.
The emergency call from the estate had not been placed until 11:49.
Thirteen minutes later.
“Why,” Damon asked slowly, “did Victor wait thirteen minutes?”
Ethan looked at Naomi.
Then at Damon.
“Because Elena was conscious when he found her.”
Damon’s throat closed.
May you like
Ethan whispered:
“And she told him she had already sent the evidence to you.”
