Chapter 12 - The Broken Window
Calvin saw Mark at the same moment Mark saw him.
He released Linda and ran.
Officer Ruiz's patrol car turned into the driveway as Calvin vaulted the side fence and disappeared between houses.
Linda did not get far.
Ruiz entered through the front door with two officers and found her standing in the kitchen beside the shattered window.
"This is a misunderstanding," Linda said.
Sarah actually laughed.
"You climbed through a broken window at one in the morning."
Linda glared at her. "I still own this house."
"The no-contact order says otherwise," Ruiz replied.
Linda's wrists were cuffed again.
Noah watched from the upstairs landing despite Mark's instructions.
Linda saw him.
"This is what you wanted?" she called. "To watch your grandmother dragged away?"
Noah flinched.
Mark stepped between them.
"Don't speak to him."
Linda smiled bitterly. "You think you're a hero now? You left him with me every week."
The sentence landed because it was true.
Mark did not defend himself.
"I failed him," he said. "That doesn't excuse you."
Linda's expression faltered.
Police took her away.
By morning, Calvin Shaw was missing.
His office was locked. His phone was off. His assistant said he had left carrying a laptop and two banker boxes.
Ruiz warned the family that he might try to destroy records.
Sarah sat beside Noah at breakfast.
"People like Calvin count on everyone being too embarrassed to talk."
Noah poked at his cereal. "What if talking makes things worse?"
"Sometimes it does for a while," Sarah said. "Then it makes lying harder."
A delivery truck stopped outside.
The driver left a small package on the porch and drove away.
No return address.
Mark called Ruiz before touching it.
The bomb squad wasn't needed; the package contained only a phone.
One video file was saved on it.
Mark pressed play.
Calvin appeared on-screen, sweating.
"Mark, your mother is going to blame everything on me. Before she does, you need to know where the original ledger is."
He looked over his shoulder.
"It's not in the storage unit. It never was."
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Then he named the last place Mark expected.
"It's inside Noah's school."
