{"id":329,"date":"2026-10-03T05:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T05:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/?p=329"},"modified":"2026-10-03T05:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T05:29:10","slug":"part-8-marcuss-assistant-brought-us-the-file-he-wanted-burned-and-inside-was-proof-the-forgery-had-a-much-larger-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/?p=329","title":{"rendered":"PART 8 \u2013 Marcus\u2019s Assistant Brought Us the File He Wanted Burned, and Inside Was Proof the Forgery Had a Much Larger Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hannah Cole entered Samuel\u2019s conference room carrying a canvas laptop bag against her chest.<\/p>\n<p>I had seen her hundreds of times.<\/p>\n<p>At board meetings, she sat two chairs behind Marcus and took notes without looking down. At events, she appeared beside him exactly when he needed a name, schedule, speech draft, donor history, or phone. Marcus called her indispensable whenever she solved a problem and incompetent whenever she failed to anticipate one.<\/p>\n<p>I had never seen her frightened.<\/p>\n<p>That morning she looked terrified.<\/p>\n<p>Her normally neat blond hair had been pulled into a loose knot. She wore yesterday\u2019s navy trousers and a gray sweater. No makeup. No earrings.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel introduced Dana.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah immediately asked, \u201cAm I under investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana answered, \u201cNot by me at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this moment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should tell us what brought you here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah put the laptop bag on the conference table but did not sit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus called me after the gala.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat time?\u201d Dana asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEleven forty-eight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me Evelyn had staged some kind of breakdown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>Even after the entire room watched evidence on a twenty-foot screen, Marcus needed somebody to hear that I was unstable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said hostile trustees had seized the office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat part is closer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me to go in before sunrise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy badge still worked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt should have been disabled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t work under his credentials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked apologetic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana asked, \u201cWhat did he instruct you to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah opened the canvas bag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRetrieve a box from his private filing cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She removed a thick black accordion folder.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel did not touch it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs that the box?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is the box?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI left it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause when I opened it, there were documents inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know. Legal documents. Bank statements. Copies of signatures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt the muscles in my back tighten.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Marcus tell you to do with them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake them to the old warehouse on Clermont Street.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I knew the property.<\/p>\n<p>The foundation had leased it years earlier for event storage before moving to a newer facility.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s an industrial shredder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went silent.<\/p>\n<p>Dana asked, \u201cDid he specifically tell you to destroy the documents?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExact words if you remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018Feed everything through twice and make sure nothing remains readable.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel inhaled slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you record the call?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cText messages?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She handed Dana her phone.<\/p>\n<p>Dana read without touching anything else.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you preserve this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana photographed the screen with an evidence device, then gave the phone back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does the message say?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t overthink this. Clean up the Clermont material before nine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s mouth hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened when you reached the office?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI opened the cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas it locked?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou had a key?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus gave me one two years ago for emergency files.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Permission becoming weapon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you find?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe box and this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She touched the black folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you take the folder instead?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was underneath the box. Marcus hadn\u2019t mentioned it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was inside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n<p>Dana put on gloves before opening the folder.<\/p>\n<p>The first pages were printed emails.<\/p>\n<p>Some involved Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>Others involved Thomas Greer, the notary named on the forged trust amendment.<\/p>\n<p>Then came copies of Grandmother\u2019s estate documents.<\/p>\n<p>Old versions.<\/p>\n<p>Drafts.<\/p>\n<p>Pages with handwritten annotations.<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom of one page, in blue ink, somebody had written:<\/p>\n<p>Need language broad enough for M to exercise control before challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel read it twice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you recognize the handwriting?\u201d Dana asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I did not either.<\/p>\n<p>Another page listed entities controlled by the Whitmore estate.<\/p>\n<p>Properties.<\/p>\n<p>Investment accounts.<\/p>\n<p>A holding company.<\/p>\n<p>Foundation-related land.<\/p>\n<p>Beside several assets were stars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy mark these?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Dana turned the next page.<\/p>\n<p>There was the answer.<\/p>\n<p>A typed document titled TRANSITION LIQUIDITY PLAN.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus\u2019s name appeared nowhere.<\/p>\n<p>But the language was unmistakably strategic.<\/p>\n<p>Upon recognition of amended trustee authority, initiate bridge transfers before external review.<\/p>\n<p>My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis wasn\u2019t about running the foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel read ahead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did not answer until he reached the final page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExtraction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah looked confused.<\/p>\n<p>I was not.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus did not merely want control.<\/p>\n<p>He intended to move money before anyone stopped him.