Chapter 8 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Broken
The courtroom was packed.
Reporters filled every seat.
Richard Hale sat beside Calvin Price.
Both men looked confident.
Then the doors opened.
Marcus entered.
Not in his wheelchair.
On crutches.
The entire courtroom erupted.
Richard's face turned white.
Calvin stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
Marcus moved slowly.
Painfully.
But he walked every inch.
Eleven years of lies collapsed with every step.
The judge stared.
“Mr. Hale?”
Marcus stopped before the bench.
“Your Honor.”
“I believe my uncle has exaggerated my condition.”
A reporter laughed.
Then another.
Richard stood.
“This proves nothing.”
Marcus looked at him.
“No?”
“You've been manipulated.”
Marcus smiled.
“By my legs?”
Calvin interrupted.
“Marcus is suffering from—”
“Sit down, Calvin.”
The courtroom went silent.
Marcus looked at the man who had supposedly protected him for eleven years.
“I heard your conversation with Voss.”
Calvin's face changed.
Marcus continued.
“I know about the medication.”
“I know about Samuel Ward.”
“And I know about Lazarus.”
Richard's expression finally broke.
Just for a second.
But Marcus saw it.
Fear.
The guardianship petition was denied.
Then Marcus dropped the second bomb.
He demanded an immediate independent audit of Hale Biodyne.
Richard left the courtroom without speaking.
Marcus watched him go.
Eli waited outside with Daniel.
Marcus reached him.
“We won?”
Eli asked.
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“We made them scared.”
“That isn't winning.”
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
Then went still.
Marcus recognized the expression.
“What?”
Daniel looked at Eli.
Then Marcus.
“They found Anna Ward.”
Eli's face lit up.
“Where?”
Daniel hesitated.
“In a private psychiatric facility.”
Marcus frowned.
“Under what name?”
Daniel answered.
“Rebecca Hale.”
Marcus stared.
His mother's name.
Richard had hidden Anna under the identity of Marcus's dead mother.
It was a message.
Not just concealment.
Ownership.
Marcus looked at Eli.
“We're getting her out.”
But when they reached the facility three hours later, Anna Ward was gone.
Her room was empty.
The bed still warm.
May you like
On the wall, written in black marker, were four words.
MARCUS REMEMBER THE BRIDGE.
