THE WOMAN WHO FALSELY ACCUSED MARCUS WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA—BUT WHEN THE DEVICE UNDER HIS CAR VANISHED AND A MAN DECLARED DEAD SIX YEARS AGO…
The officer stared at Marcus’s phone without saying a word.
For several seconds, the only sound in the underground garage was the faint hum of fluorescent lights overhead.
Evelyn Carter’s face had lost all color.
“Turn it off,” she said again.
This time, her voice wasn’t angry.
It was frightened.
Marcus kept the phone exactly where it was.
On the screen, security footage showed Evelyn standing beside his blue sedan twenty-three minutes earlier.
She had looked around twice.
Then she had crouched beside the rear passenger wheel.
And pushed something underneath the car.
Officer Daniel Hayes slowly raised his eyes.
“Ma’am,” he said, “what did you put under that vehicle?”
Evelyn straightened.
“Nothing.”
Marcus almost smiled.
“You just watched yourself do it.”
“That video could be edited.”
“It came directly from the building’s security system.”
“You expect me to believe you have access to private security cameras?”
Marcus looked at her.
“That’s why I was standing here when you called the police.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
Officer Hayes glanced at the identification Marcus had handed him moments earlier.
The card explained everything.
MARCUS REED.
DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE SECURITY AND INTERNAL INVESTIGATIONS.
HARRISON-WELLS TECHNOLOGIES.
Hayes looked toward the glass elevator lobby at the far end of the garage.
The enormous Harrison-Wells logo was visible through the doors.
“You work here?” Hayes asked.
Marcus shook his head.
“I run security here.”
Evelyn’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Marcus noticed.
So did Hayes.
“You knew who he was?” the officer asked.
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Marcus slipped his phone into his pocket.
“That’s interesting.”
Evelyn glared at him.
“Because you called me by name before Officer Hayes arrived.”
Silence.
Hayes turned sharply toward her.
Evelyn blinked.
“I must have heard someone say it.”
“There was nobody else down here.”
“I saw his parking tag.”
“My name isn’t on my parking tag.”
Evelyn’s breathing grew faster.
The confidence she had displayed only minutes earlier was disappearing.
Marcus crouched near the rear wheel of his car.
Hayes immediately stepped toward him.
“Don’t touch anything.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Marcus pointed beneath the chassis.
“There.”
Hayes pulled out a flashlight.
The beam moved slowly across the concrete.
Then stopped.
A small black plastic case had been attached beneath the vehicle.
Magnetic.
About the size of a deck of cards.
Hayes frowned.
“What is that?”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
Hayes crouched but didn’t touch it.
A tiny green light blinked on the side.
Once.
Then again.
Evelyn suddenly stepped backward.
Marcus heard the movement.
He turned.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.”
Hayes stood immediately.
“No, ma’am. You’re staying right here.”
“You can’t detain me because someone put something under his car.”
“We just watched footage of you putting it there.”
“I dropped my keys!”
Marcus stared at her.
“You dropped your keys underneath my axle?”
Evelyn’s jaw tightened.
Hayes reached for his radio.
“Dispatch, I need another unit at the Harrison-Wells garage, lower level B2. Possible suspicious electronic device attached to a vehicle.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened.
“No!”
Both men looked at her.
She realized instantly that she had reacted too strongly.
Hayes lowered his radio slightly.
“You know what it is.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“What did you put under my car, Evelyn?”
“Stay away from me.”
“Why were you following me?”
“I wasn’t.”
“Why did you call the police?”
“Because you were threatening me.”
Hayes looked confused.
“He threatened you?”
“Yes!”
“When?”
“Before you got here.”
Marcus calmly pointed toward a security camera mounted on a concrete pillar.
“We can watch that too.”
Evelyn’s mouth closed.
Hayes stared at her for a long moment.
Then the garage elevator chimed.
Everyone turned.
Two building security officers emerged.
Behind them was a tall man in a navy suit.
Richard Vale.
Chief Operating Officer of Harrison-Wells Technologies.
And Evelyn Carter’s younger brother.
Marcus immediately understood.
Richard stopped when he saw the police officer.
Then his eyes moved to Evelyn.
Then to Marcus.
“What happened?”
Evelyn spoke first.
“Richard, thank God.”
She hurried toward him.
Hayes blocked her path.
“Ma’am, stay where you are.”
Richard’s expression darkened.
“Officer, this woman is a member of our executive board.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“Of course she is.”
Richard turned toward him.