{"id":10330,"date":"2026-09-13T15:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T15:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=10330"},"modified":"2026-09-13T15:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T15:33:14","slug":"part-12-inside-the-riverside-archive-patrick-finally-chose-a-side-but-marcus-had-one-last-document-that-could-destroy-dad-without-killing-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=10330","title":{"rendered":"PART 12 \u2013 Inside the Riverside Archive, Patrick Finally Chose a Side, but Marcus Had One Last Document That Could Destroy Dad Without Killing Him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For seven minutes, nobody could tell me whether Dad or Patrick was alive.<\/p>\n<p>Seven minutes is not a long time until you have to live inside each second.<\/p>\n<p>Detective Chen stood near the kitchen counter with one hand pressed to her earpiece.<\/p>\n<p>Officer Reyes had gone to coordinate with the Riverside team.<\/p>\n<p>Jason paced.<\/p>\n<p>I sat because my legs no longer trusted me.<\/p>\n<p>Radio traffic came in fragments.<\/p>\n<p>Building Three.<\/p>\n<p>North corridor.<\/p>\n<p>Archive level.<\/p>\n<p>Suspect sighted.<\/p>\n<p>Then nothing.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at Patrick\u2019s final message.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m going in.<\/p>\n<p>I had spent two days learning how much he had betrayed me.<\/p>\n<p>Now I was waiting to discover whether he had died trying to rescue my father.<\/p>\n<p>The contradiction hurt.<\/p>\n<p>I did not want Patrick back.<\/p>\n<p>I did not want our marriage repaired.<\/p>\n<p>I did not want his apologies.<\/p>\n<p>But I wanted him alive.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe because death would end his responsibility too easily.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe because some part of me still remembered the man who held my hand when my grandmother died.<\/p>\n<p>Human emotions did not respect clean legal categories.<\/p>\n<p>Chen suddenly straightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard is secure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jason grabbed the back of a chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Patrick?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She listened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot in custody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The relief disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cService tunnel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>The same infrastructure he had used for years had become his escape route.<\/p>\n<p>Dad was taken to a hospital for evaluation.<\/p>\n<p>His head wound looked worse than it was.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick had a reopened injury, bruised ribs, and another cut above his eye.<\/p>\n<p>This time police handcuffed him to the hospital bed.<\/p>\n<p>He did not object.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>But the red folder did not.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick had thrown it beneath an archive cabinet during the struggle.<\/p>\n<p>Police recovered it.<\/p>\n<p>Detective Chen brought scanned copies of selected pages to the secure apartment that evening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome material is being withheld as evidence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She placed one page before me.<\/p>\n<p>Payment ledger.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick Hale.<\/p>\n<p>Dates.<\/p>\n<p>Amounts.<\/p>\n<p>Descriptions.<\/p>\n<p>The first entry was exactly as Patrick said.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett introduction.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-five thousand dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Three weeks before the Camden Foundation gala.<\/p>\n<p>The second major payment came shortly after Patrick and I became engaged.<\/p>\n<p>Access secured.<\/p>\n<p>Fifty thousand.<\/p>\n<p>After our wedding:<\/p>\n<p>Phase two.<\/p>\n<p>Seventy-five thousand.<\/p>\n<p>I felt strangely detached.<\/p>\n<p>Numbers were cleaner than memories.<\/p>\n<p>They did not explain whether Patrick\u2019s tears at our wedding were genuine.<\/p>\n<p>They simply proved he had been paid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he do with the money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chen answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome went into his business. Some personal expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Marcus financed the image Patrick used to impress me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The expensive apartment.<\/p>\n<p>The restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>The watch.<\/p>\n<p>The weekend trips.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick had presented success as proof of stability.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had helped fund the performance.<\/p>\n<p>I turned the page.<\/p>\n<p>Later payments matched financial information Patrick supplied about Dad.<\/p>\n<p>Then came smaller transfers after Patrick\u2019s company began failing.<\/p>\n<p>By then, Marcus no longer needed to entice him.<\/p>\n<p>He owned the debt.<\/p>\n<p>The final payments were labeled differently.<\/p>\n<p>Compliance.<\/p>\n<p>Emergency.<\/p>\n<p>Insurance.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInsurance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThirty thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor buying the policy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re still establishing that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another document showed correspondence between Marcus and Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>Not staged.<\/p>\n<p>At least not obviously.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus ordered Patrick to complete the policy application.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick resisted.<\/p>\n<p>Then complied.<\/p>\n<p>The truth remained what I already knew.<\/p>\n<p>Pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Choice.<\/p>\n<p>Betrayal.<\/p>\n<p>All at once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is Patrick now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder guard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHas he asked for me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chen nodded.