Chapter 6 - The Man Who Came to Comfort Me
Marcus Bell visited the next morning.
He had no idea I had seen the photograph.
That made him dangerous.
He entered carrying coffee and a sympathy card signed by company employees.
“How are you?”
“Better.”
He sat beside me.
“Victor's arrest shocked everyone.”
“I imagine.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Your father loved him like a brother.”
“So did I.”
That answer pleased him.
He wanted grief.
Confusion.
A vulnerable heiress.
I gave him all three.
“What happens to the company?” I asked.
“Don't worry about that.”
Interesting.
Victor had said the same thing.
Marcus continued.
“The board can manage things while you recover.”
“Would you manage it?”
“If necessary.”
There it was.
I smiled weakly.
“Dad trusted you.”
Marcus looked almost touched.
Then he squeezed my hand.
“I won't let anything happen to you.”
After he left, Brooks emerged from the adjoining room.
“He's good,” she said.
“So was Victor.”
The investigation widened.
Marcus had approved several fraudulent invoices.
But unlike Victor, he had covered his tracks carefully.
Then Rosa remembered something.
A week before the murders, my mother had mailed a package.
Not electronically.
Physical mail.
“To whom?”
“She wouldn't tell me.”
We searched her address book.
One name was circled.
Nathan Cole — Federal Financial Crimes Division.
Brooks made calls.
By evening, we had confirmation.
My mother had contacted a federal investigator.
But Nathan Cole had disappeared the day after my parents died.
Not missing.
Transferred.
Suddenly.
Without explanation.
Someone had reached beyond Victor.
Someone powerful enough to bury an investigation.
That night, an unknown number texted me.
Your mother trusted the wrong people.
A second message arrived.
Don't make her mistake.
Attached was a photograph.
Me.
Taken that afternoon.
Through my hospital window.
Someone was watching.
May you like
And Victor Hale was sitting in jail.
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