Chapter 10 - Forty-Eight Hours Until Court
The next forty-eight hours transformed Heart and Crumb Bakery into something between a legal office and a fortress.
Lena brought investigators.
Elias brought people Marlo deliberately didn't ask about.
Preston arrived after receiving a copy of Graham's old photograph.
He stood in the bakery staring at it.
"I didn't know."
Marlo believed him.
She still hated him for what he had done.
Those feelings could coexist.
"You hired him," she said.
"I've known Graham twelve years."
"Apparently not."
Preston sat.
For once, he didn't look polished.
He looked frightened.
"He told me you were hiding financial problems."
"I was."
"He said if I didn't act, Poppy might lose access to treatment."
"So you decided to take her."
"I thought I was protecting her."
Marlo looked at him.
"Protection without listening is control."
Preston lowered his eyes.
"I know that now."
It wasn't forgiveness.
But it was the first honest sentence she'd heard from him in years.
Lena entered carrying the flash drive Victor had given Marlo.
"It's clean."
Marlo stood.
"And?"
"Emails. Payments. Surveillance orders."
"From Graham?"
"Some."
"Some?"
Lena placed several pages on the counter.
"Victor documented everything."
One email had been sent by Graham to Halden Strategic.
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Marlo felt nauseated.
Preston read it.
His face twisted.
"He used Poppy."
"Yes," Lena said.
Another message instructed Victor to photograph the bakery basement entrance.
Another asked whether Samuel Hart's personal possessions remained on the property.
The truth was finally visible.
Graham had never cared whether Marlo was a fit mother.
He had seen Preston's custody case as an opportunity to search Samuel Hart's family without attracting attention.
Preston had provided the legal doorway.
Graham had walked through it.
Then Elias's phone rang.
He answered.
"Where?"
His expression hardened.
He looked at Marlo.
"They found Victor."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Hospital."
Victor had been beaten badly enough to break two ribs but not badly enough to stop talking.
By evening, federal investigators were involved.
Graham Voss disappeared.
At 11:03 p.m., a warrant was issued.
At midnight, Marlo stood alone in the bakery.
Elias came downstairs.
"Poppy's asleep."
"Thank you."
He leaned against the counter.
Marlo looked at him.
"You knew more than you told me."
"Yes."
"From the beginning?"
"Some."
"Did you know Graham was connected to your uncle?"
"I suspected."
"Did you know Dad had evidence?"
"No."
"Did you come here because you thought I had it?"
Elias was silent too long.
Marlo's chest tightened.
"Answer me."
"At first."
The words hurt.
"So the apricot tart story was convenient."
"No."
"But you were investigating me."
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"Three weeks."
"Then?"
"I stopped."
"Why?"
His eyes met hers.
"Because you were you."
Marlo looked away.
"That's not enough."
"I know."
"You let me think your visits meant something else."
"They did."
"Eventually."
"Yes."
She wanted to be angry.
She was angry.
But honesty was rarely clean.
Elias stepped away.
"I'll leave."
Marlo didn't stop him.
At the door, he turned.
"Your father saved my life."
She said nothing.
"I thought repaying him meant protecting what he left behind."
His gaze moved upstairs.
"I was wrong."
Marlo looked at him.
"What does it mean?"
"Protecting what he loved."
Then Elias walked out.
Marlo stood alone.
Ten minutes later, the phone rang.
She answered.
A distorted voice said:
"Bring Samuel Hart's evidence to Pier Nine."
Marlo froze.
"Who is this?"
"Midnight tomorrow."
The voice continued.
"Come alone."
Then came the sentence that made Marlo's blood turn cold.
"Or the little girl never reaches surgery."
The line went dead.
Marlo stared toward the ceiling.
Forty-eight hours earlier, she had feared losing Poppy in court.
Now she feared losing her entirely.
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And she knew exactly one person dangerous enough to help her stop it.
The man she had just allowed to walk away.
