Chapter 14 - My Lawyer
Nobody moved.
Marcus looked at the recorder in Emma's hand.
Then at Thomas.
Then at the federal agents filling the kitchen.
"Emma," he said carefully, "you don't understand."
She laughed once.
It came out broken.
"That's what everybody says right before they explain how they lied to me."
Two agents stepped closer.
Marcus raised both hands.
"I was cooperating with investigators."
"Which investigators?"
"The financial crimes unit."
"Names."
He gave two.
An agent checked his phone.
Seconds felt like hours.
Finally the agent nodded.
"He's telling the truth. Marcus Hale has been a confidential cooperating witness for four months."
Emma's anger did not disappear.
"You could have told me."
Marcus looked ashamed. "No. I couldn't. Thomas had sources inside law enforcement. If he knew I was helping you, the operation was dead."
Emma held up the recorder. "And that line?"
"I was trying to make Thomas believe I could control you."
Thomas, still handcuffed, smiled from the floor.
"He was very convincing."
Emma ignored him.
"Did my mother know?"
Marcus's face tightened.
"She contacted me two weeks before she died."
Emma stared at him.
"You knew her?"
"She asked me to protect you if something happened."
Emma felt dizzy.
"So every meeting, every document, every time you told me we needed more proof—"
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"You used me as bait."
"I tried not to."
"That's not an answer."
A federal agent approached.
"We need Ms. Reed to come with us."
Emma looked at Thomas.
"Why?"
"Because Gavin Cole's car was found abandoned two miles away."
"So?"
The agent's expression darkened.
"There was a body inside."
Everyone went quiet.
Emma's stomach turned.
"Gavin?"
"No."
The agent showed her a phone photo.
Emma recognized the dead man immediately.
It was the bank manager who had opened box 7714.
On his chest, written in black marker, were four words.
May you like
EMMA HAS THE WRONG LEDGER.
Marcus did not ask Emma to trust him again. That, more than anything, made her believe part of his explanation. Trust, she was learning, was not something you could demand after hiding the truth.
