Chapter 4
The threat of law enforcement hung in the air, but neither Marcus nor Claire made a move to leave. The rain outside was turning into a torrential downpour, streaking the diner windows with winding ribbons of water that distorted the neon lights of the parking lot. Marcus unfolded the note completely, flattening it against the worn Formica surface. The message was brief, consisting of a single street address in downtown Chicago and a specific time: midnight.
"Midnight," Marcus read aloud, his eyes narrowing. "Tonight. That means he’s still in the city. He hasn't fled across the border like the reports claimed."
Claire wiped her face with a paper napkin, regaining a fraction of her composure. "He couldn't leave, Marcus. The board locked down all his international accounts. He’s cornered, just like we are. If we don't meet him, the board's internal security team will find him first, and they won't be bringing him in for questioning. They’ll clean up the loose ends permanently."
"And you thought dragging a seven-year-old child to a greasy spoon diner was the safest way to deliver the meeting time?" Marcus asked, his voice dripping with bitter irony. He glanced down at Lily, who was quietly tracing the pattern of the plastic table covering with a yellow plastic spoon.
"My car was being watched," Claire defended herself, her voice defensive once more. "I couldn't risk carrying the note directly. I thought if I slipped it into Lily's party favors, nobody would suspect a thing. It was desperate, yes, but it worked until you decided to tear the cylinder apart."
"I tore it apart because I knew you were hiding something," Marcus retorted. "You've been twitchy for weeks, Claire. Ever since the audit began, you’ve been looking over your shoulder like a hunted animal. I followed you here because I wanted answers, not because I wanted to play hide-and-seek with a dead man."
Lily looked up from her spoon, her large, innocent eyes moving between the two adults. "Are we going to see Uncle Arthur?" she asked quietly.
Marcus and Claire both froze. Marcus let out a long, heavy breath, running a hand over his stubbled jaw. The mention of Arthur brought back memories of a time before the embezzlement scandals, before the backstabbing corporate takeovers, when they had all worked together as a tight-knit executive team. Arthur had been their mentor, a brilliant financial mind who had unfortunately crossed ethical lines that could never be uncrossed.
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"No, Lily," Marcus said, his tone softening just a fraction as he spoke to the child. "We aren't going to see anyone. We're going home, and we're going to figure out how to clean up this mess without getting anyone else hurt."
Claire shook her head slowly, a grim smile touching her lips. "Home doesn't exist anymore, Marcus. We passed that point three months ago."