<\/p>\n<p>No argument.<\/p>\n<p>She placed another page on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is more important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a copy of the document Marcus had tried to force Dad to sign at Riverside.<\/p>\n<p>The title referenced a historical ownership correction.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s signature would have acknowledged that Victor Cole retained an unresolved beneficial interest in the original manufacturing company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would this do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt could create years of litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould Marcus take Dad\u2019s company?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot automatically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why risk everything for it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the document could support claims against assets that grew from the original company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad had built Bennett Industrial from that foundation.<\/p>\n<p>A fraudulent acknowledgment might contaminate decades of ownership.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus did not need to inherit the empire.<\/p>\n<p>He could threaten it.<\/p>\n<p>Sue it.<\/p>\n<p>Freeze transactions.<\/p>\n<p>Scare investors.<\/p>\n<p>Force settlements.<\/p>\n<p>Buy distressed assets.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s death had been one path.<\/p>\n<p>His signature was another.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had designed alternatives.<\/p>\n<p>I thought of the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<p>FINAL TRANSFER.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it did not mean my death specifically.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it meant the moment Marcus obtained control by whichever method succeeded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Dad sign?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Relief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen it\u2019s useless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chen hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus may not need Richard\u2019s real signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cForgery?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has already used forged documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut something this important would be verified.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She opened another file.<\/p>\n<p>A video.<\/p>\n<p>Dad appeared seated at a desk.<\/p>\n<p>He was reading a statement acknowledging Victor Cole\u2019s historical ownership.<\/p>\n<p>My heart stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s fake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The face was Dad.<\/p>\n<p>The voice was Dad.<\/p>\n<p>But I knew he had never recorded it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeepfake?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick had given Marcus recordings of me.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had collected Dad\u2019s public interviews, speeches, corporate videos.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had built digital versions of us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was going to pair this with the forged signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould that work?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut long enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Long enough to file claims.<\/p>\n<p>Long enough to disrupt Thursday\u2019s restructuring.<\/p>\n<p>Long enough to create panic.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus did not need a lie to survive permanently.<\/p>\n<p>Only long enough to make money.<\/p>\n<p>Dad arrived from the hospital against medical advice.<\/p>\n<p>A bandage covered his temple.<\/p>\n<p>Jason hugged him hard enough to make him complain.<\/p>\n<p>Then Dad hugged him back harder.<\/p>\n<p>When he reached me, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n<p>I wrapped my arms around him.<\/p>\n<p>For several seconds, I was twelve again.<\/p>\n<p>Then I pulled away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou look terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo do you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou started it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ordinary exchange nearly made me cry.<\/p>\n<p>Dad sat.<\/p>\n<p>Chen showed him the fake video.<\/p>\n<p>He watched without expression.<\/p>\n<p>When it ended, he said, \u201cThat is disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jason stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s your reaction?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have several stronger ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad examined the ownership document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wants to create a title dispute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we don\u2019t wait until Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chen frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you proposing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe execute clean documents tomorrow with independent verification.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman, joining by phone, said yes.<\/p>\n<p>The trustees could meet early.<\/p>\n<p>The corrupted documents would be discarded.<\/p>\n<p>Every signature could be witnessed, recorded, notarized, and independently confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus\u2019s window would close.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, we were not reacting.<\/p>\n<p>We were moving.<\/p>\n<p>I felt something inside me shift.<\/p>\n<p>Not relief.<\/p>\n<p>Agency.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe new trust includes your interests. I won\u2019t sign anything involving you unless you review it yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A week earlier, I would have said, \u201cI trust you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now I answered differently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll review every page.