Chapter 16 - SERAPHINA FINALLY ADMITTED WHAT MARCUS DID AFTER THE CRASHSeraphina asked to speak with Everett.
He refused.
Then Detective Ellison said:
“She’s offering information about Marcus.”
Everett agreed to listen through glass.
He would not sit across from her.
Seraphina looked exhausted.
No makeup.
No expensive dress.
No performance.
She spoke to Ellison.
“Marcus followed Laurel.”
“We know.”
“He was supposed to stop her before she reached the federal building.”
“How?”
“Force her to pull over.”
“Did he hit her car?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you speak to him afterward?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes after the crash.”
“What did he say?”
Seraphina’s hands shook.
“He said it was handled.”
Everett’s stomach turned.
“What did you think that meant?”
“That he got the recorder.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“How did you know?”
“Because he spent the next four years looking.”
Detective Ellison leaned closer.
“Did he admit causing the crash?”
“No.”
“Did he say Laurel was dead?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He said, ‘She won’t be a problem again.’”
Everett closed his eyes.
Not proof.
But close enough to haunt him.
Seraphina continued.
“I wanted out after that.”
“Yet you continued working for him.”
“He had footage of me breaking into homes.”
“Criminal leverage.”
“Yes.”
“And then he told you to marry Everett.”
Seraphina began crying.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Access to Hadley.”
Everett’s jaw tightened.
Ellison asked:
“Did you know what Hadley held?”
“Only that Laurel had tied recovery credentials to her.”
“When did you learn about Lunar Vault?”
“Two years after I married Everett.”
“What were you supposed to do before then?”
“Stay close.”
“To Everett?”
“To Hadley.”
Everett felt disgust.
Seraphina looked toward the one-way glass as if she knew he was there.
“I didn’t marry you only because of Marcus.”
Everett didn’t move.
Ellison said:
“Focus on facts.”
Seraphina nodded.
“After I married Everett, I stopped reporting for almost a year.”
“Why?”
“I wanted a real life.”
“Then Marcus returned.”
“Yes.”
“What did he threaten?”
“To show Everett old footage.”
“Of you committing crimes?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“To expose that I had known Laurel.”
“So you helped him again.”
“Yes.”
“By changing the guardianship.”
“Yes.”
“Taking camera control.”
“Yes.”
“Searching Laurel’s room.”
“Yes.”
“And questioning Hadley.”
Seraphina’s face crumpled.
“Yes.”
Ellison waited.
“Describe what you did.”
Seraphina did.
Cold showers.
Locked bathroom.
Taking away meals twice.
Threatening boarding school.
Calling Laurel names.
Telling Hadley Everett would not believe her.
Everett had to look away.
Seraphina continued.
“At first I only asked about the rhyme.”
“Then?”
“She refused.”
“So you escalated.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid Marcus would expose me.”
Ellison remained expressionless.
“And you chose to make an eight-year-old afraid instead.”
Seraphina cried.
“Yes.”
No excuse survived the sentence.
Then:
“Hadley started noticing the cameras were active.”
“Why were you pretending they were broken?”
“Because I needed Everett to stop looking at the system logs.”
“You forged a service report.”
“Yes.”
“Who created it?”
“Marcus.”
“And the hidden uploads?”
“Marcus.”
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“Why upload footage?”
“He wanted everything copied before I deleted local sections.”
“Why delete them?”
“To hide what I was doing with Hadley.”
Everett closed his eyes.
There.
Clear.
She knew it was wrong.
She hid it.
Then Seraphina said:
“But there are clips I didn’t delete.”
Ellison looked up.
“Where?”
“I saved them separately.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Against Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“What do they show?”
Seraphina swallowed.
“Marcus inside the house.”
“We know.”
“Not those visits.”
“Then what?”
“The night Laurel died.”
Everett went completely still.
Seraphina had been in contact with Marcus that night.
Apparently she saved video from another location.
“Where is it?”
“A microSD card.”
“Location.”
“Inside the base of the wine glass cabinet.”
Detective Ellison sent officers.
The card was found exactly there.
Footage.
Not from Whitmore mansion.
From a dash camera.
Seraphina’s old car.
Timestamp:
1:18 p.m.
The day Laurel died.
Seraphina was parked near a gas station.
Marcus’s black SUV pulled in.
Damage visible on the front passenger side.
Everett’s heart pounded.
Marcus stepped out.
Made a call.
Dash-cam microphone faintly captured him.
Julian amplified audio.
Marcus:
“She swerved.”
Pause.
“No, I didn’t hit her hard.”
Everett stopped breathing.
Another pause.
“The recorder wasn’t in the car.”
Then:
“Nolan must have it.”
Everyone stared.
Marcus had hit Laurel.
Maybe intentionally trying to force her over.
Maybe not intending death.
But he caused the crash.
The call continued.
Marcus:
“I’ll handle Nolan.”
Then he said a name.
“Margaret, calm down.”
Detective Ellison looked at Everett.
There it was.
Marcus had called Margaret Sloane minutes after Laurel crashed.
Not Charles.
Not Graham.
Margaret.
The chief legal officer who later handled Laurel’s estate.
The woman who could influence what evidence disappeared.
Seraphina whispered from the interview recording:
“That’s why I kept it.”
Ellison asked:
“Why didn’t you give it to police?”
“Because then Marcus would expose me.”
“And Laurel’s death remained an accident for four years.”
Seraphina closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Everett felt something inside him harden.
Her fear had cost Laurel justice.
Her cruelty had cost Hadley safety.
Her silence had protected Marcus.
Yet she had kept the one recording that could finally destroy him.
People could be both coward and witness.
Victim and abuser.
Useful and unforgivable.
Then Julian’s phone buzzed.
He looked down.
His face changed.
“What?”
“Laurel’s recorder just received a remote ping.”
Everett stared.
“From who?”
“Lunar Vault.”
“What does it say?”
Julian turned the screen.
FINAL RELEASE SEQUENCE INITIATED.
Countdown:
72 HOURS.
Hadley’s ninth-birthday trigger had activated early.
May you like
Someone had tried to breach the escrow.
And Laurel’s system had responded by preparing to release everything.
Related Stories
