Chapter 7: The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
“Marcus introduced you to Ryan?””
David's question hung in the bridal suite.
Brooke pressed both hands against the dressing table. Her wedding ring caught the light as she gripped the edge, and for the first time since David had known her, she seemed unable to find a single sentence that could make her look innocent.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Tiana shook her head.
“No. That isn't possible.””
Brooke looked at her.
“I met Ryan through Marcus about four years ago. They knew each other from a business networking group. Marcus said Ryan was good with money, that he knew how to build a company from nothing.””
Tiana stared at her.
“My brother worked at a warehouse. He barely had enough money to pay his bills. He never talked about business networking.””
“He didn't tell you everything,” Brooke said.
The words struck Tiana harder than she expected.
Marcus had been three years younger than her, with a crooked smile and a habit of calling her whenever he burned dinner. He had been the person who helped her move into her first apartment, carrying her secondhand sofa up two flights of stairs while complaining that she'd bought furniture designed for people twice his size.
He'd never been wealthy.
He'd never worn expensive suits or talked about investment portfolios.
And he'd certainly never mentioned a man named Ryan.
“Why would Marcus use David's identification?”” Tiana asked.
Brooke looked at the papers.
“I don't know.””
“Did he steal it?””
“I don't know!””
Tiana stepped closer.
“Then why did you say he introduced you to Ryan?””
“Because he did!””
David moved between them before the conversation could become another confrontation.
“Let's slow down. Brooke, when did you last speak to Marcus?””
“Almost two years ago.””
Tiana's face went pale.
“When?””
Brooke hesitated.
“November.””
Tiana gripped the back of a chair.
Marcus had died on November 19, two years earlier.
She remembered the date because she'd spent that morning arguing with a hospital billing department about a charge she couldn't afford. She remembered the call that came afterward. She remembered standing in her kitchen, staring at the wall while a police officer explained that her brother had been found unconscious in his apartment.
The official report had listed his death as an accidental overdose.
Marcus had struggled after losing his job, but Tiana had never believed he would deliberately put himself in danger. She'd asked questions. She'd requested records. She'd even contacted the landlord to ask whether anyone had visited Marcus before his death.
Nobody had given her an answer that made sense.
Eventually, exhaustion and grief had forced her to stop searching.
Now Brooke was telling her that Marcus had been involved with the man who had destroyed her finances.
And that his name appeared on documents connected to David's stolen identity.
“What happened the last time you spoke to him?”” Tiana asked.
Brooke swallowed.
“He called me.””
“What did he say?””
“He told me Ryan was dangerous. He said I needed to stop sending money and get away from the company.””
“Why didn't you listen?””
“Because Ryan had already convinced me Marcus was trying to sabotage the business. He told me Marcus had stolen money from us.””
Tiana closed her eyes.
Of course.
The accusation was familiar. Marcus had spent the last months of his life complaining that people were blaming him for things he hadn't done. Tiana had assumed he was talking about his former employer.
She had never imagined that the accusations were connected to Brooke.
“What happened after the call?”” David asked.
Brooke looked at him.
“Ryan told me Marcus had been arrested.””
Tiana's head snapped up.
“Arrested for what?””
“Fraud. Ryan said he'd used stolen identification to open accounts.””
“That's a lie.””
“I know that now.””
“You knew he was dead!””
Brooke flinched.
“I didn't know that when Ryan told me he was arrested. I learned about his death weeks later.””
Tiana stared at her.
“Did you ever tell the police what Ryan said?””
Brooke lowered her eyes.
“No.””
“Did you tell them you knew him?””
“No.””
“Did you tell them about the business accounts?””
Brooke shook her head.
Tiana's voice broke.
“You let me believe my brother died without anyone knowing who he really was.””
“I was afraid!””
“And I was grieving!””
The words came out so loudly that Denise appeared at the doorway.
Tiana immediately covered her mouth, breathing hard.
She hadn't intended to shout.
She hadn't intended to cry in front of Brooke.
But for two years, she'd carried the weight of a death that had never made sense. She'd gone to work, paid her bills, studied for her certification, and told herself that the unanswered questions would eventually become easier to live with.
Now every unanswered question had a name.
