Chapter 4 - Nobody Touches My Wife
Three weeks into the new treatment, Atticus learned something unexpected.
He was terrible at being a caregiver.
“That's too much salt,” he said.
Cordelia stared at her soup.
“It's crackers.”
“The doctor said sodium—”
“Atticus.”
“Yes?”
“If you take away my crackers, I will divorce you.”
He slowly pushed the bowl back.
“Understood.”
She smiled.
Then the doorbell rang.
Marcus entered minutes later carrying a laptop.
“We found the buyer.”
Atticus's humor disappeared.
“Who?”
Marcus placed the laptop down.
“Victor Hale.”
Atticus's eyes hardened.
Cordelia recognized the name.
“Chicago?”
Atticus nodded.
Victor had lost the shipping negotiation.
His men had died.
Now he had purchased Cordelia's medical information.
“Why?” Cordelia asked.
Marcus answered.
“Leverage.”
Atticus stood.
Cordelia immediately said:
“No.”
“He came after you.”
“No bodies.”
“Cordelia.”
“You promised you'd try another way.”
“I promised nothing.”
She stared.
Atticus sighed.
“Fine.”
Marcus looked confused.
“Fine?”
Atticus picked up his phone.
“Get me federal prosecutor Nathan Ellis.”
Marcus nearly laughed.
“You hate Ellis.”
“He hates me too.”
“Then why—”
“Because Victor has been selling medical data illegally, bribing clinic administrators, and using confidential records for extortion.”
Marcus slowly smiled.
“You're going to hand him to the government.”
Cordelia stared at her husband.
Atticus shrugged.
“You requested personal growth.”
She laughed.
It was the first real laugh he had heard from her in months.
He realized he had forgotten how much he loved the sound.
---
Victor Hale was arrested eleven days later.
So were two clinic administrators.
Daniel Crowe agreed to cooperate with investigators.
Atticus did not fire a shot.
Marcus visited him afterward.
“You're becoming respectable.”
“Watch your mouth.”
Marcus grinned.
“What's next?”
Atticus looked toward the living room, where Cordelia slept beneath a blanket.
“I'm getting out.”
Marcus's smile vanished.
“Out?”
“Of everything.”
“You can't.”
“Yes, I can.”
“You built this for twenty years.”
“And I nearly lost the only person who mattered while protecting it.”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“People won't simply let you walk away.”
Atticus looked at him.
May you like
“Then they'll learn.”
---
