Chapter 7 - The Man on the Lower LedgeEthan confronted Marcus before he confronted Nia.
It was instinctive.
Maybe cowardly.
Maybe he still needed someone else to blame.
Marcus answered the door of his Denver condo wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.
He did not look surprised.
“Ethan.”
“Were you sleeping with my sister?”
Marcus leaned against the doorway.
“That’s an interesting greeting.”
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Off and on? Almost five years.”
Ethan felt foolish for never knowing.
“You worked for my father while you were involved with Nia.”
“Yes.”
“He fired you because of the missing $8.7 million.”
For the first time, Marcus’s composure shifted.
Barely.
“Your father told you that?”
“He left records.”
“Victor left whatever version made Victor look best.”
“Did you steal it?”
Marcus smiled.
“Be careful.”
“That isn’t a no.”
“That money funded projects your father did not want visible.”
“Which projects?”
“Ask the dead man.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Did Nia know?”
“Your sister knew more about Blake Meridian than you ever will.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Marcus’s smile faded.
“You came here hoping I’d tell you she’s innocent.”
Ethan said nothing.
Marcus continued.
“You want someone to blame because the alternative is unbearable.”
“You were on the mountain.”
“So were you.”
“You told Nia something over the radio.”
“Did I?”
“I heard your voice before the rope failed.”
“That mountain had six radio channels.”
“Claire logged channel assignments.”
That was a bluff.
Marcus did not know it.
His eyes narrowed.
Ethan saw the reaction.
“What did you tell her?”
“Get out.”
“Did you tell her to let me fall?”
Marcus stepped forward.
“You have no idea what your family did to her.”
“What did you say?”
“I said get out.”
Ethan did not move.
Marcus’s face hardened.
“If you’re smart, you’ll stop digging into your father’s finances.”
“Why?”
“Because you think the worst thing you’ll find is me.”
Ethan left without another word.
He called Claire from the garage.
“I need to know whether the radios recorded audio.”
“The guide company system?”
“Yes.”
“Some repeaters cache emergency traffic. Why?”
“Marcus just reacted when I mentioned channel logs.”
Claire went silent.
“I’ll check.”
Two hours later, she called back.
“The system archives thirty seconds before and after any emergency trigger.”
Ethan stood in his father’s library.
“Claire triggered an emergency when my rope failed.”
“Yes.”
“So there might be a recording.”
“There is.”
Ethan gripped the phone.
“Play it.”
“I sent it to Medina first.”
“Claire.”
“Ethan—”
“Please.”
A pause.
Then audio filled the room.
Wind.
Metal.
Ethan’s own distant voice.
“Almost at the summit!”
Nia laughed.
“You’re doing great, little brother.”
Static.
Then Marcus.
Lower.
Closer to Nia’s microphone.
Once he falls, the estate is yours.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Nia’s answer followed.
And nobody will question a mountain accident.
Then the first tearing sound.
Ethan heard himself shout.
NIA!
The recording ended with Claire screaming instructions.
Ethan did not move for a long time.
He had imagined betrayal as something loud.
A door slamming.
A confession.
A gunshot.
Instead, it arrived as his sister’s calm voice inside a quiet room.
Claire stayed on the line.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan stared at Victor’s photograph.
“No.”
“What?”
“I kept defending her.”
“That’s normal.”
“I thought Dad made her bitter.”
“Both things can be true.”
“She tried to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“And I still understand why she hated him.”
Claire did not answer.
Ethan pressed his knuckles against his mouth.
“Does Nia know you have this?”
“Not yet.”
“Medina?”
“Yes.”
“What happens now?”
“Probably warrants.”
Ethan looked through the library windows.
A black SUV had stopped beyond the gates.
A man stepped out.
Detective Medina.
Behind her were two uniformed deputies.
Ethan watched them walk toward the house.
But they did not come to him.
Medina raised her phone.
Ethan’s rang.
“Mr. Blake?”
“Yes.”
“We have a warrant for Nia Blake’s arrest.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Medina continued.
“We can’t find her.”
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“Her phone is off. Her Denver residence is empty.”
Ethan looked toward the road.
“And Marcus?”
“Gone too.”
Then Ethan noticed something on his father’s desk.
The trust file.
He had left it closed.
Now it was open.
One document was missing.
Victor’s confidential letter.
Ethan searched the room.
The back door stood slightly ajar.
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Someone had already been inside the house.
And whoever took Victor’s letter now knew exactly how much the dead man had known.
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