Chapter 6 - WHAT MARCUS NEVER SAID
Alexander arrived at the mansion two hours later.
Police cars crowded the driveway.
Crime scene tape crossed the broken window.
Marcus waited in Alexander’s office.
Victoria had been taken into police custody.
The moment Alexander entered, he shut the door.
“Your mother?”
“Stable.”
Marcus nodded.
Alexander held up the hospital badge.
“Start talking.”
Marcus stared at it.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“When it mattered.”
Alexander laughed angrily.
“Someone tried to stab me in a hospital, Marcus. I think we passed ‘when it mattered.’”
Marcus leaned back.
“My mother was Clara Benton.”
“The nurse who saved mine?”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother?”
“Not until years later.”
Alexander stared at him.
Marcus continued.
“My mother came home one night when I was thirteen. She was terrified.”
“What did she say?”
“That she had helped a woman disappear.”
“Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“She never told you her name?”
“Not then.”
“What happened to Clara?”
Marcus looked at the floor.
“Three days later, she died.”
Alexander’s anger faded.
“How?”
“House fire.”
“Accident?”
Marcus gave him a bitter look.
“No.”
Alexander went quiet.
“I joined the military because I wanted out. Later I moved into intelligence work.”
“And Jonah Vale?”
“He was on my team.”
“What kind of team?”
“The kind that doesn’t officially exist.”
Alexander crossed his arms.
“Keep going.”
“Years ago, I accessed sealed domestic records. I was looking into my mother’s death.”
“And?”
“I found Richard Reed’s name.”
Alexander felt a chill.
“Linked to the fire?”
“Linked to a private investigator who arrived in town two days before.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Marcus looked directly at him.
“Because when I started working for you, I didn’t know you were connected.”
“My last name is Reed.”
“There are a lot of Reeds.”
“You became head of my security.”
“After I realized.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed.
“So you stayed to investigate me.”
“At first.”
“Fantastic.”
“Then I learned who you were.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“But I also learned Richard had been watching you your entire adult life.”
Alexander stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“Your first investor.”
“Richard.”
“Your first major acquisition.”
“Richard introduced the seller.”
“Your board.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
Marcus nodded.
“Three of your board members worked with Richard before they worked with you.”
Alexander whispered,
“He built my career.”
“Or he kept you where he could control you.”
Alexander walked toward the window.
His empire suddenly felt less like a victory.
More like a cage.
“Why?”
Marcus answered softly.
“Maybe because he was afraid of what you would find if you ever failed.”
Alexander turned.
“That makes no sense.”
“Poor people look backward. They ask where they came from. Rich people look forward. They’re too busy protecting what they have.”
Alexander almost smiled.
“You think Richard made me rich so I wouldn’t ask questions?”
“I think Richard understood you.”
Alexander’s phone rang.
Richard.
Both men stared at the screen.
Alexander answered.
“You tried to kill my mother.”
Richard sighed.
“Alex.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“No.”
“Then why did someone come after me at the hospital?”
Silence.
Alexander’s hand tightened.
Richard said,
“If I wanted you dead, you would be dead.”
Marcus heard him.
Alexander’s voice turned cold.
“You have one chance.”
“For what?”
“To tell me the truth.”
Richard laughed quietly.
“You think your mother told you the truth?”
Alexander said nothing.
Richard continued.
“She lied about your father for three decades.”
“She was protecting me.”
“Is that what she said?”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“She always was good at turning fear into virtue.”
“Watch yourself.”
“Ask her who was driving.”
Alexander froze.
“What?”
“The night your father died.”
Richard paused.
May you like
“Ask your mother who was behind the wheel.”
Then he hung up.
