And they made it to the truck and Marcus pulled into traffic and for six blocks neither of them said a word. Then Victoria started laughing. It came out of her in a burst half laugh half sobb. Her hand pressed over her mouth, her whole body shaking, and Marcus reached over and put his big rough hand on her shoulder and held on while she came apart in the passenger seat of his beat-up truck. "We got it," she said.
"We got it, Marcus. We got it. 2 weeks. 2 weeks I've been running and you walked me in there and we got it in 11 minutes. "You got it," Marcus said.
You planned it. I just stood in a doorway looking big. That's my one skill. "That is not your one skill. " She wiped her eyes. God, that is not your one skill, Marcus Ellis.
He didn't answer that. He couldn't. Something was happening in his chest that he did not have room to deal with while merging onto the connector. So, he shoved it down where he shoved everything and he drove. They were 40 minutes from home, easing off the highway when Marcus' phone lit up again.
And this time, it wasn't Calvin. It was a number he didn't know, local. He almost let it ring out. Then, some instinct made him thumb the speaker on and say nothing. For a second, there was only breathing on the line.
Then a man's voice, smooth as poured honey, easy and warm and absolutely terrifying, said "Mr. Ellis. My name is Adrien Cole. I believe you have something of mine. " Victoria's face went white. Marcus put one finger to his lips.
"Wrong number," Marcus said. "I don't think so. " A soft laugh. You've had quite a morning. The Henderson roof was at long night in the rain. And then such a busy day.
The bank first Meridian lovely branch. Terrible parking. And now you're driving home to let me see that little blue house on the southwest side. The one you painted yourself. It's charming, Mr.
Ellis. Genuinely, there's a garden. Marcus's hands tightened on the wheel until his knuckles went pale. I'm going to tell you exactly what I know about you, Adrien said. So, we can skip the part where you pretend you're brave.
I know you're a widower. I know you have a daughter, Ava, 9 years old. And I know she's not home right now. She's with Rene's mother, isn't it? Grandma's house.
I know you have a business partner named Calvin who, and I'll be honest with you here, is not a very loyal man. And I know that a woman who is going through a serious mental health crisis has attached herself to you and filled your head with a very frightening story. So, here's what I'd like to offer you, Mr. Ellis. Man to man.
Marcus said nothing. His jaw was a straight line. Bring me the bag, Adrien said. That's all. Just the bag.
You don't even have to hand it to me. Leave it somewhere. I'll tell you where. And in exchange, three things. One, I forget your address completely.
It leaves my head. Two, your friend Calvin. That whole unpleasant business goes away. Your little company stays yours. No bad bid ever beats you again.
In fact, I'll throw work your way. Real work. The kind that puts your daughter through college. And three, a pause. Victoria gets the help she so clearly needs from professionals in a comfortable place, which is the kindest thing anyone could possibly do for her at this point.
You'd be doing her a favor. You'd be doing us all a favor. Marcus looked over at Victoria. She was staring straight ahead through the windshield, absolutely rigid tears running silently down her face, and her lips were moving. And Marcus realized she was mouthing two words at him over and over.
"He's lying. He's lying. He's lying. " "You still there, Mr. Ellis? " Adrien said pleasantly. "I'm here," Marcus said.
"So, what do you say? " Reasonable men, a simple trade. You go back to your quiet little life, everybody wins. And Marcus Ellis, 42 years old, widower, single father. The man on the scaffold took a slow breath and said the thing that ended any chance this was ever going to be quiet again. "You said her name is Victoria," Marcus said., ""I'm sorry.
You said Victoria gets the help she needs. You called her Victoria. You didn't call her my fianceé. You didn't call her the woman I love. You said Victoria like she's a file.
Like she's a thing you're trying to close out. Marcus's voice was very steady and very cold. See, I've been a lot of things in my life, Mr. Cole, but I've been a man who loved a woman all the way to the end. And I know how a man talks when he loves somebody and when he's scared for them.
That's not what I'm hearing. What I'm hearing is a man reading me a offer off a piece of paper. A beat. And there's one more thing or silence on the line. You said you know I have a daughter.
Marcus said you said her name. You said where she is. You put my 9-year-old girl in a phone call to scare me into folding. His voice dropped so low Victoria had to lean in to hear it. And that was the biggest mistake anybody's made against me in a long, long time.
Because up until you said her name, this was Victoria's fight. And I was just the man who let her sleep on the bed. But you just made it mine. You brought my baby into it. So here's my counter offer.
Mr. Cole, are you ready? Nothing. You come near my street, my house, my garden, my daughter, or one hair on this woman's head, Marcus said. And I will spend every dollar I have and every hour I'm given.
Making sure the whole world hears a recording of you laughing about a bridge that dropped on four people. That's my offer. That's the whole thing. There's no other terms. For a long moment, there was only the hum of the road.