Chapter 6: What Marcus Knew
Valerie didn't turn around immediately.
She saved the document she had open, closed the laptop screen, and then turned her chair to face him.
"Close the door," she said.
He did.
He didn't sit down.
"I didn't know what he was going to do," Marcus said.
"I want you to know that."
"What did you tell him?"
Marcus looked at the floor.
"He called me yesterday afternoon.
He said he needed to know if Thomas was with you.
He said there was a family situation and he was trying to reach you and you weren't answering your phone."
"And you believed that."
"I—" He stopped.
"He's your husband.
He sounded worried."
"He sounded worried," Valerie repeated.
The words sat between them.
"I didn't know about any of it," Marcus said.
"I swear to you.
I didn't know what he'd done to Thomas.
I didn't know about the money.
I just told him Thomas was there and that you were on your way in."
"And then you stayed quiet all evening while the police were here."
His jaw tightened.
"I didn't know what to say."
"You could have said that you told him where his son was." Valerie kept her voice even.
"You could have said that the moment the police arrived.
Instead you polished glasses."
Marcus looked up.
"I panicked."
"You panicked," she said.
"My son was sitting twenty feet away from you, and you panicked."
He didn't answer.
Valerie stood up.
"I'm going to tell you what's going to happen now.
My lawyer is going to call you this afternoon.
You are going to tell her exactly what you told me, and you are going to tell the police the same thing.
Everything.
The phone call, what he asked, what you said." She walked to the door and opened it.
"And then you are going to collect your things and go home, and you are not going to come back."
"Valerie—"
"Don't." She held the door open.
"You didn't hurt Thomas yourself.
But you handed Daniel the door, and you knew something was wrong and you said nothing." She looked at him steadily.
"I can't have someone in this building who makes that choice."
Marcus picked up his jacket from the hook behind the door.
He stopped in the doorway.
"For what it's worth," he said quietly, "I am sorry."
"I know you are," Valerie said.
"It's not enough."
She watched him walk across the restaurant floor and out the front door.
Then she went back to her desk, picked up her phone, and called Diane.
---
That afternoon, Grace Teller called with an update.
"Coyle made his first move," Grace said.
"He's filed a motion to reduce bail on the grounds that Daniel is not a flight risk and has strong community ties."
"Is that going to work?"
"The judge hasn't ruled yet.
But I want you to be prepared for the possibility that Daniel could be out on bail within forty-eight hours."
Valerie sat very still.
"He can't come near Thomas."
"The protection order is in place and it's solid.
He comes within five hundred meters of Thomas or of you, he violates the conditions of his release and goes straight back." Grace paused.
"But I want you to know, because I think you deserve to know — Coyle called me this morning.
Before the motion was filed."
"What did he say?"
"He said his client was willing to cooperate fully with the financial investigation in exchange for the endangerment charges being reduced to a lesser offense." Grace's voice was careful and precise.
"He framed it as Daniel wanting to make things right for his family."
Valerie laughed.
It came out shorter and sharper than she intended.
"What did you say?"
"I told him the offer wasn't something I could consider without reviewing the full evidentiary picture.
Which is the polite way of saying no while keeping the door technically open so he doesn't go to the judge complaining about prosecutorial inflexibility." A pause.
"Valerie, I'm telling you this because I want you to understand what Coyle is doing.
He's going to try to make this a negotiation.
He's going to try to make Daniel look cooperative and remorseful.
And he's going to try to make the recording, Carol's documents, and Nick's testimony look like a collection of unreliable pieces rather than a clear pattern."
"Can he do that?"
"He can try.
Our job is to make sure the pattern is undeniable." Grace paused.
"How is Thomas?"
Valerie looked through her office window at the empty restaurant floor.
"He slept until ten this morning.
He ate breakfast.
He asked me if Nick was okay." She paused.
"He hasn't cried since last night.
I don't know if that's good or not."
"It might just be that he's tired," Grace said.
"Let him set the pace."
After she hung up, Valerie sat for a moment.
Then she picked up her phone again and called the shelter where Nick had been taken.
The staff member who answered was professional and warm.
Nick was fine.
He had eaten.
He had slept.
His aunt had been contacted and was traveling from out of state — she was expected to arrive the following afternoon.
"Can I speak to him?" Valerie asked.
A pause.
"Let me check."
She waited.
Then a small, cautious voice.
"Hello?"
"Nick.
It's Valerie.
Thomas's mum."
Silence.
"I know," he said finally.
"I wanted to make sure you were all right."
Another silence, shorter this time.
"They have cereal here," Nick said.
"Like, a lot of different kinds."
Valerie pressed her hand over her mouth for a moment.
"That's good," she managed.
"That's really good."
"Is Thomas okay?"
"He's okay.
He asked about you this morning."
She heard something shift on the other end of the line — not quite a sound, more like a change in the quality of the silence.
"Okay," Nick said quietly.
"That's okay then."
Valerie stayed on the line for another few minutes, not saying very much, just letting him know someone was there.
When she hung up, she sat for a long time before she went back to the financial records.
Outside, a car slowed in front of the restaurant.
May you like
It didn't stop.
But it slowed, and Valerie watched it through the window until it turned the corner and disappeared.
