Chapter 10 - The Storage Unit
Police searched the Queens storage unit two days later.
David was not allowed inside during the search.
He didn’t need to be.
Detective Martinez called him afterward.
“We found your document case.”
David closed his eyes.
“What else?”
“Your old phone.”
He expected that.
“Anything else?”
“A laptop.”
“Mark’s?”
“We’ll determine that.”
“What was on it?”
“Too early.”
David waited.
Martinez continued.
“We also recovered copies of financial documents with your signature.”
“How many?”
“Enough that I’m not going to discuss details over the phone.”
David stared out the hospital window.
Maya was being discharged that afternoon.
“What happens to Mark?”
“We’re looking for him.”
“You don’t know where he is?”
“Not yet.”
David’s stomach tightened.
“Is Chloe safe?”
“She’s cooperating.”
“My mother?”
“We’ve spoken with her.”
“And?”
“She has an attorney now.”
Of course she did.
David ended the call.
Maya stood behind him.
“They found it?”
“Yes.”
“Mark?”
“Not yet.”
She looked worried.
“Does he have a key to our apartment?”
David’s face changed.
He hadn’t thought of that.
Within an hour, every lock was changed.
Every access code was replaced.
Every password was reset.
David hired a professional security company.
Not because he wanted a fortress.
Because he wanted Maya to sleep.
They returned home at 5:40 PM.
Maya stopped inside the doorway.
David saw her expression.
“What?”
“I don’t want to sit in that kitchen.”
“You don’t have to.”
He had already thrown away the folding chair.
The refrigerator was full.
Not extravagantly.
Simply properly.
Broth.
Fruit.
Milk.
Prepared meals.
Maya’s medication.
Liam’s formula.
Twelve containers.
David watched her stare at them.
Then she started crying.
Quietly.
He wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For making this something you had to survive.”
“You didn’t do it.”
“I helped make it possible.”
Maya looked up.
“How?”
“By teaching my family there would never be consequences.”
She shook her head.
“That isn’t all on you.”
“No.”
David kissed her forehead.
“But my part is.”
Liam began fussing.
Maya smiled faintly.
“Your son has timing.”
David picked him up.
“My son?”
“At three in the morning, definitely your son.”
David laughed.
It was the first real laugh either of them had shared since New Year’s Eve.
For several minutes, the apartment felt like a home again.
Then the intercom buzzed.
David froze.
Maya did too.
He checked the new camera.
Eleanor stood downstairs.
Alone.
David pressed the speaker.
“What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“You have an attorney.”
“This isn’t about the case.”
“Then what?”
Eleanor looked directly into the camera.
“It’s about Mark.”
David said nothing.
“He called me.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“What did he say?”
Eleanor’s face looked genuinely frightened.
“He said Chloe ruined everything.”
David’s grip tightened around the intercom.
“And?”
“He said he was coming back to Brooklyn.”
David looked at Maya.
Then at Liam.
“Did he say why?”
Eleanor swallowed.
“Yes.”
“He said he needed to get one last thing from your apartment.”
May you like
David immediately called 911.
Because whatever Mark thought was still inside that apartment, David had no intention of letting him retrieve it.
