Chapter 11 - The Trap at the Harbor
Z
Marcus made his move during the first week of December.
A message appeared on Gideon's phone claiming that a security guard had discovered evidence linking Marin to the missing shipping funds. Attached was a photograph of her entering a warehouse near the waterfront.
Gideon recognized the warehouse.
It belonged to one of Marcus's shell companies.
Marin had never been there.
The photograph was a setup.
Gideon called her immediately.
“Where are you?”
“Finishing a mural at the library. Why?”
“Stay there. I'm sending the police.”
“Gideon, what's happening?”
He explained.
Marin's voice turned cold.
“Don't tell me to hide. Tell me what you know.”
He did.
She remembered something from the previous week: a stranger had asked whether she could paint a sign for a warehouse. She had refused because the address seemed suspicious. The man had photographed her storefront before leaving.
She told Gideon.
The information gave investigators a lead. Security footage showed the stranger entering Marcus's office the following day.
But Marcus had already arranged another trap.
That evening, Marin received a message from an unknown number claiming Noah had been taken from school.
She called the estate.
Noah was safe.
The message was designed to provoke Gideon into acting without evidence, and for several terrifying minutes, Marin feared he would fall for it.
Instead, he called the police and stayed on the line with her.
“I hate this,” she whispered.
“So do I.”
“I hate that loving you means people can use my name to hurt you.”
Gideon went silent.
Then he said, “You don't owe me your love. And you don't owe me the consequences of my choices.”
Marin closed her eyes.
“I'm not leaving because Marcus threatens me.”
“I won't ask you to stay.”
“I know.”
For the first time, they understood the difference between standing beside someone and being held in place by them.
The investigators moved quickly. The false warehouse evidence unraveled, and Marcus's financial crimes became harder to conceal.
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But the final confrontation was still coming.
And this time, Gideon intended to face it without becoming the man Marcus expected him to be.
