Chapter 9 - Chloe Finally Breaks
Chloe appeared at David’s apartment at 9:20 PM.
David saw her through the building camera.
He called Detective Martinez before opening the door.
“Let her talk,” Martinez said.
“Don’t promise anything.”
David opened the door.
Chloe looked terrible.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
Eyes swollen.
“Where’s Mark?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“He left.”
“When?”
“Two hours ago.”
“Where did he go?”
“I said I don’t know.”
David stepped aside.
Chloe entered.
She looked around the apartment.
The empty refrigerator was still open for police documentation.
Evidence markers sat near the office.
Her face changed.
“God.”
David closed the door.
“What happened?”
Chloe sat down.
“Mark owes money.”
“How much?”
“A lot.”
“To whom?”
“Business people.”
“What business?”
“I don’t know.”
“Chloe.”
“I really don’t.”
David remained standing.
“How much?”
She whispered,
“About two hundred thousand.”
David stared at her.
“You knew?”
“Not at first.”
“When did you find out?”
“October.”
“And you said nothing?”
“He promised he could fix it.”
“With my money?”
Chloe began crying.
David felt almost nothing.
“Did you know about the forty-eight thousand?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he was taking my company files?”
“No.”
“Did Mom?”
“No.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“You don’t.”
At least that answer was honest.
Chloe wiped her face.
“Mark said he had a consulting deal.”
“MJR Consulting?”
Her eyes widened.
“You know?”
“I know more than you think.”
“He said a company would pay him for market information.”
David stared at her.
“Market information?”
“I didn’t know it was yours.”
“Whose did you think it was?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“That’s convenient.”
“I was scared.”
“So was Maya.”
Chloe looked down.
David continued.
“You took her food.”
“I know.”
“You took Liam’s formula.”
“I brought some back.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I meant to.”
“Do you hear yourself?”
Chloe covered her face.
David’s voice remained quiet.
“My wife was sitting in this kitchen eating cold ramen eleven days after surgery while you were drinking champagne in Miami.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You weren’t sorry until the cards stopped.”
Chloe flinched.
Because it was true.
David sat across from her.
“What was Mom’s role?”
Chloe hesitated.
“Mark told her the trust money was technically family money.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I know.”
“Did she?”
“She wanted to believe him.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Chloe looked at her brother.
“She agreed to request the twenty thousand.”
David nodded slowly.
“And the fourteen thousand?”
“Mom said you always send more if she tells you there’s an emergency.”
David’s stomach turned.
“What emergency?”
“There wasn’t one.”
Silence.
“She asked for the money because Mark said he needed time.”
David remembered Eleanor’s message.
WE’LL TAKE CARE OF THEM.
It had never been about Maya.
Maya had been the excuse.
“How much of my money has Mark taken over the years?”
“I don’t know.”
“Guess.”
“David—”
“Guess.”
Chloe whispered,
“Maybe eighty thousand.”
David stood.
“Get out.”
“Please.”
“Get out.”
“David, I’m trying to help.”
“You’re trying to save yourself.”
“Yes!”
The word burst out of her.
Then Chloe froze.
David stared at her.
For once, she had told the complete truth.
“Yes,” she repeated more quietly.
“I am.”
“Then start by telling the police everything.”
Chloe looked terrified.
“Mark will hate me.”
David walked to the door.
“Maya thought I would hate her if she told me the truth.”
Chloe looked at him.
“That fear nearly put her in intensive care.”
He opened the door.
“Decide what kind of person you want to be before somebody else pays for your silence.”
Chloe stepped into the hallway.
Then stopped.
“There’s a storage unit.”
David’s hand tightened on the door.
“What?”
“Mark rented one in Queens.”
“What’s inside?”
“I’ve never been there.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because yesterday I found the key in his jacket.”
She reached into her purse.
David didn’t touch it.
“Give it to Detective Martinez.”
Chloe nodded.
Then she whispered,
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Mark has copies of your signature.”
David felt his pulse slow.
Not accelerate.
Slow.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did he get them?”
Chloe looked toward David’s office.
“From your files.”
May you like
And for the first time, David understood that Mark had not made one desperate decision.
He had been preparing for months.
