Chapter 8 - Husband and Witness
Marcus arrived at Evelyn's gate just after lunch. He looked as though he hadn't slept. His jacket was wrinkled, and he carried a plastic grocery bag instead of the leather briefcase he normally treated like a limb.
“I brought your medication,” he said to Evelyn.
“I'm not the one who needs saving.”
His eyes moved to me. “Nia, can we speak alone?”
“No.”
He accepted that with a small nod. It made me angrier than a fight would have.
Darius spread the Harbor Point registration on the table. “Explain this.”
Marcus stared at his own name. “That was supposed to be a payroll vendor. Victor said the foundation needed a temporary pass-through while the bank account changed.”
“You signed the filings,” I said.
“I signed them because Celia told me to.”
“That's not an explanation. That's your excuse.”
He lowered himself into a chair. “I found out the payments were wrong last month. When I confronted my mother, she said you had approved them when you ran outreach.”
“You believed her?”
“I wanted to.”
The room went quiet. He looked at his hands.
“If you were responsible, I didn't have to admit I'd let it happen.”
For the first time, I heard something useful from him: the truth, ugly and too late.
He pushed the grocery bag toward me. Inside was a small external drive.
“I made a backup of the financial database after Dad's memorial,” he said. “It has records that were deleted from the shared server.”
“Why bring it now?” Evelyn asked.
“Because Victor called me last night. He said he'd make sure Nia went to prison unless I turned over your folder.”
“Did you tell him where we are?” Darius asked.
Marcus didn't answer quickly enough.
May you like
A car engine sounded outside the gate. Then another.
Evelyn's intercom crackled, and a voice said, “Mrs. Brooks, this is Victor Whitmore. I know you're home.”
