Chapter 6
David disappeared before police reached his office.
That told us almost everything.
Not guilt.
But enough.
His secretary said he left fifteen minutes after Terrence was arrested.
His phone went dark.
His car transponder stopped reporting.
His home was empty.
Detective Jackson issued alerts.
I sat at the hospital beside Mom while everything moved around us.
She had stitches.
Pain medication.
And guilt so heavy I could almost see it.
Nia sat across the room.
Andre stood near the window.
No one knew what to say.
Finally, Mom whispered:
“David was Walter’s lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“I trusted him.”
I almost laughed.
That word.
Trusted.
Our family had worn it into the ground.
Andre turned.
“Did Dad know David before the trust?”
Mom thought.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Church.”
I frowned.
Dad wasn't deeply religious.
He attended occasionally.
Mostly holidays.
“David went to Grandpa’s church?”
Mom nodded.
“Years ago.”
Andre looked at me.
Another old connection.
“Did Uncle Ray know him?”
“I don't know.”
I called Renee.
“Check David’s relationship to Raymond.”
She already was.
Within two hours, we had an answer.
David and Raymond shared a corporation.
Not publicly.
A shell company.
Created eleven years earlier.
The same year Grandpa’s final estate was settled.
My stomach turned.
Dad hired the man connected to the brother stealing from him.
Or maybe David positioned himself to be hired.
Nia whispered:
“He controlled the trust documents.”
Andre swore.
Mom covered her face.
I remembered David at our dining table.
Calm.
Professional.
Presenting records like a neutral man helping us discover truth.
He had shaped what we saw.
Just like Terrence said.
Truth belongs to whoever has documents.
“Why show us anything?” I asked.
Andre looked at me.
“Because things were already falling apart.”
“Maybe he wanted Ray blamed.”
Nia nodded.
“Or Terrence.”
Mom whispered:
“Or me.”
We all looked at her.
Yes.
Maybe.
David had allowed suspicion to move everywhere.
Anyone but him.
Detective Jackson arrived later with new records.
“David received transfers.”
“How much?”
“Over nine years, about three hundred twenty thousand.”
“From Dad?”
“Indirectly.”
My anger sharpened.
“Ray paid him.”
“Mostly.”
“For what?”
“Still investigating.”
She placed documents on the hospital table.
“Terrence gave us access to a backup server.”
Andre leaned forward.
“And?”
“There are emails between Raymond and David.”
I read one.
RAYMOND:
Walter is becoming suspicious.
DAVID:
Then let him suspect Patricia. The transfer helps.
My chest went cold.
Mom stared.
“He used me.”
Renee nodded.
Another.
DAVID:
Andre’s account can take one more pass before alerts trigger.
Andre swore.
So his name had been deliberately used.
Another.
RAYMOND:
What about Marcus?
DAVID:
Too close to Walter. Leave him clean unless necessary.
My hands shook.
They had discussed us like tools.
Another message.
Date:
Thirteen days before Dad died.
DAVID:
Walter changed the estate.
RAYMOND:
To what?
DAVID:
Three-party control. Marcus, Andre, Nia.
RAYMOND:
Can you stop it?
DAVID:
Not without creating risk.
Then:
RAYMOND:
What if Walter doesn't survive long enough to enforce it?
The room froze.
Mom gasped.
My heart hammered.
Renee said:
“We are investigating that line very carefully.”
I looked at her.
“Do you think Dad was murdered?”
“We do not know.”
“Ray was in the house.”
“Yes.”
“David had motive.”
“Yes.”
“Terrence had access.”
“Yes.”
“And you're telling me you don't know?”
“I’m telling you evidence matters.”
I hated her calmness.
Then respected it.
She wouldn't give me what I wanted.
Only what was true.
Renee continued:
“Walter had significant heart disease.”
“We know.”
“Stress could have triggered the heart attack.”
My jaw tightened.
“Could someone have caused stress?”
“Yes.”
“Did Ray?”
“Possibly.”
“Poison?”
“No evidence yet.”
“We buried him three years ago.”
“We can request exhumation.”
Mom started crying.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She shook her head.
“Please.”
I understood.
Digging up Dad felt like violating him.
But so did allowing questions to remain forever.
Andre sat beside her.
“Mom.”
She looked at us.
“I already failed him.”
“No.”
“You hid things.”
Andre’s voice softened.
“That’s not the same as wanting him hurt.”
Mom sobbed.
“I should've protected him.”
I looked at her.
“Dad was a grown man.”
She stared.
“You couldn't control everything.”
That was a lesson all of us needed.
I continued.
“We need the truth.”
Mom finally nodded.