Ryan.
David.
Brooke.
And perhaps Marcus himself.
David approached her carefully.
“Tiana, I'm sorry.””
She shook her head.
“Please don't apologize for something you didn't do.””
“I should have known something was wrong when my account was frozen. I should have kept pushing the bank for answers.””
“You were trying to survive.””
He looked at her.
“So was Marcus.””
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Then David turned toward Brooke.
“Where is Ryan now?””
“I don't know.””
“His last address?””
“He moved out of his apartment months ago.””
“His phone number?””
“It's disconnected.””
David studied her face.
“Are you telling me the truth?””
Brooke's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
He held her gaze for several seconds.
Then he handed the papers back to Michael's attorney over the phone, who had requested that the originals be preserved and that no one contact Ryan directly.
“We need to take these records to the police,” David said.
Brooke immediately shook her head.
“No.””
David turned toward her.
“That's not a request.””
“If you do that, they'll investigate me, too.””
“They should investigate everyone involved.””
“I could go to prison!””
“You may have committed a crime.””
“I was trying to protect our future!””
David looked at her wedding ring.
“You keep saying that as if it makes everything you've done acceptable.””
Brooke sank into the chair.
“I didn't forge every document. Ryan handled most of the financial paperwork. I signed things he told me were routine. When I realized money was missing, he threatened me.””
“Then why did you lie about Tiana pushing the cake?””
Brooke stared at him.
“I panicked.””
“Why did you slap her?””
She looked away.
“Because everyone was looking at me.””
The answer was so small, so nakedly selfish, that even Brooke seemed ashamed of it.
David shook his head.
“You were afraid people would discover the truth, so you chose the person you thought nobody would defend.””
Brooke began sobbing.
“I didn't know you'd defend her like this.””
David's expression hardened.
“That may be the most honest thing you've said all night.””
He turned toward Denise.
“Please call the police and explain that we have documents concerning suspected financial fraud and identity theft. Make it clear that we need to preserve evidence.””
Denise nodded and stepped into the corridor.
Brooke stood abruptly.
“You can't do this to me on our wedding day!””
David looked at her.
“You did this to yourself long before today.””
She grabbed his sleeve.
“David, please. Think about the life we planned. Think about the house. Think about the children we talked about having someday.””
He gently removed her hand.
“I am thinking about the life I planned. That's why I need to know whether it was built on lies.””
Brooke stared at him, tears running freely down her face.
Then her expression shifted.
There was something else she hadn't told them.
David saw it before she spoke.
“What is it?””
Brooke looked at Tiana.
“There's one more thing.””
Tiana's stomach tightened.
“What?””
Brooke reached into her handbag and removed a small photograph.
The image showed Marcus standing outside a downtown Atlanta office building, wearing a dark jacket and holding a folder.
Beside him stood Ryan.
The photograph was dated six weeks before Marcus died.
But it wasn't the photograph itself that made Tiana's hands tremble.
It was the man standing behind them.
A man Tiana had seen only once before, at the funeral.
A man who had introduced himself as Marcus's former supervisor and then disappeared before she could ask him any questions.
Tiana took the photograph.
“Who is that?””
Brooke's voice dropped to a whisper.
“That's the man who gave Ryan the money to start the company.””
David leaned closer.
“What's his name?””
Brooke looked from him to Tiana.
Then she answered.
“Thomas Bennett.””
Tiana stopped breathing.
Thomas Bennett was their father.
The man who had abandoned them when Marcus was twelve and Tiana was fifteen.
The man who hadn't attended either of their school graduations.
The man who hadn't called when Marcus lost his job.
And the man who had stood beside Tiana at her brother's funeral, offered his condolences, and claimed he'd barely spoken to Marcus in years.
Tiana looked at the photograph again.
Her father had been standing beside the man who accused Marcus of fraud.
He'd been connected to the company that used David's identification.
And he'd been there six weeks before Marcus died.
“Where is my father now?”” she whispered.
Brooke shook her head.
“I don't know.””
But David had already turned the photograph over.
Written on the back, in blue ink, was an address.
May you like
And beneath it were six words that made him look up in alarm.
*Ask Thomas what happened that night.*
