Chapter 7: What Daniel Did Next
Marcus called his attorney from the car.
Her name was Patricia Holt — sixty-one, former assistant U.S.
attorney, the kind of lawyer who had seen enough to stop being surprised by anything.
He had used her for corporate work for eight years.
He had never called her for anything like this.
"Patricia," he said when she picked up.
"I need to come in today.
This afternoon if possible."
"My three o'clock cancelled," she said.
"What's the matter?"
"I'll explain when I get there.
But I need you to know going in — I'm not calling to defend myself.
I'm calling because I want to cooperate."
A pause.
"Cooperate with whom?"
"Whoever comes next," he said.
"Federal, most likely."
Another pause, longer.
"Marcus.
Are you sure about this?"
He thought about Claire's hands flat on the table.
Her father in a cell for four years, quiet, protecting her.
"Yes," he said.
"I'm sure."
He ended the call.
He was twenty minutes from Patricia's office when his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Not Claire's contact.
A different unknown.
He answered anyway.
"Mr.
Thorne." A man's voice.
Low.
Careful.
"My name isn't important.
What's important is that Daniel Reeves booked a flight to Zurich this morning.
Departing tonight at eleven-fifteen."
Marcus's hand tightened on the phone.
"Who is this?"
"Someone who would prefer Daniel not reach that flight." A pause.
"I'd suggest you make your call to the prosecutor's office before six p.m.
After that, the window closes."
The line went dead.
Marcus pulled over.
He sat on the side of the road for thirty seconds.
Then he called Nora.
She picked up immediately.
"I know," she said.
"I just got the same information.
Zurich flight, eleven-fifteen.
He's been moving the last of the Hargrove funds since this morning.
Looks like he was always planning to run once the pressure started."
"He knew I met with Claire."
"He must have.
Someone told him, or he had her followed." A pause.
"Marcus, if he gets on that plane—"
"He won't." Marcus pulled back onto the road.
"Call Patricia Holt's office and tell them I'm coming in now, not at three.
And call whoever you need to call at the federal level.
I don't care how you do it.
Just make sure someone is listening before six."
"Already working on it," Nora said.
"Drive."
He drove.
Patricia met him at the door of her office herself, which she had never done before.
She took one look at his face and didn't ask any questions until they were inside with the door closed.
He laid everything out in forty minutes.
The Calloway deal.
The wire transfers.
The photograph.
Claire's folder.
The Hargrove account.
The flight to Zurich.
Patricia listened without interrupting.
When he finished she was quiet for a moment.
"You understand," she said carefully, "that what you're about to do is going to be very difficult.
For you personally.
For your company.
For Lily."
"I know."
"And you want to proceed."
"Yes."
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she picked up her phone and made a call.
Marcus sat across from her desk and listened to her speak in the careful, precise language of someone who had done this before.
She mentioned names he didn't recognize.
Referenced statutes.
Used the word *voluntary* three times.
When she ended the call, she set the phone down and looked at him.
"They're sending someone here at four-thirty," she said.
"And Marcus — they're issuing a hold on the Zurich flight."
Marcus let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
"There's one more thing," Patricia said.
"When this becomes public — and it will — Daniel is going to say you were the architect.
That he was following your direction.
He will say whatever he needs to say to reduce his own exposure."
"I know."
"Are you prepared for that?"
Marcus thought about the note in his pocket.
Four words in black ink.
The way Lily's fingers had gripped his sleeve.
"I've been preparing for it for seven years," he said.
"I just didn't know it."
At four twenty-eight, two federal agents arrived at Patricia's office.
Daniel Reeves was detained at the airport at nine-forty that evening, forty minutes before his flight was scheduled to board.
His carry-on bag contained a laptop, three external drives, and a one-way ticket.
May you like
Marcus wasn't there when it happened.
He was home, sitting on the edge of Lily's bed, watching her sleep.