“Okay.”
The exhumation request began.
Meanwhile, David remained missing.
His accounts were frozen.
His professional license suspended.
Investigators searched properties.
Then Nia received a message.
Not on the secret phone.
Her real phone.
One sentence.
You should have stayed out of family business.
I grabbed it.
Unknown number.
Then another:
Marcus will blame you before this is over.
I stared.
Nia looked at me.
“He's trying to split us.”
The irony almost hurt.
“We already did that ourselves.”
She lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
I sat.
“Nia.”
She looked up.
“We need to talk about Andre.”
Andre immediately moved toward the door.
“I’ll go.”
“No.”
He stopped.
I looked at both of them.
“If we're going to survive any of this, I don't want another private conversation.”
Nia’s face tightened.
Andre nodded.
“Okay.”
I asked:
“Did you love her?”
Andre stared.
“Marcus.”
“Answer.”
He looked at Nia.
Then me.
“No.”
“Did you want her?”
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Andre exhaled.
“For a minute.”
My chest tightened.
“When?”
“The hug.”
Nia started crying.
Andre continued.
“I was lonely too.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Great.”
“I'm not proud.”
“You shouldn't be.”
“No.”
“Did you think about kissing her?”
“Yes.”
My fists tightened.
He didn't flinch.
“But I didn't.”
“That supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s your wife.”
“Apparently you remembered late.”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than excuses but healed something too.
I looked at Nia.
“Did you text him things you wouldn't want me to see?”
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“About feeling ignored.”
“About wanting to leave?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“About wishing you married him?”
“No.”
“About sex?”
“No.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“What did you say?”
“That sometimes I felt like you only came home to sleep.”
I looked away.
That was true.
Work had consumed me.
Still not permission.
She continued.
“I told him I didn't know how to get you back.”
“Did you try telling me?”
Her silence answered.
“Exactly.”
She cried.
“I was scared you'd say nothing was wrong.”
“I probably would have.”
“That's not an excuse.”
“No.”
She had learned.
I looked at Andre.
“You encouraged her?”
“At first, I told her you were stressed.”
“And later?”
“I listened.”
“Too much.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever tell her to leave me?”
“No.”
“Did you ever tell her you could treat her better?”
His face changed.
Once.
“When?”
“After that hug.”
Nia looked at him.
“You never told me that.”
“I thought it.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Congratulations on your restraint.”
“Marcus.”
“I’m angry.”
“I know.”
“I might be angry for a long time.”
“I know.”
He nodded.
“You should be.”
That stopped me.
No defense.
No “but.”
I stood.
“I love both of you.”
Nia cried harder.
Andre looked down.
“And right now, I don't trust either of you completely.”
That hurt them.
Good.
Truth again.
“But David wants us divided.”
I looked at Nia.
“And Ray wanted us divided.”
Then Andre.
“And Terrence used the cracks.”
I took a breath.
“So no more secret conversations.”
Both nodded.
“No deleting messages.”
Nia nodded.
“No protecting me by lying.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Andre.
“No protecting the family by hiding things.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Not forgiveness.
Rules.
Maybe the beginning of repair.
Three days later, police found David.
He wasn't fleeing the country.
He was at a private cabin owned by Raymond.
That made his defense difficult.
He surrendered without violence.
His attorney immediately claimed he went there because he feared Ray.
Maybe partly true.
Then investigators found a laptop.
On it were revised estate documents.
Some real.
Some fake.
One file caught everyone’s attention.
WALTER_BENNETT_FINAL.
It contained a scanned handwritten note dated the day Dad died.
Not the letter Nia had.
Another one.
Only three lines.
Ray came today.
If something happens, do not believe Patricia caused it.
David knows.
My chest tightened.
Dad knew Mom was being set up.
He knew David knew something.
Then the final line:
Marcus and Andre must stay together.
I read it twice.
Then sat down.
Dad had spent his last day trying to protect us.
Andre stood beside me.
We did not speak.
We didn't need to.
Then Detective Jackson entered.
Her expression was grim.
“The preliminary exhumation findings are back.”
Mom stood.
“What?”
Renee looked at us.
“Walter’s death may not have been a natural heart attack.”
My chest stopped.
“What did they find?”
“A medication in his preserved tissue.”
“What medication?”
She named it.
I didn't recognize it.
Andre did.
He went pale.
“What?”
My brother whispered:
“That drug can trigger dangerous arrhythmias in people with heart disease.”
The room disappeared.
My father had not simply died.
Someone may have pushed his heart over the edge.
May you like
And only one person had been upstairs with him shortly before Mom found him.
Raymond.
