Chapter 3 - The Blue FolderMarcus did not sleep.
Sarah drifted in and out of consciousness while doctors monitored her.
Each time she woke, Marcus asked the same question.
“Where’s the blue folder?”
Each time, she became too exhausted to answer.
Around midnight, Jaden slept curled across two waiting-room chairs with Marcus’s jacket beneath his head.
Evelyn had gone home.
Caleb had called six times.
Marcus ignored every call.
At 1:17 a.m., a text arrived.
I’m coming to the hospital.
Marcus responded immediately.
Don’t.
Caleb replied.
We need to talk.
Marcus stared at the screen.
About what?
No answer came.
At two in the morning, Sarah woke again.
Marcus leaned toward her.
“Baby.”
Her eyes searched his face.
“Jaden?”
“He’s safe.”
“Did he see me?”
“He saw you collapse.”
Pain crossed her expression.
“Oh God.”
“He saved you.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Marcus kissed her hand.
“Tell me about the folder.”
She remained silent for several seconds.
“Safe deposit box.”
“What bank?”
“First Commonwealth.”
“Which branch?”
“Downtown.”
Marcus exhaled.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sarah opened her eyes.
“Because I needed proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“Caleb.”
Marcus stiffened.
“Sarah—”
“There.”
She gave a weak, bitter smile.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“You still want to defend him.”
“I’m not defending anyone.”
“You almost said his name like I was accusing the wrong person.”
Marcus sat back.
“I’ve known him since we were children.”
“And you’ve known me for fifteen years.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“No.”
Her voice remained weak.
“What happened to me wasn’t fair.”
Marcus looked toward the hospital window.
Sarah continued.
“Six months ago I noticed something strange in our property tax records.”
“What?”
“A legal description attached to our parcel.”
Marcus frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
She explained slowly.
Someone had filed paperwork indicating that Marcus and Sarah’s house secured a commercial line of credit connected to the company.
Marcus shook his head.
“I never signed that.”
“I know.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred twenty thousand.”
His heart pounded.
“What happened to the money?”
“I traced part of it.”
“To where?”
“Shell vendors.”
Marcus stared.
Sarah whispered.
“Companies that barely exist.”
He stood and began pacing.
“Caleb controls vendor payments.”
“Yes.”
“But that doesn’t prove he created them.”
“No.”
“What else?”
Sarah swallowed.
“There are invoices.”
“For what?”
“Equipment we never received.”
“How do you know?”
“I compared them to warehouse intake records.”
Marcus stopped.
“You accessed company files?”
“I had to.”
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
Marcus frowned.
Sarah’s eyes filled with disappointment.
“I asked you whether Caleb ever used your electronic signature.”
Marcus remembered.
He had been watching basketball.
Sarah had stood near the kitchen island holding her laptop.
He had barely looked up.
He had said, Caleb handles paperwork. That’s why I pay him.
His stomach turned.
Sarah continued.
“I asked whether he could borrow against company assets without your approval.”
“You did.”
“And what did you say?”
Marcus remembered that too.
Stop worrying about business things you don’t understand.
He closed his eyes.
“Sarah.”
“You said it.”
“I was tired.”
“You dismissed me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s why I needed evidence.”
Marcus returned to her bedside.
“Why the safe deposit box?”
“Because someone entered my home office.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I thought maybe I was imagining it.”
“What was moved?”
“Copies of the property filing.”
Marcus clenched his jaw.
“Did Caleb have a key?”
Sarah looked at him.
“You gave him one.”
Marcus remembered.
After a plumbing emergency two years earlier, Caleb had kept a spare key.
“Damn it.”
Sarah squeezed his hand.
“Marcus.”
“What?”
“There’s more.”
He stared.
“My phone.”
“What about it?”
“There’s a recording.”
“Of Caleb?”
She shook her head.
“Your mother.”
Marcus felt cold.
“What did Mom say?”
Sarah looked away.
“She knew something happened before your father died.”
“What?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“Sarah.”
“I’m telling you what I know.”
She breathed carefully.
“Your father discovered money missing from the company.”
“How much?”
“Your mother wouldn’t say.”
“Caleb?”
“She never admitted it.”
“But you think it was him.”
“I think she protected someone.”
Marcus remembered Evelyn’s face when the fire marshal mentioned Caleb.
He sat motionless.
“Where’s your phone?”
“Police have my things.”
Marcus stood.
“I’ll get it.”
Sarah caught his wrist.
“Marcus.”
He turned.
“If Caleb comes here, don’t tell him where the folder is.”
“I won’t.”
“And don’t confront him alone.”
Marcus almost smiled.
“You think I’m scared of Caleb?”
Sarah’s expression didn’t change.
“I think you still don’t understand what someone desperate enough to steal four hundred thousand dollars might do.”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
Outside the room, a nurse approached him.
“Mr. Marcus?”
“Yes?”
“There’s a gentleman downstairs asking to see your wife.”
Marcus already knew.
“Name?”
“Caleb.”
Marcus looked through the small glass panel in Sarah’s hospital door.
She had closed her eyes.
Then he looked toward the elevators.
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For forty-two years, Marcus had believed he could recognize danger when it stood in front of him.
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