Chapter 10 - The House Across the Street
Miguel paused the video.
"There's more."
Mark didn't want more.
He needed it.
The footage showed Linda and Calvin guiding June inside. Calvin returned to the car, removed two file boxes, and carried them to the basement entrance.
At 2:41 a.m., he came back out alone.
Linda stood on the porch with him.
The camera had no audio, but their body language was clear.
Calvin handed her a folder.
Linda kissed his cheek.
Then she pointed across the street at Miguel's house.
"The next morning she knocked on my door," Miguel said. "Told me her mother had dementia and asked me to erase the footage for privacy. When I said no, she told me her attorney would ruin me."
Ruiz copied the files.
Mark asked, "Why didn't you go to police?"
Miguel looked ashamed. "I told myself I didn't know enough. I didn't want trouble."
Mark couldn't judge him.
He had done the same thing inside his own home.
His phone rang.
Sarah.
"I'm at the airport," she said. "And someone followed me from the gate."
Mark stood. "What?"
"Man in a blue cap. Mid-fifties. He keeps pretending to check his phone."
Ruiz took the call.
"Sarah, do not go to the parking garage. Walk toward airport security and tell the nearest officer you believe you're being followed. Stay in a public area."
Mark's heart hammered.
Twenty minutes later, Sarah called back.
The man had disappeared.
Mark met her at the curb with Ruiz beside him.
Sarah stepped out carrying one suitcase and a camera bag.
She was forty-one now, with the same dark eyes Mark saw in the mirror.
For several seconds neither sibling moved.
Then Sarah looked at him and said, "You got old."
Mark laughed despite himself.
"You too."
She hugged Noah first.
"You must be the brave one."
Noah whispered, "I'm trying."
Sarah held him tighter.
At the house, June began crying the second she saw her granddaughter.
Linda had told June for years that Sarah wanted nothing to do with the family.
Sarah had been sending birthday cards the whole time.
"She returned every one," Sarah said. "Sometimes unopened. Sometimes with notes telling me to stay away."
Mark asked, "Do you know anything about the blue ledger?"
Sarah nodded.
"Dad called it his insurance policy. It tracked every payment Calvin received and every document Linda made him change."
"It's gone."
"No," Sarah said.
Mark stared at her.
Sarah unzipped the lining of her camera bag and pulled out a flash drive.
"Dad mailed me scans before he died."
June covered her mouth.
Sarah plugged the drive into Mark's laptop.
Folders opened.
Bank records. Property transfers. Emails.
Then one audio file.
LINDA-CALVIN-APRIL14.wav
Sarah's face lost color.
"I never listened to this one."
Mark clicked play.
May you like
Calvin's voice filled the kitchen.
"If Mark ever finds out what you did to Daniel, this whole thing is over."
