Chapter 10 - MICHAEL’S VERSION
The police prepared the meeting carefully.
I wore a concealed microphone.
Detective Collins and several officers positioned themselves nearby.
The flash drive in my pocket was a copy.
The original was locked inside evidence storage.
Michael arrived twelve minutes late.
He looked terrible.
Unshaven.
Wrinkled clothes.
Eyes constantly searching the garage.
For one second, seeing him almost broke me.
He was still my little brother.
The boy who followed me everywhere when we were children.
The best man at my wedding.
The uncle Lily adored.
Then I remembered the whiteboard.
PHASE TWO - MEDICAL INCIDENT.
“You brought the drive?” he asked.
“You tried to kill my daughter.”
His face tightened.
“No.”
“You took her medication.”
“Evelyn did.”
“You planned it.”
“I planned to scare you.”
I almost hit him.
“You planned an allergic reaction in an eight-year-old child.”
“The hospital was six minutes away.”
My stomach turned.
“You timed it?”
Michael looked ashamed.
That was answer enough.
“She wasn’t supposed to eat enough to become critical.”
“You don’t control anaphylaxis.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
He looked away.
I forced myself not to move toward him.
“What did you want?”
“Custody.”
“Money.”
“Yes.”
At least he stopped pretending.
“How much did you steal?”
“Less than Evelyn.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Four hundred thousand.”
“You stole four hundred thousand dollars from Lily?”
“I was going to put it back.”
“Everyone who steals says that.”
Michael’s eyes suddenly filled with anger.
“You think I wanted this?”
“I had lenders threatening me.”
“I was drowning.”
“So you pulled my daughter underwater with you.”
He flinched.
Then he lowered his voice.
“Evelyn turned it into something bigger.”
“She wanted you removed permanently.”
“What does permanently mean?”
Michael looked around.
“I don’t know.”
That answer terrified me.
He held out his hand.
“Give me Anna’s drive.”
“No.”
“Daniel, Robert has people looking for it.”
“Robert?”
“He’s been moving money for Evelyn for years.”
“Why would he help you?”
“Because he takes ten percent.”
The words landed like another explosion.
Our attorney had not merely ignored the theft.
He had profited from it.
Michael stepped closer.
“If Evelyn talks, Robert destroys all of us.”
A car engine suddenly started behind us.
Michael’s face changed.
“Get down!”
A black SUV accelerated into the garage.
Michael shoved me behind a concrete column.
The vehicle tore past us.
By the time officers surrounded the area, the SUV was gone.
Michael was gone too.
But he had dropped his phone.
And on the screen was a message sent thirty seconds before the vehicle arrived.
HE HAS THE DRIVE.
May you like
The sender was saved under one name.
ROBERT.
