Chapter 7 - The Last Meeting
The meeting took place at the police station.
Not a motel.
Not a parking lot.
Not anywhere Darren controlled.
Detective Harris chose a monitored interview room.
Marcus sat on one side of the table.
Darren would sit opposite him.
Angela and I watched through one-way glass.
I hated every second.
“You can stop this,” Angela whispered.
“So can Marcus.”
“What if Darren gets inside his head again?”
I looked through the glass.
“He already knows what Darren is.”
That didn’t mean Darren couldn’t hurt him.
It only meant Marcus finally knew where the knife was coming from.
Darren entered with an attorney.
He looked different from the photograph.
Tired.
Unshaven.
Thinner.
Marcus didn’t stand.
Darren smiled.
“Hey, son.”
Marcus stared at him.
“Don’t.”
The smile disappeared.
Darren sat.
His attorney reminded him that anything he said could be used in the investigation.
Darren barely listened.
His eyes stayed on Marcus.
“You okay?”
“You had someone follow me.”
“No.”
“There are messages.”
“I didn’t order that.”
“Then who did?”
Darren leaned back.
“Victor.”
Detective Harris watched from the corner.
“Victor says otherwise.”
“Victor lies.”
Marcus laughed.
“So does everybody except you?”
Darren’s jaw tightened.
I recognized that expression from the motel story.
The charming version was fading.
“I came here to protect you.”
Marcus stared at him.
“From what?”
“Your mother.”
Angela flinched beside me.
“And David.”
My fists tightened.
Marcus didn’t react.
Darren leaned forward.
“They’re still lying to you.”
“About Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
“Grandpa offered you help.”
Darren froze.
Marcus continued.
“He told you to stay sober, get a job, and show up for me for six months.”
Silence.
“You didn’t.”
Darren looked toward his attorney.
Marcus’s voice sharpened.
“You disappeared again.”
“You don’t understand what my life was like.”
“You’re right.”
Marcus nodded.
“I don’t.”
Darren’s expression softened.
“Then let me explain.”
“No.”
That single word hit Darren harder than any shouting could have.
“I spent seventeen years explaining you to myself.”
Marcus’s voice shook, but he kept going.
“When I was six, I decided maybe you didn’t know where I lived.”
Darren looked down.
“When I was ten, I thought maybe you were ashamed.”
Marcus swallowed.
“When I was fourteen, I told myself maybe you were dead.”
Angela began crying beside me.
“Then you came back.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“And for three weeks, I thought every excuse was possible except the simplest one.”
Darren whispered, “Which is?”
“You chose not to be there.”
Darren’s eyes hardened.
“You think David is perfect?”
“No.”
That surprised him.
Marcus continued.
“He gets angry.”
I almost smiled.
“He gives terrible lectures.”
Detective Harris’s mouth twitched.
“He thinks every problem can be fixed with hard work and WD-40.”
Angela actually laughed through her tears.
Marcus continued.
“But he showed up.”
Darren looked away.
“That doesn’t make him your father.”
Marcus’s face changed.
“No.”
He nodded.
“Showing up every day for eleven years does.”
I stopped breathing.
Darren stared at him.
Marcus’s voice was calm now.
“You gave me blood.”
He tapped his chest.
“David gave me a childhood.”
Darren stood suddenly.
His attorney grabbed his sleeve.
“Sit down.”
“No.”
Darren pointed at Marcus.
“He stole you.”
Marcus didn’t move.
“No.”
Darren’s voice rose.
“Your mother stole you!”
Detective Harris stepped closer.
Marcus said, “You left.”
“I had debts!”
“So?”
“I was trying to survive.”
“So was Mom.”
Darren slammed his palm against the table.
His attorney warned him again.
Marcus flinched.
Then steadied himself.
“What did you want the money for?”
Darren stopped.
“The trust.”
“What did you need forty thousand dollars for?”
Silence.
“Victor?”
Darren’s eyes shifted.
Marcus saw it.
“So Victor was telling the truth.”
Darren sat slowly.
“He was going to hurt me.”
Marcus swallowed.
“And your answer was stealing from me?”
“I was going to pay it back.”
“With what?”
“I had a plan.”
“What plan?”
Darren looked desperate.
“Your mother could refinance the house.”
Marcus stared at him.
“And David?”
“He needed to go.”
My blood turned cold.
Marcus’s voice became very quiet.
“So that message was real.”
Darren realized too late what he had admitted.
“Marcus—”
“Once David is out of the way.”
Darren looked toward his lawyer.
The lawyer closed his eyes.
Marcus continued.
“You wanted me to hate him so Mom would choose me.”
“No.”
“You wanted me to make her throw him out.”
“I wanted what belonged to us.”
“It didn’t belong to you.”
Darren’s face twisted.
“That house should have been mine!”
Angela whispered beside me, “There it is.”
Darren had stopped talking like a father.
Now he sounded like a man discussing property.
Marcus heard it too.
“What about the Social Security number?”
Silence.
“The trust request?”
Darren looked down.
“The fake letter from Grandpa?”
Nothing.
Marcus’s eyes filled.
“You came back because you needed money.”
Darren whispered, “It wasn’t only that.”
Marcus waited.
“I wanted to know you.”
“Then why didn’t you come until you were in debt?”
Darren had no answer.
Marcus stood.
“I’m done.”
Darren stood too.
“Marcus!”
He reached across the table.
Detective Harris immediately stepped between them.
Marcus backed away.
Darren’s desperation exploded.
“You walk out that door, don’t come begging me later!”
Marcus stopped.
For one second, I was afraid he would turn around.
He did.
But only to say one thing.
“I spent seventeen years waiting for you.”
His voice cracked.
“You’re the one who came begging.”
Then Marcus walked out.
I met him in the hallway.
He looked at me.
“Can we go home?”
I pulled him into my arms.
“Yes.”
Behind us, voices rose inside the interview room.
Detective Harris came out ten minutes later.
“We’re taking Darren into custody.”
Marcus nodded.
“What charges?”
“Attempted fraud, identity theft-related offenses, forgery, and several others pending review.”
“What about whoever followed me?”
“We’re still investigating.”
Marcus exhaled.
Then Harris added, “Darren gave us a name.”
I turned.
“Whose?”
“The driver.”
“Victor?”
“No.”
Harris looked at Angela.
“It was someone Darren met through his gambling circle.”
May you like
Then he looked at Marcus.
“And according to Darren, that man was supposed to do more than scare you.”
