Chapter 8 - The Man on Marcella’s Payroll
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Cole sat at the far end of the table.
He looked like a man who wished he were anywhere else.
Harold placed the documents in front of him.
“Who contacted you?”
Cole glanced at Marcella.
“No.”
Dominic spoke calmly.
“Answer him.”
Cole swallowed.
“Thomas Bennett.”
The room went still.
Dominic slowly turned toward his security chief.
Thomas’s face emptied.
“That’s a lie.”
Cole shook his head.
“You called me.”
“I’ve never spoken to you.”
“You used a private number.”
Thomas stepped forward.
Marcella suddenly said, “Don’t.”
Everyone looked at her.
Thomas looked at her too.
Something passed between them.
Dominic saw it.
So did Evelyn.
Dominic’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Thomas.”
The security chief closed his eyes.
Eight years.
Eight years of trust.
He had protected Dominic’s home.
Drove Evelyn through snowstorms.
Sat outside hospitals.
Spent Christmas mornings in the kitchen drinking coffee with the staff.
Dominic had once called him family.
Now Thomas reached into his jacket.
Two guards immediately moved.
Thomas raised his hands.
“I’m not armed.”
He removed his phone.
Placed it on the table.
Then looked at Dominic.
“I needed money.”
Marcella whispered, “Shut up.”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
Dominic didn’t blink.
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
Evelyn looked heartbroken.
“For what?”
Thomas couldn’t meet her eyes.
“Security access.”
Marcella stormed toward him.
“You signed a confidentiality agreement.”
Harold stared at her.
“That is not the defense you think it is.”
Thomas continued.
“I gave her old camera schedules. Access codes. Employee files.”
“Did you take the chair?”
“No.”
“Did you erase the video?”
“Yes.”
A wave of anger passed through Dominic.
But he remained still.
Thomas looked at Evelyn.
“I’m sorry.”
She said nothing.
That silence hurt him more.
Dominic asked, “Did you give Marcella the key?”
Thomas shook his head.
“She took it herself.”
“Where did she send it?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcella smiled again.
For once, truth seemed to protect her.
Thomas looked at her.
“But I know who picked it up.”
Her smile vanished.
Dominic leaned slightly forward.
“Who?”
“A courier.”
“Name?”
“Daniel Ross.”
Harold grabbed his phone.
Thomas continued.
“He was told to take it to the old foundation building downtown.”
Dominic looked at the clock.
11:09.
Fifty-one minutes.
Marcella suddenly laughed.
“You won’t get there.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Traffic isn’t that bad.”
“It isn’t traffic.”
She glanced toward the windows.
Outside, red-and-blue lights flashed across the driveway.
Police cars.
Marcella smiled.
“I reported you for assault.”
Dominic’s face didn’t change.
“You did hit me,” she said.
“And while you explain that, midnight arrives.”
Evelyn looked toward her son.
For the first time that night, Dominic smiled.
Not warmly.
Not proudly.
Just knowingly.
“Good.”
Marcella frowned.
“Good?”
Dominic straightened his cuffs.
“I was wondering when you’d call someone who actually keeps records.”
May you like
👉 Marcella thought the police would delay Dominic — but she had just brought neutral witnesses into a house filled with forged documents, bribed employees, and a terrified doctor.
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