Chapter 4 - THE NIGHT ELENA DIED
Z
Marcus had spent most of his life believing his father was incapable of fear.
Charles Voss had built companies during recessions.
He had negotiated acquisitions while undergoing heart surgery.
He had once sat across from a senator threatening federal investigation and calmly finished his steak before answering.
But when Marcus entered the library that night, Charles looked afraid.
Margaret followed him inside.
Daniel stood near the door.
Charles poured himself a drink.
“What now?”
Marcus stared at him.
“Mom saw you near Elena's car the night she died.”
Charles stopped pouring.
Margaret's voice shook.
“I saw you.”
“You saw my car.”
“I saw you.”
Charles slowly put the bottle down.
“You followed Elena?”
Margaret nodded.
“Adrian told me she had evidence.”
“And you believed him?”
“I didn't know what to believe.”
Charles looked at Marcus.
“I didn't kill Elena.”
“Were you at the parking garage?”
“Yes.”
Marcus's hands curled into fists.
“Why?”
“To talk to her.”
“About what?”
“The pension accounts.”
“You mean the money you stole?”
Charles's face hardened.
“I didn't steal anything.”
Daniel spoke.
“Your signature authorized transfers.”
“I authorized transactions Adrian told me were necessary to protect overseas assets.”
“You expect us to believe you didn't know where twelve million dollars went?”
Charles looked at him.
“I expect you to understand that Voss International processes billions every month.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“The famous Charles Voss defense. Too powerful to notice his own crimes.”
Charles ignored him.
“Elena contacted me that afternoon. She said she had proof Adrian was involved in your disappearance.”
“So you met her.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She showed me copies of transfers, messages, photographs. I told her I would investigate.”
Margaret stared at him.
“You never told me that.”
“Because I was ashamed.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Then what?”
“I left.”
“And Elena?”
“She left ten minutes later.”
“Her brakes failed twenty-three minutes after that.”
Charles looked at him.
“I know.”
“Did you touch her car?”
“No.”
“Did you see anyone else?”
Charles hesitated.
Marcus noticed.
“Who?”
“I didn't see his face.”
“But?”
“A maintenance worker was near the garage entrance.”
Daniel opened the photograph of Gavin Rourke.
“This man?”
Charles stared.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
Margaret sat down heavily.
Marcus looked toward Daniel.
The evidence was converging.
Gavin Rourke had been near Elena's car.
But who paid him?
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his expression changed.
“They found Rourke.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Where?”
“Vermont.”
“Alive?”
Daniel paused.
“Yes.”
Two hours later, federal agents were interviewing Gavin Rourke.
Marcus was not permitted inside.
He waited in an adjoining office with Daniel while Lily slept safely at a protected location with Mrs. Harper.
Near midnight, an agent entered.
“He's cooperating.”
Marcus stood.
“Who hired him?”
The agent looked toward Daniel.
Then back at Marcus.
“Adrian Voss.”
Marcus expected satisfaction.
Instead he felt empty.
“And Elena?”
“Rourke says he was paid fifty thousand dollars to damage her brake line.”
Margaret began crying.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Not an accident.
Not bad weather.
Not speeding.
Murder.
“Did Adrian order him to kill her?”
“According to Rourke, the instruction was to make sure she didn't reach her meeting the following morning.”
Daniel asked, “What meeting?”
The agent checked his notes.
“A federal investigator.”
Marcus looked away.
Elena had been hours from exposing them.
And Adrian had killed her.
But something still bothered him.
“If Adrian already knew about Teddy, why didn't he take it?”
“He probably didn't know,” Daniel said.
Marcus remembered Lily's words.
Mommy put it there before she went away.
Elena must have hidden the memory card immediately before leaving.
Maybe she suspected she was being watched.
Maybe she only had minutes.
The next morning, prosecutors formally charged Adrian with multiple federal offenses related to Marcus's kidnapping and financial fraud.
The homicide investigation remained at the state level.
Vanessa retained an attorney.
Charles resigned temporarily as chairman of Voss International.
