“What?”
“My mom has a box in her office.”
“What kind of box?”
“I don't know. But she told me never to touch it.”
The next morning, Marcus received a call from the school district.
They had reviewed the original security footage again.
And they had found something nobody had noticed.
Monica had arrived at school carrying the black HOA handbook.
But she had not left with it.
Someone else had taken it.
And that person had entered the principal's office less than twenty minutes after the confrontation.
Marcus immediately recognized the name.
It was Monica's brother.
Daniel Prescott.
The man who owned the company receiving the suspicious HOA payments.
Suddenly, the wheelchair incident looked less like an isolated act of cruelty.
It looked like the beginning of something much bigger.
CHAPTER 4
Daniel Prescott arrived at Marcus's house the following afternoon.
Marcus immediately stepped outside.
“What do you want?”
Daniel raised both hands.
“I’m not here to fight.”
“You're Monica's brother.”
“Yes.”
“And you took the HOA handbook from the school.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“So you know.”
“Know what?”
Daniel looked toward the house.
“Can I talk to you?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then he let him inside.
Daniel placed a thick envelope on the kitchen table.
“I found out what my sister was doing months ago.”
Marcus opened it.
Inside were bank statements, contracts, photographs, and copies of HOA correspondence.
Monica had been collecting excessive fines from residents.
Some of the money had been transferred to Daniel's company.
But Daniel had not known where it came from at first.
“When I discovered it, I confronted her,” he said. “She told me she'd fix everything.”
“But she didn't.”
“No.”
Daniel looked exhausted.
“She threatened me.”
Marcus stared at him.
“She said if I exposed her, she'd make sure I lost everything.”
Marcus looked through the documents.
Then he saw something that made his expression change.
A payment had been made four years earlier.
The date was only weeks after Marcus's wife had died.
The recipient was Monica Prescott.
Marcus's hands went still.
“What is this?”
Daniel swallowed.
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“No. But I think you should.”
Marcus studied the document.
The payment description was vague.
“Consulting fee.”
The amount was $18,500.
Marcus remembered that period.
His wife, Sarah, had been fighting a complicated insurance dispute related to Nia's medical care.
She had believed someone inside the neighborhood association had interfered with paperwork.
At the time, Marcus had thought grief was making everything feel suspicious.
Now he wasn't so sure.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Your wife came to Monica before she died.”
Marcus looked up sharply.
“How do you know?”
“I saw them together.”
“What did they talk about?”
“I don't know.”
“Daniel.”
“I swear.”
Marcus stood.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“And you said nothing?”
Daniel looked down.
“I was afraid.”
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Marcus heard a small voice behind him.
“Dad?”
Nia stood in the doorway.
Marcus quickly closed the folder.
“Go upstairs, sweetheart.”
“No.”