Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Marcus grabbed his mother and pulled her behind the wall.
Another shot rang out.
Glass shattered downstairs.
“Stay here.”
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
“Marcus, don't.”
“Who is it?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I'm trying to keep you alive!”
Marcus stared at her.
Then a man's voice echoed from the staircase.
“Marcus!”
He recognized it.
David Carter.
His CFO.
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“David?”
“Come downstairs.”
Evelyn whispered:
“He knows.”
“Knows what?”
“Everything.”
Marcus moved toward the stairs.
Evelyn grabbed him again.
“Don't trust him.”
Marcus pulled away.
He stepped into the hallway.
David stood below.
He wasn't holding a gun anymore.
“Marcus.”
“What did you do to my wife?”
David looked exhausted.
“I didn't kill Victoria.”
“Then why were you moving money?”
“Because I was trying to stop them.”
“Who?”
David looked at Evelyn.
“She knows.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Marcus felt trapped between them.
“What happened to my father?”
David answered.
“Your father discovered the same operation Victoria discovered.”
Marcus stared.
“What operation?”
“Money laundering.”
“Through my company?”
David nodded.
“Your father found it twenty years ago.”
“And you knew?”
“I found out after joining your company.”
Marcus's mind raced.
“Who was responsible?”
David looked at Evelyn.
“Your mother.”
Marcus turned.
Evelyn began crying.
“I didn't have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain it!”
Evelyn sat down.
“Your father was going to expose everything.”
“What did you do?”
“I begged him not to.”
“And?”
“He refused.”
Marcus's face hardened.
“What happened?”
“I didn't kill him.”
“Then who did?”
Evelyn looked at David.
“The same man who is trying to kill us now.”
Marcus looked toward the hallway.
“Who?”
David whispered:
“Your uncle.”
Marcus froze.
“My uncle died before I was born.”
“No.”
David shook his head.
“He disappeared.”
“That's impossible.”
“Your family told everyone he was dead.”
Marcus's mind went blank.
Then Pia called.
“Marcus!”
He answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Is Ben okay?”
“Yes, but—”
“Get out of the house.”
“What?”
“Now.”
“Why?”
“Because I found something.”
Marcus heard panic in her voice.
“What?”
“I found a second camera.”
Marcus froze.
“Where?”
“In the nursery.”
His stomach dropped.
“The camera isn't yours.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean someone else has been watching Ben.”
Marcus looked toward his mother.
Then David.
“Who has access?”
Pia whispered:
“Your security company.”
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
He suddenly understood.
The hidden cameras he installed weren't the only cameras in the house.
Someone else had been watching them for months.
“Pia, take Ben and leave through the back entrance.”
“I'm not leaving without you.”
“Pia!”
“I won't.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Then he heard a sound behind him.
A door opening.
He turned.
His mother was gone.
“Mom?”
No answer.
David looked toward the hallway.
“She ran.”
Marcus chased her.
They reached the garage.
Evelyn was already inside a car.
Marcus grabbed the door.
“Mom!”
She looked at him through the window.
Her eyes were full of regret.
“I’m sorry.”
The car accelerated.
Marcus stepped backward.
Then stopped.
Something was written across the garage wall.
Four words.
SHE NEVER DIED.
Marcus stared.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a woman's voice.
A voice he hadn't heard in eight months.
“Marcus?”
His knees nearly gave out.
He knew that voice.
He would recognize it anywhere.
“Victoria?”
A quiet sob came through the phone.
“Don't trust your mother.”
Marcus couldn't breathe.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Victoria, where are you?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For letting you believe I was dead.”
Marcus gripped the phone.
“You're alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
“Because if they knew I survived, Ben would already be dead.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Tears streamed down his face.
“Where are you?”
“Find the blue house.”
“What blue house?”
“The one where we promised we'd start over.”
Marcus remembered.
A small coastal house Victoria had loved.
They had planned to move there someday.
Then she said:
“Marcus…”
“Yes?”
“You're not the only one being watched.”
The call ended.
Marcus stood frozen.
Then he heard a scream from his phone.
Pia.
“Marcus!”
“What happened?”
Her voice was terrified.
“They took Ben.”
Marcus dropped the phone.
May you like
And for the first time in his life, the millionaire who had believed money could solve anything realized there was something money couldn't buy.
Time.
