Page 123 of Ruthless Cross

"But you're going to help me, right? You said we're the same—children of criminals."

"We're not the same. I don't cheat or lie or kill. That's all on you, Marcus." He paused. "Actually, we do have one thing in common. We can both lie to get what we want. I'm not going to help you. The courts will decide how you pay for your crimes."

"I can turn on you. I can tell everyone that your father was there," Marcus said desperately.

"They already know, Marcus. You have nothing left to barter."

"It's not like Arthur was a saint. He was buying stolen art through the Vales' gallery. Arthur was a criminal, too. I didn't kill a good person."

"Save your story for the jury. And in the meantime, get yourself a good lawyer. You're going to need it."

He tipped his head to Savannah and they walked out of the room.

Pausing in the hall, she said, "Well, that was quite a story. All the puzzle pieces finally fell into place."

"He might have gotten away with it if he hadn't used his mother's painting, if she hadn't gotten angry with him. That's when he got careless. In some ways, they took each other out."

"Good riddance to both of them. And nice work on getting him to talk."

He shrugged. "It won't hold up in court, but knowing what we do, we can build a good case. I'm sure Greg Barkley will be happy to make a deal and throw Marcus under the bus. Same with Gretchen and Stephen Vale. They'd rather own up to theft than murder. And we'll see if Lucas can find the hacker named Dreambuster."

"We're going to be busy for a while."

"We are," he agreed, as they headed for the elevator. But maybe busy was just what he needed to take his mind off Callie.

* * *

"I hope you have good news for me, Callie," Juliette said.

She walked over to the small table where her mother was seated. Taking the chair across from her, she said, "I have very good news."

"I'm going home?"

"Actually, I don't know about that yet. The nurse said Dr. Clarke would be in this afternoon to make that decision."

Her mom's face fell. "I'm tired of waiting for him. I want to go home."

"I know. But let me tell you the news. They found Arthur's killer."

"They did? Who was it?"

"It was Marcus Vitelli."

Her mom blinked in surprise. "Marcus? But Arthur was helping Marcus. He was his benefactor. Victoria will be shocked. She thought he was amazing and brilliant and talented."

"Victoria knew what Arthur did, Mom, maybe not right away, but eventually."

"How would she know?"

"Because Marcus wasn't just Victoria's protégé—he was her son."

Her mom's jaw dropped. "I don't understand. She didn't have children, and certainly not one that old."

"Marcus was twenty-four. Victoria had him when she was sixteen. She gave him up so she could have the career she wanted. He tracked her down when he was in his late teens. I don't know all the details, but Victoria gave him opportunities to get ahead."

"I can't believe this. Is Marcus under arrest? What about Victoria?"

"Marcus is under arrest. As for Victoria, it's a long story, Mom, and I don't want to get into it all now, but she was also a killer. She committed murder several times in her life."

---