Chapter 5 - Daniel’s Accident Was Reopened
Sarah took the card to law enforcement.
Not social media.
Not Marcus.
Daniel’s death had occurred at a commercial construction site.
A steel support failed.
Daniel fell twenty feet.
The official finding:
Equipment failure.
No criminal conduct.
But Daniel’s video contained photographs of the support two days earlier.
The locking pin was intact.
After the accident, investigators photographed it sheared.
Daniel believed someone had tampered with the assembly.
That was suspicion.
Not proof.
Sarah understood the difference.
The card also contained messages from Daniel to Martin Sloan.
One week before his death:
Marcus contacted me. Says he wants to “fix the past.”
Another:
I think he’s scared his father’s records are coming out.
Then:
Meeting him Friday.
Daniel died Thursday.
Sarah felt sick.
Marcus had planned to meet him the next day.
That did not prove Marcus caused the accident.
But it placed him back in Daniel’s life.
Detectives reopened a preliminary review.
Then Marcus called Sarah.
She nearly ignored it.
Instead, she recorded the call.
“Stay away from Lily.”
Marcus sounded exhausted.
“I’m not calling about Lily.”
“Then why?”
“Because Tyler told me you took the patch.”
Sarah said nothing.
Marcus continued:
“If Daniel left you something, you need to understand the Hayes family wasn’t the only one involved.”
“What does that mean?”
“My father.”
“Your father stole the money?”
Silence.
Marcus finally said:
“My father built the scheme.”
Sarah’s grip tightened.
“And you helped him?”
“I was twenty-five.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I signed things.”
“Knowing?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
There it was.
Marcus had lied publicly for a decade.
Sarah said:
“Daniel took the blame.”
“I know.”
“You let him.”
“I know.”
“Why did you look terrified when you saw Lily?”
Marcus’s voice lowered.
“Because Daniel told me once that if anything happened to him, the Caster patch would tell the truth.”
Sarah glanced toward the evidence bag.
“What truth?”
“Everything.”
“Including his accident?”
Marcus went silent.
Sarah’s skin went cold.
“Marcus.”
“I didn’t kill Daniel.”
She hadn’t accused him.
That mattered.
“Then why did you say that?”
“Because you’re going to ask.”
“Did you know someone wanted him dead?”
Marcus began breathing harder.
“My father said Daniel was becoming dangerous.”
Sarah stared at the wall.
“What did that mean?”
“I thought he meant legally.”
“Thought?”
Marcus whispered:
“Until Daniel died.”
Sarah ended the call.
Then immediately sent the recording to detectives.
May you like
Marcus had just admitted involvement in the original fraud.
And revealed that his father had described Daniel as “dangerous” shortly before his death.
