“Victor kept a second archive.”
“Where?”
“I need protection.”
“You have attorneys for that.”
“I need you to tell the prosecutor I cooperated.”
“I will tell the truth. Nothing more.”
He nodded slowly.
“The archive is beneath the old fountain at Reeves’s country house.”
“How do you know?”
“Victor took me there once. He wanted me to understand how much information he controlled.”
“What is in it?”
“Payment records. Judges. Bank officers. Developers. Insurance investigators. Everyone.”
“Why did he show you?”
Marcus gave a humorless laugh.
“Because he wanted me to know I could never escape him.”
I studied my son.
For years, Marcus had believed money created freedom.
Instead, every dishonest dollar became another chain.
“Did Victor cause your father’s illness?” I asked.
“No.”
“How can you be certain?”
“Because he was furious that Dad became ill when he did. He thought Dad had hidden evidence before the diagnosis.”
