Chapter 5
Detective Ruiz watched the security footage without speaking.
When it ended, she played it again.
Then she looked at me.
“Do not contact your brother.”
“I already did.”
Her expression tightened.
“What did you say?”
“I asked whether he had been at my house.”
“And?”
“He denied it.”
“Anything about the recording?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She copied the footage.
I sat across from her trying to understand how the two people I had trusted most after Sarah’s death had been kissing in my home.
The affair hurt.
But compared with the rest, it almost felt small.
“Can you arrest him?”
Ruiz shook her head.
“Not from this alone.”
“He says Sarah’s accident.”
“He says you believe it was an accident.”
“That’s different.”
“It is.”
She leaned forward.
“But I need evidence, not a conclusion.”
I hated those words because they were reasonable.
“Then find it.”
“We will.”
I returned home before noon.
Rebecca’s car was in the driveway.
I walked inside and heard Emily laughing.
It was the first time I had heard that sound since coming home.
I followed it to the family room.
Rebecca sat on the rug with Emily.
They were building a castle from wooden blocks.
Maria watched from the couch.
Emily saw me and ran over.
“Daddy!”
I dropped to my knees.
She crashed into me.
“What are you building?”
“A house.”
“Looks big.”
“No bad people allowed.”
My smile disappeared.
Rebecca saw it.
She stood.
“Maria, can you stay with her?”
Maria nodded.
Rebecca and I went into the kitchen.
The moment the door closed, she slapped me.
I stared at her.
She was crying.
“That was for marrying Vanessa.”
I touched my cheek.
“I probably deserved that one.”
“No.”
Her expression shifted.
“No, you didn’t.”
I looked at her.
She wiped her face.
“I’m angry, but hitting people when we’re angry is part of how this whole mess got worse.”
I thought about Vanessa.
“You know?”
“Maria told me you slapped her.”
“I told the police too.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Good.”
Then she gripped the edge of the counter.
“Now tell me what happened to Sarah’s necklace.”
I told her everything.
The safe.
The security footage.
Mark.
The chip.
Rebecca sat down slowly.
“Oh, God.”
“What?”
“Sarah told me something.”
My heart jumped.
“When?”
“A week before she died.”
I pulled out the chair across from her.
“What did she say?”
Rebecca stared at the table.
“She asked if I remembered the necklace Dad gave her when she graduated.”
“Yes.”
“She said she had changed it.”
“Changed it how?”
“She wouldn’t explain.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“She said, ‘If anything ever happens to me, remember the heart opens twice.’”
A chill moved through me.
“The heart opens twice?”
“I thought she meant emotionally.”
“That sounds like Sarah.”
Rebecca laughed once through tears.
“She loved saying things that sounded like fortune cookies.”
Then her face became serious.
“She was scared that week.”
“Of what?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“Did she mention Mark?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“What did she say?”
“She asked me whether I trusted him.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said he was your brother.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I know.”
I leaned back.
“What else?”
“She told me she had found irregular payments at Mercer Development.”
I stared at her.
“Sarah never worked for the company.”
“She helped you with the charitable foundation.”
That was true.
Sarah had managed donations from several of our projects.
Rebecca continued.
“She said money was moving through vendors that didn’t seem real.”
My mouth went dry.
“Did she tell you how much?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you Vanessa was involved?”
Rebecca looked away.
“That’s why I hated you marrying her.”
I said nothing.
“Three months before Sarah died, I saw Vanessa and Mark together.”
My chest tightened.
“Together how?”
“Coming out of a hotel.”
I stood so quickly the chair scraped the floor.
“You knew?”
“I told Sarah.”
“What did she say?”
“She already knew.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“She knew they were having an affair?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Then why didn’t she tell me?”
“She was trying to prove something bigger.”
I pressed both hands to my head.
Sarah had been protecting me.
Or trying to.
And I had spent three years believing her death was random.
My phone rang.
Mark.
I stared at his name.
Rebecca saw it.
“Don’t answer.”
I didn’t.
It stopped.
Then a text arrived.
BOARD MEETING. 3 PM. YOU NEED TO BE THERE.
I almost ignored it.
Then another message appeared.
If you don’t come, they’re voting to place you on temporary leave.
Rebecca read my face.
“What?”
“Mark is making a move at the company.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course he is.”
At three o’clock, I entered the conference room at Mercer Development.
Mark sat at the far end of the table.
My mother, Evelyn, sat beside him.
Five board members were present.
Our attorney was there.
Nobody smiled.
Mark folded his hands.
“We’re concerned about your judgment.”
I sat.
“My judgment?”
“You assaulted your wife.”
“I admitted what I did.”
Mom looked at me.
“Daniel, maybe you need time.”
“My daughter was being abused.”
Mark sighed.
“We don’t know that.”
I stared at him.
“Yes, we do.”
“Vanessa says—”
“I don’t care what Vanessa says.”
He leaned forward.
“You’re emotional.”
I almost laughed.
Then I placed my phone on the table.
“I am.”
Mark’s eyes dropped to it.
I continued.
“So maybe we should talk about facts.”
I opened a financial report Sarah had once asked me about.
Vendor payments.
Three companies.
Millions of dollars.
All approved by one executive.
Mark.
His face changed.
I looked around the table.
“Before anyone votes me out, I want a forensic audit.”
Mark stood.
“This is ridiculous.”
“No.”
May you like
I looked directly at him.
“This is overdue.”
