Chapter 2 - What the Garage RememberedSarah survived the morning.
By noon, Dr. Brooks told Marcus that her oxygen levels were improving, although she remained unconscious.
Marcus should have felt relief.
Instead, Caleb’s message remained in his mind.
Call me before you talk to anyone.
He finally answered.
Caleb picked up immediately.
“Marcus.”
“How did you hear?”
A pause.
“Your mother called.”
Marcus glanced toward Evelyn, who had arrived thirty minutes earlier and now sat beside Jaden.
“What did she tell you?”
“That Sarah collapsed.”
“That’s all?”
“Of course.”
Marcus walked farther down the corridor.
“Then why did you tell me not to talk to anyone?”
Another pause.
This one was longer.
“I meant reporters, lawyers, insurance people. You know how things get twisted.”
“There are no reporters.”
“I was speaking generally.”
Marcus said nothing.
Caleb sighed.
“You’re exhausted. Don’t start seeing enemies everywhere.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“You were the one who sent the strange message.”
“I’m worried about you.”
“What do you know about my garage?”
Silence.
Marcus stopped walking.
“Caleb?”
“Nothing.”
“You sure?”
“Marcus, what the hell are you asking me?”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Sarah has carbon monoxide poisoning.”
“That’s terrible.”
The answer came too quickly.
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“I don’t know what reaction you expect.”
Marcus ended the call.
When he returned, Evelyn was speaking softly to Jaden.
His mother was sixty-seven, elegant even during a crisis. She wore a camel coat over a dark dress, silver hair cut neatly at her jaw.
She reached for Marcus’s hand.
“How is she?”
“Stable.”
“Thank God.”
Marcus sat.
“Mom, did you call Caleb?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He’s family.”
“He sent me a strange message.”
Evelyn looked away.
It was small.
Almost nothing.
Marcus noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Mom.”
“Not here.”
Marcus stared at her.
Jaden looked between them.
Evelyn smiled at the boy.
“Honey, why don’t you get something from the vending machine?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Please.”
Marcus handed Jaden several dollars.
When the boy left, Evelyn leaned closer.
“Sarah called me yesterday.”
Marcus’s stomach tightened.
“About what?”
“She was upset.”
“About me?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Evelyn pressed her lips together.
“She asked questions about your father’s company.”
Marcus frowned.
The company had once belonged entirely to his father, Walter. After Walter’s death six years earlier, Marcus and Caleb had inherited controlling interests in the medical-equipment distribution business.
Marcus handled operations.
Caleb handled finance.
Sarah had never liked the arrangement.
“What kind of questions?”
“Loans. Property. Old debts.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not true.”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“This is not the time.”
“My wife is unconscious.”
“Exactly.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What did Sarah find?”
Before Evelyn could answer, a uniformed fire investigator entered the waiting room with another man carrying a tablet.
“Marcus?”
He stood.
“I’m Marcus.”
“I’m Daniel Harris with the county fire marshal’s office. Your emergency responders requested an inspection of the property because of your wife’s condition.”
Marcus nodded.
“Did you find something?”
Harris hesitated.
“We found elevated carbon monoxide levels inside the attached garage.”
Marcus felt his chest tighten.
“The house?”
“Safe. The levels dropped after ventilation.”
“What caused it?”
“We’re still determining that.”
“Was something running?”
“There was evidence that the garage ventilation system and carbon monoxide detector had both been interfered with.”
Marcus went still.
“Interfered with?”
“The detector had been disconnected.”
Jaden returned just in time to hear it.
His face went pale.
Marcus looked at him.
“Jaden.”
“I didn’t touch it.”
“I know.”
“I swear.”
“I know.”
Harris continued.
“We also found that the small security camera covering the garage entrance stopped recording shortly after eleven last night.”
Marcus swallowed.
“That camera has never stopped.”
“Do you know who has access?”
Marcus answered automatically.
“Me. Sarah.”
Then another thought arrived.
“And Caleb.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Marcus turned toward her.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Marcus…”
“You know something.”
“No.”
“You just reacted to his name.”
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“Not in front of Jaden.”
Marcus looked at his son.
Jaden had heard enough.
Marcus asked a nurse to sit with him.
Then he led Evelyn into an empty family consultation room and shut the door.
“Start talking.”
His mother stood near the window.
“Sarah believed Caleb had borrowed against company property.”
“That’s business.”
“She believed he used your house.”
Marcus stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
“She found a filing.”
“What filing?”
“A lien.”
He almost smiled from disbelief.
“My house is paid for except for the mortgage.”
“I know.”
“Sarah knows.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you saying?”
Evelyn turned around.
“She thought someone had opened a second secured line against the property.”
Marcus felt dizzy.
“How much?”
“She mentioned four hundred thousand.”
He stared at her.
“Four hundred thousand dollars?”
Evelyn nodded.
Marcus pulled out his phone.
He opened the banking application.
Nothing.
He checked the mortgage account.
Nothing unusual.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“What bank?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell her husband?”
Evelyn looked at him with something that resembled pity.
“Because she was afraid you wouldn’t believe her.”
Marcus’s anger rose.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?”
He stared at his mother.
Evelyn’s expression changed.
Softened.
“Every time Sarah questioned Caleb, you defended him.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
“You called Caleb your brother.”
“He practically is.”
“And Sarah knew that.”
Marcus looked away.
A terrible memory returned.
Three weeks earlier, Sarah had said during dinner, Sometimes loyalty becomes blindness.
Marcus had laughed.
He had assumed she meant politics.
Now he understood.
Someone knocked.
Dr. Brooks entered.
“Sarah is waking up.”
Marcus ran.
Sarah’s eyes were barely open when he reached her bedside.
Her voice was weak.
“Marcus.”
He took her hand.
“I’m here.”
Her fingers tightened slightly.
“There’s a folder.”
“What folder?”
“Blue.”
“Where?”
Sarah struggled to breathe.
“Not the house.”
“Where is it?”
Her eyes filled with fear.
“Don’t let Caleb get it.”
Marcus felt every muscle in his body tighten.
“Sarah, what did he do?”
She looked directly at him.
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And whispered four words.
“He knows I found it.”
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