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We spent hours doing exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman explained each clause.<\/p>\n<p>I asked questions until I understood.<\/p>\n<p>Jason did too.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing moved because someone said it was easier.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing depended on blind trust.<\/p>\n<p>By midnight, the structure was ready.<\/p>\n<p>Then Detective Chen received a call.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had surfaced.<\/p>\n<p>Not physically.<\/p>\n<p>Digitally.<\/p>\n<p>He had sent files to several journalists, investors, and members of Dad\u2019s board.<\/p>\n<p>The forged ownership acknowledgment.<\/p>\n<p>The fake video.<\/p>\n<p>Documents alleging Dad stole Victor Cole\u2019s company decades earlier.<\/p>\n<p>The attack had begun.<\/p>\n<p>Dad read the first email.<\/p>\n<p>His expression remained calm.<\/p>\n<p>Jason looked ready to throw something.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s trying to destroy you publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he can\u2019t control the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we stop publication?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chen said, \u201cNot entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Dad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do the real records show?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor stole money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClearly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen release them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose records include private company information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-year-old private information?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough to matter more than this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at the allegations on the screen.<\/p>\n<p>I continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus survives because everyone keeps secrets he can twist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad was silent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe used Thomas\u2019s shame.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatrick\u2019s debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy embarrassment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd your old business dispute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He understood.<\/p>\n<p>I said, \u201cStop protecting the story. Show the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>For most of his career, privacy had been instinct.<\/p>\n<p>Do not argue publicly.<\/p>\n<p>Do not dignify accusations.<\/p>\n<p>Handle problems quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had built his plan around that instinct.<\/p>\n<p>Dad nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman began preparing the audit records for release.<\/p>\n<p>Detective Chen coordinated preservation of the original documents.<\/p>\n<p>Within hours, Dad\u2019s company would publish evidence showing Victor Cole\u2019s fraud, the dissolution of his partnership, and the legal chain of ownership afterward.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus\u2019s grievance would finally meet documentation.<\/p>\n<p>My phone buzzed.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>Chen checked it.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>One message.<\/p>\n<p>You think paperwork saves your father?<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>Ask Patrick what he did the night your brakes failed.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat brakes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A memory surfaced.<\/p>\n<p>Eleven months earlier.<\/p>\n<p>My Honda had rolled through a stop sign because the brake pedal went soft beneath my foot.<\/p>\n<p>I had managed to steer into an empty parking lot.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick told me the mechanic found a damaged brake line.<\/p>\n<p>He said road debris probably caused it.<\/p>\n<p>For weeks afterward, he insisted on driving me everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>I had almost forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year,\u201d I whispered. \u201cThe Honda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>My phone buzzed again.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus sent a photograph.<\/p>\n<p>My car on a lift inside a garage.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick stood beside it.<\/p>\n<p>Timestamped the night before my brakes failed.<\/p>\n<p>The next image showed Patrick holding something near the front wheel.<\/p>\n<p>Then Marcus\u2019s final message arrived.<\/p>\n<p>He didn\u2019t need Briarwood to practice.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at Patrick in the photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Everything inside me went silent.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Marcus was lying again.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe the image had been altered.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Patrick had been repairing something.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe.<\/p>\n<p>But I was finished building explanations for him.<\/p>\n<p>Detective Chen took the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe verify.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Not trust Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>Not trust Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>Verify.<\/p>\n<p>She called the mechanic who had repaired my Honda.<\/p>\n<p>The records still existed.<\/p>\n<p>The brake line had not been damaged by road debris.<\/p>\n<p>The technician had written something Patrick never showed me.<\/p>\n<p>Clean linear cut inconsistent with impact damage.<\/p>\n<p>My hands went cold.<\/p>\n<p>Dad sat beside me.<\/p>\n<p>Chen made another call.<\/p>\n<p>Then another.<\/p>\n<p>Forty minutes later, she received security footage from a neighboring business whose camera partially covered the garage Patrick used.<\/p>\n<p>The footage showed my Honda arriving late at night.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick drove it.<\/p>\n<p>He entered the garage alone using a key.<\/p>\n<p>He left twenty-three minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>No mechanic appeared.