<\/p>\n<p>Dana asked, \u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel scanned the figures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotentially more than sixty million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah sat down hard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The number did not feel real.<\/p>\n<p>Foundation irregularities we had identified were serious, but comparatively small. Hundreds of thousands. Perhaps more as auditors expanded the review.<\/p>\n<p>Sixty million was different.<\/p>\n<p>That was not lifestyle theft.<\/p>\n<p>That was a plan to strip assets.<\/p>\n<p>I read the page myself.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed sequence depended on the forged amendment creating temporary authority.<\/p>\n<p>First, present the amendment to banks and institutional custodians.<\/p>\n<p>Second, claim an emergency leadership transition.<\/p>\n<p>Third, move liquid holdings into entities designated as restructuring vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Fourth, contest any challenge through litigation.<\/p>\n<p>Delay was part of the strategy.<\/p>\n<p>By the time the forged document was defeated, the money could be somewhere else.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Samuel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he do this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he have?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he obtained recognition from enough institutions before we knew the amendment existed, he might have moved some assets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grandmother had known.<\/p>\n<p>Not every detail.<\/p>\n<p>But enough to build barriers.<\/p>\n<p>The waiting period.<\/p>\n<p>The sealed instructions.<\/p>\n<p>The independent control structure.<\/p>\n<p>She had not been eccentric.<\/p>\n<p>She had been creating obstacles.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah stared at the folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought he was just having an affair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The simplicity of the statement nearly broke me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo did I,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>For months, I had treated the affair as the answer.<\/p>\n<p>Perfume on jackets.<\/p>\n<p>Hidden dinners.<\/p>\n<p>Changed passwords.<\/p>\n<p>Weekend trips.<\/p>\n<p>But perhaps Marcus had benefited from that.<\/p>\n<p>A cheating husband was recognizable.<\/p>\n<p>Painful, but ordinary.<\/p>\n<p>It gave me something emotional to focus on while he worked on something colder.<\/p>\n<p>I turned another page.<\/p>\n<p>A spreadsheet appeared.<\/p>\n<p>Column headings listed dates, institutions, expected processing times and contact names.<\/p>\n<p>One line stopped me.<\/p>\n<p>First National Heritage Bank \u2014 Evelyn authorization backup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He read it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah raised her hand slightly, an old office habit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI might.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus had me prepare signature packets last spring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat signature packets?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Evelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never received any.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah rubbed her palms against her trousers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said he needed specimens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpecimens?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExamples of signatures from different years. Checks, letters, thank-you notes, old contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you gave them to him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI collected them from the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said the bank\u2019s fraud team needed them after a security review.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana asked, \u201cDid you verify that request?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah looked miserable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he was the president.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was again.<\/p>\n<p>Authority converted into obedience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many samples?\u201d Samuel asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe thirty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach twisted.<\/p>\n<p>Enough to practice.<\/p>\n<p>Enough to train someone.<\/p>\n<p>Enough to create more than Grandmother\u2019s forged signature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere any of my signatures handwritten?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDigital?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana wrote quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel turned to another group of documents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I came beside him.<\/p>\n<p>A form bore my name.<\/p>\n<p>It authorized a transfer of family-held assets to a limited liability company I had never heard of.<\/p>\n<p>The signature at the bottom looked like mine.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely similar.<\/p>\n<p>Mine.<\/p>\n<p>I knew how my E sometimes began too large when I signed quickly. I knew the compressed V. I knew the slight upward stroke at the end.<\/p>\n<p>Whoever made it had studied me.<\/p>\n<p>The date was blank.<\/p>\n<p>The amount was blank.<\/p>\n<p>The receiving institution was blank.<\/p>\n<p>A template.<\/p>\n<p>Waiting.<\/p>\n<p>I heard my grandmother\u2019s line again.<\/p>\n<p>If Marcus ever shows you who he really is, believe him before you believe his explanation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what the signature samples were for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Dana photographed the page.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah covered her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI helped him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou gathered records,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI helped him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t erase it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No.<\/p>\n<p>It did not.<\/p>\n<p>But accountability and guilt were not the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else did he ask you to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah stared at the folder for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSchedule meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBankers. Lawyers. Consultants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNames.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She listed them.<\/p>\n<p>Dana wrote each one.<\/p>\n<p>Then Hannah reached into her laptop bag again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s something else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She placed a small external drive on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did that come from?\u201d Dana asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus\u2019s office safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou opened his safe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe asked me to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe box.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said it was in the filing cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe moved it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis morning. He called again while I was driving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me the cabinet was compromised and to use the safe instead. The box was there. So was this drive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he tell you to take it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause it had my initials on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She pointed.<\/p>\n<p>A white label carried two letters.<\/p>\n<p>HC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad you seen it before?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana did not plug it into the conference-room computer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll need forensic handling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI made one mistake already.