Chapter 17 - MARTIN COMES BACK
They found Martin because he came back for Florence.
Not to hurt her.
To bargain.
At least that was what he told himself.
He walked into the hospital parking garage wearing a baseball cap and carrying a leather briefcase like a man arriving late for a meeting.
Detective Ruiz had officers watching the building.
They spotted him before I did.
I was crossing the garage when he called my name.
“Edward.”
I turned.
Ruiz shouted from somewhere behind me.
Martin raised both hands.
“I’m not armed.”
Three officers surrounded him.
He did not run.
He looked older than he had three days earlier.
Tired.
Almost relieved.
Then he looked at me.
“You have no idea what your father did.”
I surprised myself by laughing.
“That line is getting old.”
He tried another.
“James would have sacrificed Elise to protect the company.”
“He almost did.”
Martin blinked.
I stepped closer.
“That’s the difference between your story and the truth. I don’t need my father to be innocent of every mistake.”
His face changed.
For years he had survived by giving people a villain large enough to hide behind.
If Dad was not a saint, Martin assumed Dad had to be the thief.
But people could fail Elise without stealing from her.
Martin had done both.
Ruiz cuffed him.
He still smiled.
“You think the ledger saves your family?”
“No.”
“It implicates Florence.”
“I know.”
“And Victoria.”
“I know.”
He looked irritated now.
Good.
Then he said something I had not expected.
“Ask Victoria where the missing four hundred thousand went.”
Ruiz stopped.
“What four hundred thousand?”
Martin’s smile returned.
“The amount she actually did take.”
My stomach dropped.
He looked at me as officers pulled him away.
“She did not tell you everything.”
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