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning, my brakes failed.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the frozen frame.<\/p>\n<p>Dad whispered my name.<\/p>\n<p>I could not answer.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, some part of me had believed Patrick\u2019s worst decisions began when Marcus pressured him about the insurance policy.<\/p>\n<p>The timeline no longer allowed that comfort.<\/p>\n<p>The brake incident happened before the policy.<\/p>\n<p>Before Briarwood.<\/p>\n<p>Before Patrick claimed he realized Marcus intended to kill me.<\/p>\n<p>Detective Chen looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to question Patrick about this immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>This time, when Patrick asked to speak with me, I changed my answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked startled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t owe him that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at the photograph of my husband standing beside the car my father had given me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I want to watch his face when I ask.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An hour later, a secure video connection opened.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick appeared from his hospital room.<\/p>\n<p>Handcuffed.<\/p>\n<p>Bruised.<\/p>\n<p>Exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me and immediately started crying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJenna.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt nothing.<\/p>\n<p>I held the photograph toward the camera.<\/p>\n<p>His tears stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat were you doing to my car?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick stared.<\/p>\n<p>His face emptied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnswer me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stood behind me.<\/p>\n<p>Detective Chen watched from beside the screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatrick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His shoulders collapsed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t supposed to fail while you were driving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went silent.<\/p>\n<p>My voice came out almost inaudible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou cut my brakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just admitted it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI damaged the line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus told me to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>The familiar refuge.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus told me.<\/p>\n<p>I leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you did it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted to know how quickly Richard reacted when you were in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad made a sound behind me.<\/p>\n<p>I could barely understand the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy brake failure was a test?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick started crying again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA test of my father?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo see what he would do for me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The horror was almost too precise to absorb.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had not merely studied Dad\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n<p>He had tested his love.<\/p>\n<p>And Patrick had volunteered his wife as the instrument.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know I could die?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick whispered, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>No Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>No debt.<\/p>\n<p>No ambiguity.<\/p>\n<p>A choice.<\/p>\n<p>I ended the call.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick\u2019s face disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>For several seconds, nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Then Detective Chen\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>She answered.<\/p>\n<p>Her expression sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecure the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey found Marcus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chen\u2019s face was unreadable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt your mother-in-law\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n<p>The woman driving my Honda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy is he there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Chen\u2019s phone buzzed with a photograph from the officers.<\/p>\n<p>She turned it toward me.<\/p>\n<p>My pale blue Honda sat in Patrick\u2019s mother\u2019s garage.<\/p>\n<p>The trunk was open.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were the missing red folder, a suitcase full of cash, and a second set of forged trust documents.<\/p>\n<p>But that was not what made my stomach drop.<\/p>\n<p>Taped beneath the trunk lid was a handwritten checklist.<\/p>\n<p>My name appeared at the top.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s beneath it.<\/p>\n<p>Several steps had been crossed out.<\/p>\n<p>The final line remained untouched.<\/p>\n<p>After trust transfer, eliminate Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at it.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick had never been Marcus\u2019s partner in the ending.<\/p>\n<p>He had been another loose end.<\/p>\n<p>And for the first time, we had found a piece of Marcus\u2019s plan that Patrick almost certainly had never been meant to see.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=10331\">Click here to continue reading: PART 13: Marcus Was Finally in Custody, but the Cash Hidden in My Honda Proved Someone Else Had Been Financing His Plan<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For seven minutes, nobody could tell me whether Dad or Patrick was alive. Seven minutes is not a long time until you have to live inside each second. Detective Chen &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10350,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10330\/revisions\/10350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}