Chapter 6 - Rachel Before Mark
Malcolm's last name was Burke.
He owned three Baltimore bars.
On paper.
He also ran high-stakes private gambling games.
Not illegal by themselves in every circumstance.
What surrounded them was.
Debt collection.
Unlicensed lending.
Cash transactions.
People who didn't ask for receipts.
Rachel met him at a charity fundraiser almost three years earlier.
That surprised me.
My sister did not gamble.
At least I thought she didn't.
She had been seeing someone then.
Not Mark.
Malcolm.
Detectives found hotel records.
Restaurant charges.
Messages from an old phone backup.
They had dated for seven months.
Rachel never told me.
Why?
Because she knew I would dislike him.
Her words.
Their relationship ended badly.
Malcolm claimed Rachel stole from him.
Rachel claimed Malcolm threatened her.
Both could be true.
Then Mark began gambling in one of Malcolm's private rooms.
Coincidence?
No.
Rachel introduced them.
I confronted Mark again.
“You met Malcolm through Rachel.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You told me it was through someone at work.”
“I lied.”
“I've noticed.”
“Rachel said the games were safe.”
“So my sister introduced my husband to the man who eventually threatened to kill him.”
“Yes.”
“How long before you slept together?”
Mark looked away.
“Months.”
“Was the gambling an excuse to see her?”
“No.”
“Did you love her?”
His face changed.
“I don't know.”
Wrong answer.
I stood.
“Sit.”
I surprised myself.
Mark sat.
“I don't care whether the truth hurts now.”
He looked at me.
“I need it because Emma's safety depends on understanding what happened.”
He nodded.
“Did you love Rachel?”
“For a while, I thought maybe.”
The sentence felt like someone pressing a knife slowly rather than stabbing.
“How long was the affair?”
“Four months.”
“She said once.”
“I know.”
“Why did it end?”
“She wanted me to leave you.”
My throat tightened.
“And?”
“I wouldn't.”
“How touching.”
“I know how that sounds.”
“Stop saying that.”
He looked down.
“Rachel became angry.”
“About me?”
“About everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“She thought we could build something together.”
“On stolen hospital drugs and my savings?”
“She didn't know about the drugs at first.”
“When did she know?”
“After Malcolm started threatening me.”
I thought.
“So she helped build Harbor Seven after the affair began.”
“Yes.”
“And used our money.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To pay Malcolm.”
“Then why did Malcolm keep threatening you?”
“Because the amount kept growing.”
“How?”
“Interest. Gambling. Other things.”
“What other things?”
Mark hesitated.
“I lost a package.”
“What package?”
“Medication.”
My stomach turned.
“Stolen medication.”
“Yes.”
“Worth how much?”
“To him? A lot.”
“Did Malcolm plan to resell it?”
“Yes.”
“And he blamed you.”
“Yes.”
“Did Rachel know?”
“Yes.”
Everything returned to Emma's birthday.
“Why would Malcolm buy sedative from you if he wanted to kill you with it?”
Mark stared.
“He didn't buy that vial from me.”
I froze.
“What?”
“The type found in my car was from Harbor Point.”
“Yes.”
“But the batch wasn't one I stole.”
“How do you know?”
“Different operating wing.”
That mattered.
Mark worked mostly in outpatient orthopedics.
The batch number belonged to another department.
“Who could access it?”
“Dozens of people.”
“Rachel?”
“No.”
“Malcolm?”
“No.”
“Then how did it leave the center?”
Mark looked miserable.
“Someone else was stealing too.”
The investigation widened.
Hospital inventory records revealed losses predating Mark's scheme.
Smaller.
Scattered.
Ignored.
Another employee had been removing medication.
A nurse named Dana Wells.
Dana had worked with Mark.
And according to Mark, Dana knew Rachel.
I stared.
“How?”
“Rachel came to the center several times.”
“Why?”
“To see me.”
“During the affair.”
“Yes.”
“What did Dana think?”
“That Rachel was my cousin.”
I almost laughed at the stupidity.
“Did Rachel ever speak with Dana?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“I don't know.”
Detectives questioned Dana.
She denied stealing anything.
Then investigators showed her inventory discrepancies and text messages with Mark.
She asked for a lawyer.
Two days later, Dana admitted diverting medications and selling them.
Not to Malcolm.
To Rachel.
My sister had obtained the sedative directly.
Not through Mark.
The vial in his car could have come from her.
The drug in Emma's cup could have come from her.
And Rachel's claim that she knew nothing about where Mark's medications came from collapsed completely.
But Dana gave police one final detail.
Rachel had purchased only one vial from her during the week of Emma's birthday.
When Dana asked why, Rachel replied:
“I need someone to sleep through one conversation.”
Someone.
Not Emma.
May you like
The question remained.
Who?
