Chapter 11 - Marcus Hale
Marcus looked smaller in the hospital bed than he had in the boardroom.
A tube ran into his chest. Two officers stood outside the door.
Ruiz stayed beside me.
Marcus glanced at her. "I asked for Daniel."
"You don't get private conversations anymore," she said.
He closed his eyes.
"Fair."
I put Claire's death certificate on his blanket.
"Tell me everything."
Marcus stared at his own signature.
"Claire confronted Vanessa at the lake house because Vanessa promised to show her proof Elliot had acted alone. It was a trap. They wanted Claire's backup drive."
"The recording says you were there."
"I came after Vanessa called. Claire had been struck and had fallen down six steps. She had a fractured skull."
"You could have saved her."
Marcus's eyes filled with water.
"At first, yes."
I gripped the bed rail.
"At first?"
"She woke the next morning. She knew where she was. She knew what we had done. She told me she had copied my false invoices. She said she would destroy my career and send Vanessa and Elliot to prison."
Ruiz leaned forward. "What happened after that?"
Marcus swallowed.
"Vanessa wanted to call an ambulance. Elliot said no. I said we had waited too long already."
"Did Claire die from the head injury?"
He looked at me.
That was answer enough.
"What did you do?"
Before he could speak, every light in the room went out.
The heart monitor switched to battery and began beeping.
Ruiz drew her gun.
A shadow moved past the narrow window in the door.
The door opened.
A man in hospital scrubs stepped inside wearing a surgical mask.
He raised a suppressed pistol.
Ruiz fired first.
The man ducked and ran.
I chased him.
"Daniel!" Ruiz yelled.
He sprinted down the stairwell, knocking a nurse into the wall. I followed two floors before he ripped off the scrub top.
Gray jacket underneath.
Same build Noah had described.
At the parking level, he turned long enough for the mask to slip.
May you like
I saw his face.
Elliot Price.
