Chapter 10 - THE BASEMENT PLANAccording to Eli, the conversation changed after his fall.
Before:
Give us the phone.
Delete the copies.
After:
How do we explain the injuries?
Charles said:
“He fell.”
Mark:
“He’ll tell Michael.”
Charles:
“Then Michael hears he was stealing.”
Denise:
“He needs X-rays.”
Mark:
“Do you understand what happens Monday if he hands Nathan those invoices?”
Monday.
Bank review.
The business’s revolving credit line was being renewed.
Eli heard Mark say:
“We need tonight.”
Not forever.
Tonight.
They wanted Eli’s cloud password.
He refused.
Mark proposed sending me a message from Eli’s phone:
Staying with Mason tonight. We fought. Leave me alone.
Mason was Eli’s closest friend.
Unfortunately for Mark, Mason was visiting grandparents in Ohio.
They did not know that.
Charles said they could take Eli to an empty rental property owned by the business for a few hours until he “got reasonable.”
Denise said:
“That’s kidnapping.”
Mark replied:
“It’s family.”
A remarkable sentence.
As if kinship changed the definition of a locked door.
Eli heard enough.
That was the plan he meant in the ambulance.
Not murder.
Not permanent disappearance.
Keep him away from me overnight.
Get the files.
Prepare for Monday.
Build a story explaining the injuries and discrediting whatever Eli said.
Temporary.
They kept using that word later.
Temporary restraint.
Temporary delay.
May you like
Temporary lie.
As though time limits convert wrongdoing into permission.
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