Chapter 3 - The Woman at the Door
The next morning, Marcus arrived at the office to discover a problem.
His company shares had dropped eight percent.
Diana met him in the lobby.
"We have an issue."
"How serious?"
"Very."
Marcus walked faster.
"Explain."
"Someone leaked the Singapore acquisition documents."
"Impossible."
"They were accessed from your private system."
Marcus stopped.
"My system?"
Diana nodded.
"Only four people had access."
"Who?"
"You. Me. Victor. And the outside counsel."
Marcus's jaw tightened.
Victor Kane was his chief financial officer.
His oldest friend.
The man who had worked beside him since the company had six employees.
"Find the leak."
"I already started."
Marcus entered his office.
A message waited on his desk.
No signature.
Just five words.
You should have stayed alone.
Marcus stared at it.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Nobody spoke.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
"Your mother didn't die the way you think she did."
The call ended.
Marcus stood completely motionless.
For four years, he'd believed his mother's death had been sudden.
Natural.
Unavoidable.
But now someone was telling him otherwise.
He immediately called the hospital.
The records were sealed.
He called the funeral home.
Nothing.
Then he called the private investigator who had handled his mother's estate.
The investigator had died two years earlier.
Marcus sat down.
For the first time in years, fear entered his life.
Not fear of losing money.
Not fear of losing the company.
Fear that the story he'd built his entire life around was a lie.
That evening, Marcus returned home early.
Rosa was cleaning the living room.
Isabella sat on the floor drawing.
Marcus walked past them.
Then stopped.
Isabella held up her picture.
"Look!"
It showed three people.
A tall man.
A woman.
A little girl.
Marcus smiled.
"Who's that?"
"That's me."
"And her?"
"Mama."
"And him?"
Isabella pointed at the tall figure.
"You."
Marcus looked at Rosa.
She immediately said, "I didn't tell her to draw that."
Marcus nodded.
He crouched beside Isabella.
"Why did you draw me?"
She shrugged.
"Because you looked sad."
Marcus's heart tightened.
Children saw things adults spent fortunes hiding.
Then Isabella pointed toward the window.
"There's a lady outside."
Marcus turned.
Nobody was there.
He walked toward the glass.
Then his phone buzzed.
A photograph had arrived.
It showed his mother.
Alive.
Standing beside a man Marcus had never seen before.
Taken only three weeks before her death.
Underneath the photograph were four words:
Ask Rosa what she knows.
Marcus slowly turned.
May you like
Rosa was staring at him.
And for the first time since he'd hired her, she looked terrified.
