Chapter 4 - The Man UpstairsPeter pushed Blair behind him.
He had no weapon.
Only an old fireplace poker within reach.
The man descending the narrow stairs looked approximately sixty, with snow-gray hair and a camel-colored coat.
Peter recognized him from hospital charity events.
Richard Vale.
The developer smiled.
“Put that down.”
Peter held the poker tighter.
“You broke into my property.”
Vale glanced around.
“Technically, the trust owns it.”
“That trust belongs to my daughter.”
“For now.”
Blair raised her phone.
“I’m recording.”
Vale smiled at her.
“Then record accurately.”
Peter stepped forward.
“Why were you paying Marlene?”
Richard looked almost disappointed.
“She hasn’t explained?”
“Explain it for her.”
Vale removed his gloves.
“Marlene was tasked with keeping communication open with Natalie.”
“By marrying me?”
“No.”
“Then why did she receive seventy-five thousand dollars before we met?”
“That payment had nothing to do with you.”
Peter did not believe him.
Vale continued.
“Marlene handled acquisitions. Natalie was difficult.”
“Meaning she wouldn’t sell.”
“Meaning she accused everyone of conspiracy.”
“You threatened families.”
Vale’s smile disappeared.
“I bought distressed property. Sometimes people dislike capitalism when they discover their sentimental attachment is worth less than they imagined.”
Blair said, “Bluebird was worth millions.”
“Eventually.”
Peter’s jaw tightened.
“What ledger are you looking for?”
For the first time, Vale looked genuinely concerned.
“Natalie kept records she had no right to possess.”
“Evidence?”
“Stolen corporate documents.”
“Evidence.”
Vale glanced toward the door.
“You have a child, Doctor. Think carefully about how much disruption you want in her life.”
Peter moved so quickly that Blair grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t.”
Vale watched Peter’s face.
“That temper won’t help you.”
Peter forced himself backward.
“You said almost the same thing to Natalie.”
Vale’s eyes narrowed.
“Did she record me too?”
That answered another question.
Peter said, “Get out.”
Vale buttoned his coat.
Before leaving, he stopped beside Peter.
“Marlene has lied to you. But perhaps not about the thing that matters most.”
“What does that mean?”
“She didn’t enter your life for Bluebird.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because if she had followed my instructions, you would never have married her.”
Vale walked outside.
Peter and Blair waited until his vehicle disappeared.
Then Blair whispered, “That was not comforting.”
Peter called the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
He reported trespassing and the apparent break-in.
A deputy arrived forty minutes later.
Peter showed ownership documents and the damaged cabin.
He did not hand over Natalie’s flash drive yet.
He wanted an attorney first.
By early afternoon, Peter and Blair returned to Beverly’s house.
Ivy ran to him.
Peter hugged her longer than usual.
Marlene had called twelve times.
He ignored every call.
At 2:36 p.m., she arrived.
Beverly blocked the doorway.
“You are not coming into my house.”
“Marlene?” Ivy whispered from the family room.
Peter stepped outside and closed the door.
Snow fell between him and his wife.
Marlene looked exhausted now.
Her perfect Christmas appearance was gone.
“Richard went to Bluebird, didn’t he?”
“How do you know?”
“Because he called me.”
“Are you still working with him?”
“No.”
“Then why does he call?”
“Because we share a history I have spent years trying to escape.”
Peter laughed bitterly.
“You had several years to mention that.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of him?”
“Yes.”
“Or of me finding out why you married me?”
Her face changed.
“I married you because I loved you.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Marlene looked through the window.
Ivy stood behind Beverly.
Marlene lowered her voice.
“Not in front of her.”
“She deserves more truth than you’ve given her.”
“I agree.”
That surprised Peter.
Marlene wiped snow from her hair.
“I knew Natalie.”
“We established that.”
“I knew her better than the files suggest.”
Peter waited.
Marlene looked toward the road.
“Natalie contacted me in 2020.”
Peter frowned.
Natalie died in March 2020.
“How close to her death?”
“Eleven days.”
“Why?”
“She wanted help.”
“With what?”
“Getting out.”
Peter stared at her.
“Out of what?”
Marlene’s eyes filled.
“The Vale investigation.”
“You expect me to believe you were helping her?”
“At the end, yes.”
“After threatening her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I finally understood what Richard was doing.”
Peter stepped closer.
“What happened eleven days before Natalie died?”
Marlene opened her purse.
She removed a small brass key.
“Natalie gave me this.”
Peter recognized the blue paint on its edge.
Bluebird.
“She told me if anything happened to her, I had to keep the ledger from Richard.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You searched the cabin.”
“Because I thought she hid it there.”
Peter’s anger returned.
“You threw away her belongings because you were searching them.”
Marlene looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“And you punished Ivy because she caught you.”
“No.”
“You locked her out on Christmas morning.”
Marlene flinched.
“I did something cruel.”
“That’s not an explanation.”
“I saw the ornament box in her hands. I panicked.”
“So you humiliated a child.”
“Yes.”
The admission was quiet.
Unprotected.
Peter almost hated it more.
Marlene looked him directly in the eyes.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“Natalie did not keep Bluebird secret from you because she doubted your judgment.”
Peter remembered the recording.
“She said exactly that.”
“She was protecting you.”
“From whom?”
“From becoming legally connected to what she had discovered.”
Peter stared.
Marlene continued.
“And because she believed somebody inside your own family was giving Richard information.”
Behind Peter, the front door opened.
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Howard stood there.
His face had gone white.
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