Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN IN THE LOCKED WING

Marcus Reed had never mentioned being married.

That alone told me something was wrong.

I left Kincaid Tower while Daria watched from the boardroom window.

Naomi sent the first images from Hawthorne Ridge.

A hidden room.

Steel door.

No windows.

Medical restraints bolted to a bed.

The woman they found was named Anna Reed.

Marcus’s wife.

She had been missing for fourteen months.

Officially, she had “left the country.”

In reality, Daria had kept her locked away after Marcus got too close to the truth.

Anna was barely conscious when agents found her, but she said one sentence before being taken to the hospital.

“Marcus is alive.”

Catherine covered her mouth when I told her.

“Where?”

“No one knows.”

Then Luis brought in Nolan’s phone.

The forensic team had unlocked it.

Messages showed Daria ordering surveillance on Catherine, me, Naomi, and three board members.

One message was only six hours old.

IF C RETURNS TO SAMUEL, MOVE M.R. IMMEDIATELY.

Marcus Reed.

I called Naomi.

“We need Nolan talking.”

“He wants immunity.”

“He doesn’t get immunity.”

“He might get a reduced sentence.”

I looked at Catherine.

She nodded.

“Find Marcus.”

Nolan lasted forty minutes.

Then he gave up a location.

A storage facility near the river.

Federal agents raided it at 10:43 p.m.

They found Marcus in a soundproof room behind a false wall.

Alive.

Beaten.

But alive.

When I saw him at the hospital, he laughed weakly.

“You look terrible.”

“So do you.”

He grabbed my wrist.

“Samuel, listen. Your mother didn’t start this because of Catherine.”

I leaned closer.

“What do you mean?”

“She started years before you married her.”

Marcus looked toward the door to make sure we were alone.

“I found financial records tied to your father’s death.”

My entire body went still.

“My father died of a heart attack.”

Marcus shook his head.

“No.”

He pulled me closer.

“Your mother had him poisoned.”

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