Chapter 11 - THE CONFESSION
Thomas aimed his weapon.
“Drop it.”
Marcus did not turn.
He smiled.
“I wondered when the dead man would arrive.”
Thomas moved closer.
“You should’ve checked the trees.”
Marcus’s eyes shifted toward the reflection in a metal cabinet.
“Adrian.”
“You didn’t come alone.”
“No.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
Marcus laughed.
“Evelyn would be disappointed.”
Adrian looked at Lily.
“No.”
“She’d finally be impressed.”
Marcus lowered his gun slightly.
Thomas stepped closer.
“Put it down.”
Marcus suddenly turned.
A shot struck the wall.
Thomas ducked.
Adrian moved.
He hit Marcus hard enough to send the weapon across the floor.
Marcus drove Adrian into the surgical table.
They struggled.
Years of friendship became violence in seconds.
Marcus swung.
Adrian blocked him.
Marcus grabbed a metal tray.
Adrian threw him against the wall.
Thomas reached for the gun.
Marcus kicked it away.
Then Marcus looked toward Lily.
Adrian saw the glance.
His entire body changed.
“Don’t.”
Marcus ran toward the infant carrier.
Adrian intercepted him.
They crashed to the floor.
Marcus laughed as Adrian pinned him.
“There you are.”
“Do it.”
Adrian’s hand closed around Marcus’s throat.
“Do it!”
Marcus’s face reddened.
“You’ve wanted this since the grave.”
Adrian tightened his grip.
Then Evelyn’s voice entered his memory.
Do not turn this into revenge.
Teach Lily something else.
Adrian looked toward his daughter.
Lily was crying.
Watching him.
He slowly released Marcus.
Marcus coughed.
Then smiled.
“Weak.”
Adrian stood.
“No.”
He stepped away.
“Finished.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Marcus froze.
Not private security.
Police.
Federal vehicles.
State investigators.
Elias entered with two officers.
Behind them came Grant Mercer.
Marcus stared.
“You.”
Grant smiled coldly.
“You used my name to kill a woman.”
“I took that personally.”
Marcus looked at Adrian.
“You brought Mercer here?”
“I brought witnesses.”
Adrian pointed toward the ceiling.
A small camera blinked.
Marcus’s face changed.
Everything had been recorded.
His statements.
His gun.
His attempt to reach Lily.
His words about Evelyn.
Marcus laughed weakly.
“You think that’s a confession?”
Thomas stepped forward.
“No.”
“But this is.”
He held out his phone.
Thomas had been recording from the moment Marcus said Evelyn was collateral.
Marcus stared at him.
Then at Adrian.
Adrian said, “Tell them why.”
Marcus’s eyes hardened.
“You already know.”
“I want Lily to know one day.”
Marcus laughed.
“You want a bedtime story?”
“I want the truth.”
Officers surrounded the room.
Marcus realized there was nowhere left to go.
His shoulders lowered.
Then years of anger finally spilled out.
“You had everything.”
Adrian stared.
“Your father chose you.”
“The captains chose you.”
“The city feared you.”
“Men twice your age asked permission to breathe around you.”
Marcus’s voice cracked with hatred.
“And you were going to throw it away.”
“For Evelyn?”
“For a baby?”
Adrian said nothing.
Marcus continued.
“I spent fifteen years building beside you.”
“I cleaned up your mistakes.”
“I took the meetings you hated.”
“I paid the men you forgot.”
“I kept the machine running.”
“And then Evelyn decides you should become respectable?”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“You started selling properties.”
“Closing routes.”
“Moving contracts into legitimate companies.”
“You were going to erase everything we built.”
Adrian’s voice remained calm.
“So you killed her.”
“I removed the person pushing you away.”
“And Lily?”
Marcus looked toward the child.
“She would’ve kept pushing.”
“No heirs.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
Adrian stared at the man who had once been his brother.
Marcus continued.
“I needed you angry.”
“I needed Mercer blamed.”
“I needed a war.”
“Then when both organizations collapsed, I would own what remained.”
Grant shook his head.
“You always were bad at predicting people.”
Marcus looked at him.
Grant continued.
“You predicted Adrian would destroy me.”
“You never predicted we’d both decide you were worse.”
The officers moved forward.
Marcus looked at Adrian one final time.
“You think this changes what you are?”
Adrian picked up Lily.
She stopped crying the moment she touched his chest.
Adrian looked at Marcus.
“Yes.”
“Because now I get to choose.”
May you like
Marcus Reed was placed in handcuffs.
For the first time in fifteen years, Adrian watched his best friend walk away without following him.
