Chapter 6 - The Woman in the Photograph
Marcus stared at the notebook.
Then at the locked door.
"That wasn't me."
Adrian's voice became cold.
"Move away from the door."
Marcus obeyed.
Olivia watched both men.
"Nobody does anything stupid."
Ryan almost laughed.
"That's your plan?"
"It's worked better than everyone else's."
Adrian took the notebook.
Marcus's name appeared repeatedly.
Dates.
Payments.
Locations.
But something was wrong.
Marcus had supposedly been receiving money from Victor Vale nine years ago.
Marcus had told them he hadn't worked for Adrian then.
"Explain," Adrian said.
"I can't."
"Try."
Marcus looked genuinely confused.
"Nine years ago I was in Afghanistan."
Ryan pulled out his phone.
"No signal."
The cellar walls were thick.
Olivia examined the recorder.
"Maybe Elena explains it."
She pressed PLAY.
Static.
Then Elena's voice.
"If Adrian finds this, check the dates before you believe the names."
Everyone froze.
Elena continued.
"Someone is creating false trails. They're using real names attached to impossible dates."
Adrian looked at Marcus.
Marcus exhaled.
The recording continued.
"Marcus Reed is one of them. He wasn't in Chicago. I checked."
Marcus leaned against the wall.
"Thank you, Elena."
"Keep listening," Olivia said.
Elena described a systematic effort to fabricate evidence.
Someone anticipated an investigation.
Someone wanted several potential suspects ready.
Vivian.
Victor.
Marcus.
Even Ryan.
"The real account holder uses initials," Elena said.
"V.M."
Ryan looked at Olivia.
"Victor?"
"Vivian?"
Adrian shook his head.
"Could be either."
Elena's voice returned.
"But I found one original document they couldn't alter. It's in the place Adrian and I used to hide Christmas presents."
The recording ended.
Adrian stared at the device.
Ryan asked, "Where?"
Adrian almost smiled.
"Attic."
They still had to escape the cellar.
Marcus removed a hinge pin using a small multitool.
Ten minutes later, they were out.
"Who locked us in?" Olivia asked.
Marcus checked the security panel.
"No power."
"Mechanical?"
"Someone had to turn the latch upstairs."
They weren't alone.
Adrian motioned for everyone to stay together.
They climbed slowly.
The house seemed empty.
Then Olivia saw wet footprints.
Fresh.
Leading toward the back door.
Someone had been watching them.
They reached the attic.
Adrian went directly to an old cedar trunk.
Inside were faded decorations.
Wooden ornaments.
Childhood photographs.
Underneath them, taped to the bottom, was an envelope.
Adrian opened it.
Original bank records.
One signature.
VINCENT MARLOWE.
Adrian stared.
Ryan asked, "Who is Vincent Marlowe?"
Adrian's expression darkened.
"My mother's brother."
Olivia frowned.
"Your uncle?"
"He disappeared ten years ago."
"Disappeared how?"
"Supposedly moved overseas."
Marcus looked at the bank records.
"V.M."
Adrian nodded.
The story shifted again.
Vivian had moved money.
But perhaps she hadn't started it.
Perhaps she had been protecting someone.
Her brother.
They returned to Chicago and requested another interview with investigators.
Vivian initially refused.
Then Adrian showed her Vincent's signature.
She broke.
"He's alive," she whispered.
Adrian stared at his mother.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You've been protecting him."
"He threatened Elena."
"And you still protected him?"
Vivian began crying.
"He had evidence against your father. Tax fraud. Bribery. Everything. He said if I exposed him, he'd destroy the entire family."
"So you helped him steal."
"I thought I could control it."
Adrian stood.
"You couldn't."
"No."
"Did Vincent order Felix to follow Elena?"
Vivian looked down.
"Yes."
Olivia's stomach tightened.
"Did he order Felix to target Claire?"
"Yes."
"And me?"
Vivian looked at Olivia.
"I didn't know about you."
Felix had continued working for Vincent.
Even after Vivian believed the operation had ended.
Ryan asked the crucial question.
"Where is Vincent now?"
Vivian whispered, "Felix knows."
Felix refused to speak.
Until Olivia visited him.
She sat across from him behind thick glass.
He picked up the phone.
"You look better."
She ignored it.
"Where is Vincent?"
Felix smiled.
"Why?"
"Because this ends."
"You always liked simple answers."
"No. I liked believing you."
That wiped away his smile.
"Was any of it real?"
Felix stared at her.
She surprised herself by realizing she genuinely wanted the answer.
Not because she wanted him back.
Because she wanted ownership of her own past.
Finally Felix said, "Some of it."
"Which part?"
"The part where I didn't want you to leave."
Olivia nodded calmly.
"That's what I thought."
He frowned.
"What?"
"You still think wanting someone means owning them."
She put down the phone.
Felix suddenly moved closer to the glass.
"Wait."
Olivia picked the phone back up.
"Vincent is in Chicago."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
She began lowering the receiver.
"Wait!"
She stopped.
"He uses an old hotel near the river."
"Name."
"The Marquette."
"Room?"
"He doesn't stay in a room."
Olivia waited.
Felix looked frightened for the first time.
"He owns the basement."
That evening investigators searched the Marquette.
The basement was empty.
But they found computers.
Records.
Surveillance photographs.
Dozens of them.
Olivia.
Ryan.
Adrian.
Marcus.
Claire.
And one recent photograph that made Olivia stop breathing.
It showed Adrian asleep inside his own penthouse.
Taken three nights earlier.
Someone close to him had access.
Marcus turned the photograph over.
A message had been written on the back.
YOU ANSWERED THE WRONG CALL.
Adrian's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
May you like
A man's voice said only two words.
"Hello, nephew."
