Chapter 7 - The Man Inside the Black Sedan
Police arrived twelve minutes later.
By then, Poppy was awake and crying upstairs.
Marlo sat with her on the bed while officers photographed the broken window.
"Was somebody trying to hurt us?" Poppy asked.
Marlo brushed hair from her daughter's face.
"No."
It was another lie.
"Then why did they break our window?"
"Some people do stupid things when they're angry."
"Is Dad angry?"
Marlo froze.
"Why would you ask that?"
Poppy shrugged.
"He looked angry yesterday."
Children saw everything adults hoped they missed.
"Your dad loves you."
Poppy looked unconvinced.
"Do you love him?"
Marlo almost laughed.
"That's complicated."
"Adults say complicated when the answer is no."
Marlo kissed her forehead.
"Go back to sleep."
Downstairs, Elias spoke quietly with an officer.
The officer seemed to know him.
That didn't make Marlo feel better.
At 2:10 a.m., after police left, Elias refused to leave.
"You have court in seven hours."
"So do you, apparently."
"I'm not going inside."
"Good."
He looked at her.
"You don't want me there?"
"My attorney specifically doesn't want you there."
"Smart attorney."
Marlo sat opposite him.
"Did Preston throw that brick?"
"No."
"How can you know?"
"He wouldn't."
"You barely know him."
"I know his type."
"What type is that?"
"Men who want to win without believing they're villains."
Marlo stared.
"That's disturbingly specific."
"They don't throw bricks."
"What do they do?"
"They hire people who tell them unpleasant details aren't necessary."
A chill moved through her.
"You think someone working for Preston went too far."
"I think Preston may have started something he no longer controls."
At 6:45, Ruthie arrived with coffee and fury.
At 7:30, Lena arrived.
At 8:05, Marlo kissed Poppy goodbye.
At 8:17—the exact time Elias usually ordered his tart—Marlo walked out of Heart and Crumb toward family court.
Halfway there, a black sedan pulled from the curb.
Marlo stopped.
The rear window lowered.
Victor Saye looked directly at her.
Then the car accelerated away.
Elias's SUV appeared seconds later.
He got out.
"Get in."
"I can walk."
"Victor just drove past you."
"You saw him?"
"Yes."
Marlo got in.
They reached court at 8:42.
Lena was waiting.
She looked at Elias.
Then at Marlo.
"I said no Marchetti."
"He's leaving."
Elias nodded.
Before walking away, he looked at Marlo.
"Whatever happens in there, don't let Preston make you feel poor."
She blinked.
"What?"
"Money is something you have."
His eyes moved toward the courthouse doors.
"It isn't what you are."
Then he left.
At nine sharp, Marlo entered the courtroom.
Preston sat beside Graham Voss.
Graham looked exhausted.
When he saw Marlo, he looked behind her.
Searching.
For Elias.
The hearing began.
Preston's argument was polished.
He had a house in Brookline.
Excellent insurance.
A stable marriage.
Resources.
Specialists.
Marlo had debt.
A struggling bakery.
A small apartment.
Uncertain insurance coverage.
Then Graham made his mistake.
He mentioned the possibility that Poppy's surgery could be "safely delayed pending transfer of medical responsibility."
Marlo turned toward him.
Lena turned too.
The judge frowned.
"On what medical basis are you making that assertion?"
Graham hesitated.
Preston looked confused.
Lena stood.
"Your Honor, we would very much like to know the answer to that."
Silence.
Then the courtroom doors opened.
A clerk entered carrying an envelope.
She handed it to Lena.
Lena read the contents.
Her expression changed.
"What?" Marlo whispered.
Lena passed her one page.
It was an email.
From Halden Strategic.
To Graham Voss.
Subject:
ASHBY MATTER — PEDIATRIC CARDIAC DELAY RISK
Marlo looked across the courtroom.
Graham had gone pale.
Preston leaned toward him.
"What did you do?"
Graham whispered something.
Preston recoiled.
And Marlo understood.
Preston hadn't known.
Not all of it.
Someone had taken his custody fight and turned Poppy's illness into leverage.
The judge called for a recess.
Graham rushed from the courtroom.
Marlo followed.
She saw him disappear into the men's restroom corridor.
Then someone grabbed her arm.
She spun.
Victor Saye.
The man from the black sedan.
He pushed something into her hand.
A flash drive.
"If Marchetti finds out I gave you this, I'm finished."
"What is it?"
Victor looked terrified.
"Proof."
"Of what?"
His eyes darted toward the exit.
"Your ex-husband isn't the one you should be afraid of."
Then he disappeared into the crowd.
Marlo stared at the flash drive.
Behind her, a familiar voice said:
"Marlo."
She turned.
Elias stood twenty feet away.
His eyes were fixed on the object in her hand.
May you like
And for the first time since meeting him, Marlo couldn't tell whether seeing Elias made her safer—
or whether Victor Saye had just warned her that Elias was the danger.
