Chapter 19 - The Last Bargain
Emergency lights from police cars painted the backyard in red pulses.
Marcus stood near the gate with one hand inside his jacket.
Rachel could not see what he held.
Officers shouted commands from two directions.
Marcus laughed.
"All this for paper."
Daniel moved slightly in front of Rachel.
Marcus noticed.
"Still doing that? Protecting her from things you should have told her about?"
Rachel stepped sideways so she was no longer behind Daniel.
"He told me enough. You don't get to use our marriage as your weapon anymore."
Marcus's smile thinned.
"You think you won because you found a box?"
"No," Rachel said. "I think you lost because every person you used finally started talking."
Vanessa had signed a cooperation statement.
David was in custody at the hospital.
Evan had his father's records.
Harold had turned over the surveillance files.
And the bank had preserved the attempted $2.7 million transfer.
Marcus looked toward the maple tree.
"Give me the drives."
Bell shouted, "Hands where we can see them!"
Marcus pulled his hand from his jacket.
Rachel flinched.
It was not a gun.
It was a small remote.
"The house has gas," Marcus said calmly. "Old line under the kitchen. I had someone open it before I came in. One spark and your evidence disappears."
Daniel's face changed.
"Rachel, outside. Now."
She smelled it then.
Faint.
Sharp.
Gas.
Bell ordered everyone back.
Marcus began retreating toward the fence.
"Drives," he repeated.
Rachel looked at the metal evidence case on the patio table.
Then she picked it up.
"You want it?"
"Rachel, don't," Daniel said.
She held the case toward Marcus.
He took one step closer.
That was all Bell needed.
An officer behind the fence grabbed Marcus's arm. The remote fell into the grass. Two officers took him down without a shot.
Daniel pulled Rachel away from the house.
Fire crews shut the gas line and ventilated the property.
Marcus was handcuffed on the curb.
As officers lifted him, he looked at Rachel and said, "You still don't know what Vanessa came to tell you."
Rachel stared at him.
"She told me Daniel chose me because he knew my name."
Marcus smiled.
"That's not the secret."
Across the street, Vanessa stepped out of an unmarked police car.
May you like
Her face was pale.
"He's right," she said.
