Chapter 11 - Marissa’s Choice
Marissa was supposed to be in police custody.
That was the first thing Detective Ortiz said when she saw the badge.
The second thing was worse.
“She escaped transport.”
“How?”
“She claimed she was having chest pain. Ambulance stopped at a red light. She got out the rear doors.”
I stared at her.
“You’re telling me Caleb’s sister was kidnapped, rescued, and then ran?”
Ortiz nodded.
Which meant Marissa was not just a victim.
She had been part of this.
Maybe from the beginning.
They found her twenty minutes later in an empty staff locker room two floors down.
She was crying.
Not the dramatic kind.
The broken kind.
When Ortiz brought me in, Marissa looked like someone had aged her ten years overnight.
“I didn’t poison Nia,” she said immediately.
“Then why was your badge by her IV?”
“I stole the badge. I came to warn you.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
At least she was honest.
She wiped her face.
“Caleb asked me months ago to help him get vitamins compounded. He said Nia had anemia and hated pills.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“What was in them?”
“Iron. B12. Nothing else.”
“Then how did poison get into her body?”
Marissa started shaking.
“Martin.”
Ortiz leaned closer. “Explain.”
“Martin gave Caleb a container and said it was a cheaper formulation. Caleb didn’t trust it, so he asked me to look.”
“And?”
“I told him I couldn’t identify it without a lab.”
“Did you give it to Nia?”
“No.”
“Did Caleb?”
Marissa looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
That answer cut deeper than a yes.
“Why did you go to my house?”
“To get the bottle before Martin did.”
“You ran.”
“Because Martin’s man was already there.”
“The black hoodie?”
She nodded.
“He grabbed me in the driveway.”
“Who?”
She whispered a name.
“Owen Price.”
The drunk driver.
The man who killed Andre.
My legs nearly gave out.
Ortiz stared at her.
“You’re saying Owen works for Martin Rowe?”
“He always did.”
Silence.
Then Marissa reached into her jacket.
Security tensed.
She slowly removed a small flash drive.
“Caleb stole this from Martin.”
“What’s on it?”
“I don’t know. He said it could prove what happened to Andre.”
I took one step closer.
“Where is Caleb?”
Marissa’s eyes filled.
“He went to meet Owen.”
“Where?”
She looked at the clock.
May you like
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Then she whispered, “And I think Martin plans to make sure neither of them comes back.”
