Chapter 20 - The Last DistanceCalvin Reese lasted six hours.
Not in custody.
In silence.
At hour seven, he asked for a lawyer.
At hour eleven, his lawyer asked whether prosecutors were interested in cooperation.
Ortiz called Adrian the following morning.
“Reese is talking.”
Adrian sat beside Junie at breakfast.
She was arranging blueberries into families.
“Can I call you back?”
Ortiz paused.
“This is about Marcus.”
Adrian looked at Junie.
“Ten minutes.”
That surprised the detective.
“Okay.”
Adrian put down the phone.
Junie pointed at the berries.
“This is Daddy.”
The largest blueberry.
“This is me.”
A small one.
“And Aunt Dani.”
Medium.
“Where’s Grandma?”
Junie selected another.
“Here.”
Adrian smiled.
“Where’s Corinne?”
Junie stopped.
Then pushed one blueberry away from the others.
“Over there.”
He did not correct her.
After breakfast, Danielle took Junie upstairs.
Adrian called Ortiz.
“Go.”
“Reese says Marcus instructed him to disable the bow camera before your yacht departed.”
“Why?”
“Marcus told him there would be a staged domestic incident.”
Adrian gripped the phone.
“What kind?”
“Reese says he wasn’t told.”
“Do you believe him?”
“Parts.”
“Did Marcus know Junie would be involved?”
“Reese says Marcus mentioned your daughter.”
Adrian stood.
“Exact words.”
“According to Reese: ‘If the kid makes trouble, even better. Brooks goes feral where she’s concerned.’”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Not an order to kill.
But knowledge.
Marcus had placed a camera blackout over an environment where he knew Corinne resented Junie.
“What else?”
“Reese says Marcus instructed him to preserve an alternate set of logs showing a system malfunction.”
“Obstruction.”
“Yes.”
“And the remote wipe?”
“Marcus contacted him through an encrypted channel after the board suspension.”
“Can you prove it?”
“We have the device.”
Finally.
Distance became a line.
Then a connection.
Ortiz continued.
“Reese also says the Northstar contingency agreement was Marcus’s idea.”
“Did Northstar know why?”
“We’re investigating. So far, no evidence they knew about planned harm to Junie.”
Adrian was relieved.
He did not need an infinite conspiracy.
Reality was ugly enough.
“What happens now?”
“We expect federal fraud charges and state obstruction charges. The child-related conspiracy theory is still being evaluated by prosecutors.”
“Attempted murder?”
“Against Corinne, yes. Marcus is more complicated.”
Adrian hated that word.
“Complicated.”
“Law cares about what you can prove, not what feels morally obvious.”
“My daughter was almost killed in a situation he engineered.”
“I know.”
“No, you know the file.”
Ortiz was silent.
Adrian regretted it immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re allowed one.”
He smiled faintly.
“Only one?”
“I’m a public employee.”
She continued.
“Adrian, Marcus may face decades in prison for the financial and obstruction cases even if prosecutors cannot prove he intended Junie’s death.”
“That feels sideways.”
“Justice often is.”
After the call, Adrian drove to the marina.
The yacht remained impounded for evidence processing.
He stood behind the security barrier looking at it.
From shore, it appeared beautiful.
Elegant.
Clean.
He hated it.
Raymond joined him.
“Danielle said you’d be here.”
“You two talk now?”
“We have a support group for people who find you exhausting.”
“Large membership?”
“Waitlist.”
They stood in silence.
Raymond looked at the yacht.
“I saw Corinne.”
Adrian turned.
“When?”
“Yesterday. Through her lawyer.”
“How was she?”
“Still my daughter.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“It’s the only answer I’ve got.”
Adrian understood.
Raymond continued.
“She’s taking a plea if prosecutors offer one.”
“Did she say that?”
“Yes.”
“For Junie?”
“For herself too.”
Adrian looked at him.
Raymond shrugged.
“I’m done pretending people have to become saints before they can do one decent thing.”
That sounded wiser than the man Adrian had met weeks earlier.
“She asked me to tell you something.”
“I don’t want messages from her.”
“I know.”
Raymond looked at the water.
“She said that too.”
Adrian exhaled.
“What?”
“She said, ‘Tell him I know sorry isn’t a bridge back. I’m not asking him to cross anything.’”
Adrian said nothing.
Raymond left.
Adrian remained at the marina.
Wind moved across the water.
For weeks he had imagined justice as a straight road toward Marcus and Corinne.
Now he understood there would be no single moment when the world snapped back into place.
Some damage had no reverse gear.
His job was not to restore the old life.
That life had contained too many lies anyway.
His job was to build the next one without them.
His phone rang.
Ortiz.
Again.
“Marcus Bell has been arrested.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Fraud.
Obstruction.
Witness tampering.
Conspiracy charges pending.
He expected triumph.
There was none.
Just the water.
Just the yacht.
Just the memory of two tiny hands hanging beneath its edge.
Ortiz said, “Adrian?”
May you like
“I’m here.”
For once, those words felt like enough.
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