Chapter 5: The Name on the Document
She didn't sleep.
Marcus had fallen quiet after they came inside — the particular quiet he used when he was thinking through a problem in layers, working from the outside in.
She knew that quiet.
She left him to it.
She sat in the kitchen with a cup of tea she didn't drink and looked at the document on the table in front of her.
The name was Lawrence Osei.
Marcus's younger brother.
They had met Lawrence eleven years ago, six months after Emily and Marcus had started dating.
He had come to dinner at a restaurant in the city — charming, quick-laughing, with the same directness as Marcus but worn more lightly, like a coat he could take off.
Emily had liked him immediately.
Most people did.
Over the years, Lawrence had moved in and out of their lives in the way that younger siblings sometimes do — present for holidays, absent for long stretches, occasionally calling Marcus for advice about a business idea or a difficult decision.
He had never worked for the company directly.
Marcus had offered, twice.
Lawrence had declined both times, saying he wanted to build something of his own.
Apparently he had.
Marcus came downstairs at half past midnight.
He saw the document on the table and sat down across from her.
"Say it," Emily said.
"I've been trying to figure out if there's another explanation."
"Is there?"
He was quiet.
"Marcus."
"No," he said.
"There isn't."
Emily wrapped both hands around her cup.
"Does he need money?
Is he in trouble?"
"Raymond pulled his personal finances.
He's not in debt.
His business is profitable." Marcus looked at the table.
"He didn't do this because he needed to."
"Then why?"
"I don't know yet."
"You have to call him."
"I know."
"Before Thursday.
He deserves to hear it from you first."
Marcus looked up.
"He stole from the company, Emily.
He used Daniel as a front.
He let this go on for eighteen months."
"I know what he did." Her voice didn't waver.
"He's still your brother.
Call him."
Marcus stood up.
He walked to the window and stood with his back to her, looking out at the dark garden.
"What if he lies?" he said.
"What if I call him and he just — denies it and I have to sit there listening to him—"
"Then you'll know," Emily said.
"And you'll have done the right thing anyway."
The kitchen was very quiet.
The refrigerator hummed.
Somewhere outside, a car passed slowly down the street.
Marcus turned around.
"I'll call him in the morning," he said.
Emily nodded.
She picked up the document and slid it back across the table to him.
He took it.
He stood there holding it for a moment, looking at his brother's name.
Then his phone lit up on the counter.
An unknown number.
2:17 a.m.
They both looked at it.
Marcus picked it up.
"Hello."
A pause.
Then a voice — familiar, lower than usual, stripped of its usual ease.
May you like
"I know you found it," Lawrence said.
"I need to talk to you before you do anything."