And Margaret left the mansion.
But Marcus cared about one question.
His daughter.
For two years Lily had lived inside a household controlled by people who benefited from his disappearance.
What had happened to her?
A child psychologist interviewed her gently.
Marcus watched through one-way glass.
Lily described Vanessa punishing her whenever she asked questions about her father.
She described being told Marcus had abandoned her.
Then later being told he had died because “bad men didn't want him.”
She described Adrian searching Elena's belongings.
And she described something Marcus hadn't known.
A locked basement office.
“Uncle Adrian went there with Mommy's boxes,” Lily said.
“Do you know what was inside the boxes?”
“No.”
“What did they look like?”
“Brown.”
“Did you ever see what he did with them?”
Lily nodded.
“One time.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What did he do?”
“He burned things.”
Daniel turned toward Marcus.
Evidence destruction.
The basement was searched that afternoon.
Investigators found ash inside an industrial fireplace.
Most paper had been destroyed.
But metal survived.
Computer drive casings.
Binder clips.
A damaged USB device.
And one partially burned photograph.
Marcus examined it after investigators cataloged everything.
The photograph showed Adrian with Vanessa.
They were standing beside a man Marcus recognized.
Viktor Salek.
The intermediary who had arranged the attack in Switzerland.
The timestamp was six months after Marcus disappeared.
Vanessa had claimed she met Adrian's associates only once.
The photograph proved otherwise.
Marcus confronted her that evening.
She was staying in the west guest wing under attorney supervision while the custody court determined whether she could maintain contact with Lily.
Marcus held the photograph in front of her.
“How many times?”
Vanessa stared at it.
“How many times did you meet Salek?”
“Three.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian said Salek knew where you were.”
“And you believed him?”
“Yes.”
“So why didn't you tell police?”
“He said they would kill you.”
Marcus stared.
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“At first I thought I was helping you.”
“At first?”
She looked down.
“Then Adrian explained what would happen if you came back.”
“To the company?”
“To everything.”
“And you chose everything over me.”
“No.”
“You visited the clinic. You saw me alive.”
“You didn't know who I was.”
Marcus stopped.
That hurt more than he expected.
Vanessa continued.
“You looked at me like I was a stranger.”
“I had brain trauma.”
“I know.”
“Then why leave me?”
Her answer was barely audible.
“Because Adrian said if you recovered, you would find out what I'd done.”
Marcus frowned.
“What had you done?”
Vanessa covered her face.
When she finally looked up, her mascara had run.
“I signed the guardianship documents before you disappeared.”
Marcus felt cold.
“What documents?”
“The ones that would give me control of Lily's shares if you were declared legally dead.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Before I disappeared?”
Vanessa nodded.
And suddenly the conspiracy changed.
Vanessa had not merely taken advantage of Marcus's disappearance afterward.
She had prepared for it before it happened.
Marcus stepped backward.
“You knew they were going to take me.”
Vanessa shook her head desperately.
“I knew Adrian wanted you gone from the company. I didn't know he meant physically.”
“You signed documents preparing for my death.”
“I thought it was a corporate maneuver.”
Marcus laughed.
There was nothing humorous in the sound.
Vanessa reached toward him.
“Marcus.”
He moved away.
“Don't.”
“Please.”
“My daughter spent two years asking where her father was while you knew I was breathing.”
Vanessa cried harder.
Marcus opened the door.
Before leaving, he turned.
“Elena died trying to bring me home.”
Vanessa looked at the floor.
“You left me there because bringing me home would expose you.”
He walked away.
That night, Marcus sat beside Lily until she fell asleep.
She held Teddy under one arm.
Her other hand held Marcus's finger.
He watched her breathe.
Then he noticed the envelope from the blue room on the nightstand.
LILY.
He had not opened it.
It belonged to her.
But on the back, Elena had written another sentence.
Marcus hadn't noticed it before.
FOR MARCUS TO READ TO HER WHEN SHE IS SAFE.
May you like
Marcus picked up the envelope.
For the first time since returning home, he began to cry.
