Chapter 6 - Marcus Had A Secret
I waited until my family left.
Dad returned to New Jersey with Ethan.
Mom went with him.
Rebecca remained available by phone.
Marcus and I were alone.
I placed the scanned agreement on the dining table.
His face changed instantly.
“You recognize it.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
He looked toward the windows.
“Claire…”
“Do not Claire me. What is it?”
He sat down.
The document was dated nearly two years earlier.
It concerned an early MedAxis investor called Alderpoint Ventures.
I remembered the negotiations.
Alderpoint had offered us $4 million for twenty percent of the company.
We turned them down.
At least I thought we had.
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“They gave us a bridge loan.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Before our Series A.”
“We never took outside debt.”
“You didn’t.”
That sentence cut differently.
“You did?”
He nodded.
“How much?”
“Seven hundred fifty thousand.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
“When?”
“When we had six weeks of payroll left.”
I remembered that period.
Marcus had told me a large hospital pilot had prepaid its annual contract.
Apparently that had been a lie.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were taking anatomy exams during the day and coding until three every morning. You were already ready to quit school. I thought if the company collapsed, you would blame yourself.”
“So you forged my approval?”
“No.”
He pushed the document toward me.
“Look at the signature block.”
My signature had been digitally inserted.
Not signed.
Inserted.
Marcus continued.
“Alderpoint told me it was temporary paperwork until you approved.”
“Did I?”
“No.”
“Then they had a fraudulent agreement.”
“Yes.”
My anger rose.
“And you said nothing during the acquisition?”
“I disclosed the loan.”
“To Horizon?”
“Yes.”
“Not to me.”
He looked ashamed.
“Horizon paid it off at closing.”
“So why does Peter have this?”
“I don’t know.”
That was the question.
Someone had accessed private MedAxis acquisition records.
Peter should not have had them.
Unless Alderpoint and Redwood were connected.
We searched corporate filings.
Alderpoint Ventures had three managing members.
One was a holding company.
Marcus dug deeper.
Twenty minutes later, he turned his laptop.
The holding company’s registered representative was a lawyer named Charles Voss.
The same attorney who had formed Redwood Capital Medical.
“Peter knows Alderpoint,” I whispered.
Marcus nodded.
“Or controls it.”
My phone rang.
Dad.
I answered.
“They arrested Maria.”
I stood.
“What?”
“Police came to the clinic.”
“Why?”
“Peter filed a complaint saying she stole confidential patient data when she copied records.”
My stomach dropped.
“That’s retaliation.”
“I know.”
“You believe her now?”
Dad went silent.
“Yes.”
The word mattered.
But we had no time to discuss it.
I called Maria’s attorney.
Then Rebecca.
Then the general counsel who had handled the MedAxis acquisition.
By early afternoon, we discovered Peter had sent three different threats.
He threatened Maria with criminal charges.
He threatened Dad with accusations of financial fraud.
And he threatened me with a questionable two-year-old loan agreement.
He was not panicking.
He had planned for this.
That scared me more.
At 4:30, Maria was released without charges after her attorney showed investigators that the files she copied contained no patient-identifying information.
But the message was clear.
Peter would destroy anyone who challenged him.
That night Dad called again.
His voice sounded different.
“Claire, I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Peter approached me eighteen months ago.”
“About what?”
“Selling the clinics.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“You said no.”
“Yes.”
“He started stealing after that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Because I didn’t think it mattered.”
“What did he offer?”
Dad hesitated.
“Eight million.”
“That’s below the debt.”
“I know.”
“He wanted you insolvent.”
“I know that now.”
Then Dad said something unexpected.
“I owe you an apology.”
I didn’t respond.
“I should never have thrown you out.”
The words were so simple.
And three weeks too late.
“I was angry because I thought you were wasting everything you had worked for.”
“My work wasn’t yours to define.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Silence.
“I’m trying to.”
That was the first honest thing he had said.
I leaned against the window.
Below me, Manhattan moved as if none of this mattered.
Dad continued.
“There’s something else.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Peter has copies of your mother’s signature.”
“On what?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“He handled our estate planning paperwork last year.”
I closed my eyes.
“Dad…”
“I trusted him.”
“We need to freeze everything.”
“Claire.”
“What?”
“If he has access to the trust…”
Dad stopped.
I heard Mom crying in the background.
May you like
Then he finished.
“Peter may own our house already.”
