Chapter 4 - The Reluctant Ally
Tracking Marcus was simpler than Elena anticipated. A man who accepted bribes to delete security footage from a billionaire’s estate did not spend his money quietly. Elena found his truck parked outside a modest auto repair garage on the edge of the industrial park, its bay doors halfway closed against the evening wind.
Elena waited until the other mechanics left before stepping inside. Marcus was leaning over an old engine block, music blaring from a portable speaker. When her shadow fell across his workbench, he jumped, dropping an oily socket wrench.
"We’re closed," he snapped, wiping his hands on a greasy rag. Then his eyes narrowed, lingering on her face. The memory registered, and his expression shifted from annoyance to defensive dread. "You. The maid."
"You told Mr. Vance the pool-facing cameras suffered a capacitor blowout during the storm," Elena said steadily, remaining near the open door so she wouldn't be cornered. "There was no storm that night, Marcus. It was sixty-five degrees and clear."
"Get out of here," Marcus said, his voice dropping an octave, eyes darting toward the street. "I don't know what you’re talking about. I gave the client the diagnostic report. That’s between me and the Vance estate."
"How much did she give you?" Elena asked. Her voice carried no malice, only a devastating, quiet gravity. "Ten thousand? Twenty? Is that what it costs to help a woman frame someone for attempting to drown an infant?"
"I didn't know the kid was going to be in the water!" Marcus shouted, his composure snapping. He immediately checked himself, lowering his head and breathing through his teeth. "She told me she just needed a twenty-minute blackout on the patio to catch her brother-in-law doing something compromise-worthy with the household staff. She said it was for a custody dispute. I didn't find out about the baby until the next morning on the local news."
"Then you know she’s dangerous," Elena pressed, taking one step forward. "She didn't use that blackout for leverage, Marcus. She rolled the stroller toward the deep end herself, stepped back into the house, and waited for someone to find it. I caught the wheels just as they tilted over the coping. I had to go under the surface to pull him free from the safety harness."
Marcus slumped onto an old tire, burying his face in his grease-stained hands. "She kept the original solid-state drives. I gave them to her in a sealed static bag. She threatened to tell Vance that I was the one trying to blackmail the family if I ever opened my mouth."
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"She can't threaten you if the truth is already out," Elena said. "Where does she keep them?"
Marcus looked up, pale beneath the grime. "She has a private safe deposit box at the Meridian Trust downtown. But you’ll never get into that vault, Elena. You’re a dismissed servant with no money and no standing. If you show up there, they’ll lock you up before you reach the counter."
