“Ryan Marshall, you have thirty seconds.”
Ava stepped in front of me.
“I’ll go.”
“They did not ask for you.”
“I’ll tell them everything.”
“They may arrest you too.”
“I know.”
Her answer had no hesitation.
For the first time that night, Ava moved toward danger without placing me in front of it.
She opened the door before I could stop her.
Cold rain blew into the hallway.
Officers shouted.
Ava raised both hands.
“My husband is unarmed,” she called. “The evidence was planted.”
An officer ordered her onto the porch.
She obeyed.
Brooke started to follow, but Julian caught her arm.
“Wait.”
Ava walked into the rain.
An officer approached and cuffed her.
She did not resist.
Another officer called for me.
I stepped outside with my hands visible.
The street that had been silent hours earlier was now filled with emergency lights. Neighbors watched through windows and half-open doors. The small flag beside our porch snapped in the wet wind, its metal clip tapping the pole like it had earlier.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A man in a dark jacket approached me.
“Ryan Marshall?”
“Yes.”
“You are being detained pending investigation into wire fraud, identity theft, and unlawful transfer of corporate funds.”
“I understand.”
He turned me around and cuffed me.
As he led me toward the cruiser, I looked back at the house.
Brooke stood in the doorway.
Julian was no longer behind her.
He had disappeared.
The rear door of the unmarked SUV opened.
A familiar man stepped out.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Dark suit.
Ava made a broken sound beside me.
“Dad?”
The man looked at her.
For one second, something almost human crossed his face.
Then it vanished.
Ava’s father walked past her and spoke quietly to the officer holding my arm.
“Release Mr. Marshall.”
The officer obeyed immediately.
My cuffs came off.
Ava remained restrained.
Brooke ran from the doorway.
Their father lifted one hand.
“Stay where you are.”
She stopped in the rain.
“You’re alive,” Brooke whispered.
He looked older than the man in the altered video, but he was real.
“I hoped you would never need to know.”
Ava stared at him.
“You did this?”
“Not all of it.”
“You threatened us.”
“I warned you.”
“You made me frame my husband.”
“No. Someone used my methods to make you believe I ordered it.”
He looked toward the house.
“Where is Julian?”
Brooke turned.
“He was inside.”
Officers entered through the open door.
A moment later, one returned.
“Back window is open. He’s gone.”
Ava’s father closed his eyes briefly.
“He took the drive?”
I looked back at Brooke.
She checked her empty hand.
The solid-state drive was gone.
Julian had taken it when we moved toward the door.
Ava’s father stared into the dark backyard.
“He was never being tested.”
“What was he doing?” I asked.
“Collecting the identities of everyone who understood the network.”