Chapter 4
I couldn’t breathe.
“What?”
“Richard introduced me to Marcus. Eight years ago, at some charity gala in Boston. Said Marcus was a ‘great guy’—smart, successful, someone I should get to know. They’d been doing deals together for almost a year.”
The pieces started clicking into place.
Richard’s fear.
His desperation to stop me from asking questions.
His secret meetings with Anna.
“Richard brought that monster into our lives?”
Anna nodded slowly.
“At first, he didn’t know what Marcus really was. None of us did. But by the time I figured it out… Richard was already in too deep. He’d invested almost two million dollars of the family’s money into Marcus’s ‘real estate’ deals. Money he couldn’t get back. Money that, if anyone traced it, would put Richard in jail right alongside Marcus.”
“Two million dollars? From the family trust?”
“From Dad’s accounts. Richard had power of attorney while Dad was dealing with his first heart issues. He moved the money without telling anyone. Said it was ‘investments for the future.’”
I felt sick.
Our father had worked his entire life to build that company, that fortune, to give his children security.
And Richard had gambled it away with a criminal.
“When did Richard find out the truth about Marcus?” I asked.
“A week before I ran. I told him what Marcus really was. What he’d done to me. Richard lost it. Confronted Marcus. Demanded his money back. Marcus laughed. Said the money was gone. And if Richard ever went to the police, he’d make sure Richard took the fall for every dollar laundered through those accounts. Said he had emails. Contracts. Signatures. All with Richard’s name on them.”
“So Richard was trapped.”
“Trapped and terrified. He told me he was sorry. Over and over. Said he’d fix it. That he’d protect me. But I knew better. I knew Marcus wouldn’t stop until I was dead. So I ran. And Richard… Richard spent the next eight years trying to make it right. Looking for me. Trying to find a way out from under Marcus’s thumb.”
I leaned against the opposite counter, my legs suddenly weak.
“All this time… we thought Richard was the golden boy. The successful one who could do no wrong. While Dad was alive, he worshipped Richard. And I… I resented him for it. For being perfect. For being the favorite. But all along, he was carrying this.”
“Richard’s made mistakes. Big ones. And some of them cost me eight years of my life. But he’s not the enemy, Charlotte. Marcus is. And if Richard is really planning to go after him… we have to stop him. Before he gets us all killed.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out.
A text from Richard.
We need to talk. NOW. Don’t tell Anna I texted. Meet me at the coffee shop on the corner of 5th and Main in 10 minutes. Come alone.
I looked at Anna.
“It’s Richard,” I said. “He wants to meet me. Alone. Says not to tell you.”
Anna’s face hardened.
“Go.”
“Really?”
“Go. Find out what he’s planning. But be careful, Charlotte. Whatever he says… remember that Marcus plays dirty. And Richard is in way over his head.”
I nodded.
“I’ll be careful. What about Lily?”
“Lily’s safe here. I’ve got three locks on the door and a baseball bat under the bed. I’ve survived eight years. I can survive a few hours.”
I walked over and hugged her.
She stiffened at first—then slowly, tentatively, she hugged me back.
It was the first time we’d touched in eight years.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” I whispered into her hair. “Either of you. I promise.”
“I know,” she said, her voice thick. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
I left the apartment and walked the three blocks to the coffee shop.
Richard was already there, sitting in a booth in the back, wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his face.
He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Did she tell you?” he asked as soon as I slid into the seat across from him.
“About Marcus? About how you introduced them? About the two million dollars you stole from Dad? Yeah. She told me everything.”
He flinched.
“I didn’t steal it. I invested it. I thought—”
“You thought wrong, Richard. And because you thought wrong, Anna spent eight years living in a slum, scared for her life, raising her daughter alone. Dad died never knowing she was alive. Mom is on her third marriage and half the time she doesn’t even remember she had a second daughter. Was it worth it? Was the ‘investment’ worth all that?”
He dropped his head into his hands.
“No. God, no. I’ve hated myself every single day for eight years. Every time I look in the mirror, I see the idiot who handed his little sister to a monster on a silver platter. I’ve spent every cent I’ve made since then trying to fix it. Private investigators. Lawyers. Security consultants. I was this close—” he held up his thumb and index finger an inch apart “—this close to having enough evidence to put Marcus away for life. Enough to keep Anna and Lily safe forever.”
“What happened?”
“Marcus found out I was investigating him. Three months ago. He sent me a message. A package. Inside was Lily’s favorite stuffed rabbit—one she’d lost at the park two weeks before. And a note. It said: ‘I know about the little girl. Nice family you’ve got there. Shame if something happened to them.’”
My blood turned to ice.
“He knows about Lily?”
“He suspects. He doesn’t have proof yet—otherwise he would’ve already acted. But he’s getting close. And I realized then that waiting for the police, waiting for evidence… it wasn’t going to work. Marcus is too smart. Too connected. He’d destroy the evidence before we ever got to court. And then he’d kill us all.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Richard looked up.
His eyes were cold.
“I’m going to kill him first.”
I gasped.
“Richard, no! You can’t be serious!”
“Dead serious. I’ve got it all planned. Next week, Marcus is flying into LA for a meeting. Private jet. Private hangar. Very little security. I’ve got a guy—an ex-military guy who owes me a favor. He’ll make it look like a robbery gone wrong. Marcus dead, the plane stripped, no evidence pointing back to us. Once Marcus is gone, his organization falls apart. Anna and Lily are safe. We’re all safe.”
“Richard, this is insane! You’re talking about murder! What if you get caught? What if something goes wrong? What if Marcus’s people come after us anyway?”
“Then at least I tried! Charlotte, what other choice do we have? We can’t go to the police—Marcus owns half of them. We can’t run—he’ll find us eventually. The only way this ends is with one of us dead. And I’d rather it be him than my sister or my niece.”
I stared at him.
The golden boy.
The brother I’d both worshipped and resented my whole life.
He was willing to throw everything away—his freedom, his life, his soul—to fix the mistake he’d made.
“Anna was right about you,” I said softly.
“Right about what?”
“That you’d try to be the hero. That you’d do something stupid and brave and get us all killed.”
“Charlotte, I’m not asking for your approval. I’m telling you because… well, because you’re my sister. And I thought you deserved to know. If something goes wrong… if I don’t come back… you need to take Anna and Lily and get as far away from here as possible. Change your names. Start over. There’s money in a safety deposit box in Seattle—enough for all three of you to live comfortably for the rest of your lives. The key is in my desk at the office, in the envelope marked ‘Taxes 2019.’”
“Richard—”
“No. Let me finish. If I’m gone, you’re the only one who can protect them. Promise me, Charlotte. Promise me you’ll take care of them.”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed again.
This time it was Anna.
May you like
Two words.
HE’S HERE.