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI opened it at the office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana stopped writing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn what device?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn old laptop that isn\u2019t connected to the foundation network.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was on the drive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah looked toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAudio files.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My skin went cold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat audio?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecordings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMeetings. Calls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour grandmother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I gripped the back of a chair.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel went still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLydia?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many recordings?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know. Dozens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you listen to any?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe July twenty-first meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody moved.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting Grandmother had held eight days before her death.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting Samuel had attended.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting where she confronted Marcus about money and unauthorized access.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou heard it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat part?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah closed her eyes as if recalling the sound.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour grandmother told Marcus she knew he\u2019d been preparing false documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel looked stunned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe never said that in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot the entire time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a section after you leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLydia asked me to step outside while she spoke to him alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Marcus say?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah opened her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told her she couldn\u2019t prove anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pressure built in my chest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Grandmother?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said she didn\u2019t need to prove it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I could almost hear her voice.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said she had placed something where Marcus would never find it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe asked the same question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t tell him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Samuel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was something else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mouth had gone dry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus said if she died before changing her mind, everyone would assume the illness killed her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The conference room became absolutely still.<\/p>\n<p>Dana was the first to speak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat exactly did you hear?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah repeated it.<\/p>\n<p>Slowly.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody interrupted.<\/p>\n<p>When she finished, Samuel sat down.<\/p>\n<p>His face had gone gray.<\/p>\n<p>I heard blood rushing in my ears.<\/p>\n<p>Grandmother had died of cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone knew that.<\/p>\n<p>Her doctors had expected it.<\/p>\n<p>Her decline had been visible.<\/p>\n<p>I had held her hand during her final night.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had not been there.<\/p>\n<p>But threatening language did not need to mean murder.<\/p>\n<p>Dana said exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not draw conclusions from one statement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I appreciated her precision even while my mind raced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened immediately after he said it?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLydia laughed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe laughed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told him, \u2018You still think death is the only way to lose something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded so much like Grandmother I had to look away.<\/p>\n<p>Dana asked, \u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLydia said the thing Marcus wanted most had already been removed from his reach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat thing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Marcus ask?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said, \u2018You\u2019ll understand when Evelyn stops being afraid of you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>The room disappeared for a moment.<\/p>\n<p>Grandmother had been dying.<\/p>\n<p>Weak.<\/p>\n<p>In pain.<\/p>\n<p>And still planning for a future in which I might finally become myself again.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel touched my arm.<\/p>\n<p>I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she hide?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI truly don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer frustrated him as much as me.<\/p>\n<p>Dana gathered the folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to locate the box Marcus instructed Hannah to destroy before anyone else reaches it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah looked alarmed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s still in his safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you certain?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was when I left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel checked the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis office is secured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis credentials are disabled. That is not the same as secured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>A photograph appeared.<\/p>\n<p>No message.<\/p>\n<p>It showed the door to Marcus\u2019s foundation office standing open.<\/p>\n<p>The timestamp was less than one minute old.<\/p>\n<p>A second image arrived.<\/p>\n<p>His private safe.<\/p>\n<p>Empty.<\/p>\n<p>Then text.<\/p>\n<p>You should have taken the deal when you had one.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel read over my shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana was already calling someone.<\/p>\n<p>Another message appeared before she finished.<\/p>\n<p>This time it contained an address.<\/p>\n<p>Not Clermont Street.<\/p>\n<p>My home.<\/p>\n<p>Beneath it were six words.<\/p>\n<p>Come alone if you want Lydia\u2019s file.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the screen.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had spent years assuming fear would make me obedient.<\/p>\n<p>He still believed it.<\/p>\n<p>But Grandmother had understood something he had not.<\/p>\n<p>Fear and obedience were not the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>I handed the phone to Dana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/?p=330\">Click here to continue reading: PART 9: I Went Home With Investigators Behind Me, and Marcus Was Waiting Beside the One Box My Grandmother Had Hidden From Him<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hannah Cole entered Samuel\u2019s conference room carrying a canvas laptop bag against her chest. I had seen her hundreds of times. At board meetings, she sat two chairs behind Marcus &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama-sory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":339,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions\/339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}