I let it ring. It buzzed five times before going to voicemail. A minute later, a text message popped up.
Trent, pick up the phone. Did you get it or not? If you messed this up, Sterling is going to make sure your father loses the dealership.
Sterling.
The name hit me like a physical blow. Richard Sterling was the biggest real estate developer in the county. He owned half the commercial property downtown, sitting on the city council's zoning board, and practically funded the mayor's re-election campaign. Elena had been auditing his latest downtown revitalization project before she died.
I had asked her about it once, and she had just shaken her head, looking exhausted. “He’s cutting corners, Marcus. Bad ones. But the paperwork is buried so deep I can’t prove it yet.”
She must have found the proof. And Sterling must have found out.
Suddenly, a heavy, authoritative knock echoed from the front door.
I froze. I hadn't heard a car pull up.
I swept the key and the phone off the counter and shoved them into my pockets. I walked quietly down the hallway, stopping in front of Toby’s door. He was sitting on his bed, holding a comic book.
“Stay right here, buddy,” I whispered. “Don't come out until I say so.”
I walked to the front door and looked through the peephole.
Standing on my porch, wiping rain off his leather jacket, was Detective Thomas Miller.
He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with a receding hairline and a permanent scowl. He wasn't wearing his badge visibly, but the heavy bulge of a sidearm was obvious under his jacket.
I unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door, leaving the chain engaged.
“Marcus,” Miller said, offering a tight, artificial smile. “Good afternoon. Can I come in out of the rain?”
“What do you want, Miller?” I asked, keeping my voice entirely flat.
His smile didn't reach his eyes. “Just doing a friendly welfare check. We got a call from mall security over at the Galleria. Said there was an altercation in the food court. An older man matching your description got physically aggressive with a local high school student.”
“A teenager tripped my seven-year-old nephew,” I said. “I told him to back off. There was no altercation.”
“Right, right,” Miller said, shifting his weight. He tried to look past my shoulder into the living room. “Kids being kids. But the boy, Trent, he said you took something from him. He said he dropped his phone during the scuffle, and when he went back for it, it was gone.”
“I didn't see a phone.”
“Are you sure about that, Marcus?” Miller’s tone dropped, losing the friendly pretense. The threat was immediately visible just beneath the surface. “Because stealing a phone is a crime. And you’re the sole guardian of your sister’s kid. It would be a damn shame if child protective services had to get involved because you couldn't control your temper in public.”
The anger spiked in my chest again, sharp and hot, but I forced my face to remain completely passive. I had dealt with corrupt men in war zones. You never let them see that their threats worked.
“I didn't take his phone,” I said calmly. “If mall security wants to check the cameras, they’re welcome to. But if you’re threatening to take my nephew over a high school kid’s lost property, I’m going to need you to leave my porch before I call your captain.”
Miller stared at me for a long, silent moment. His jaw tightened. He knew I was lying, and I knew he was lying. But without a warrant, he couldn't break the chain on the door.
“Alright, Marcus,” Miller said softly. “Just trying to clear things up. Keep yourself out of trouble. Accidents happen when people get careless.”
He turned around and walked down the steps. I watched him get into an unmarked grey sedan parked at the end of the gravel driveway. He sat there for a full minute before pulling out onto the main road.
I closed the door, my heart hammering against my ribs.
I couldn't stay here. If Miller knew I had the phone, Sterling knew I had the phone. And if they knew I had the phone, they would assume I had the key. The house wasn't safe anymore.
I pulled Trent's phone out of my pocket. I needed to know where the locker was. I swiped the screen. It didn't have a passcode. The kid was an arrogant idiot. I opened his map application and checked his recent search history.