Chapter 3
Gary asked to speak before Rocco could summon him.
He came to the hospital with his own attorney.
That surprised Rocco.
“You expecting trouble?”
Gary sat down.
“I think trouble started six weeks ago.”
Audrey remained in her room.
Rocco met him in a private consultation area.
“Tell me about the fall.”
Gary rubbed his palms together.
“Audrey called me that morning.”
“I know.”
“She said she was leaving Preston.”
“What did you do?”
Gary looked ashamed.
“I told her to wait.”
“Why?”
“I thought they could work it out.”
Rocco’s voice hardened.
“That wasn't your decision.”
“I know that now.”
“What did you do after the call?”
Gary hesitated.
“I called Preston.”
Rocco leaned back.
There it was.
Not malice.
Betrayal dressed as intervention.
“What did you tell him?”
“Everything.”
Audrey planned to pack while Preston attended a business dinner.
She intended to stay at Rocco’s Gold Coast residence.
She had already spoken to a divorce attorney.
She planned to tell Preston only after reaching somewhere safe.
Rocco stared at Gary.
“You gave him the route out of her own house.”
Gary looked down.
“I thought he'd talk to her.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said the first fall failed.”
Gary’s breathing changed.
“When did you learn it wasn't an accident?”
“Two days later.”
“How?”
“I heard Brenda and Preston arguing.”
Rocco said nothing.
Gary continued.
Brenda accused Preston of being careless.
Preston told her:
“She wasn’t supposed to get back up that fast.”
Rocco’s jaw tightened.
Gary insisted he did not understand exactly what they had done.
He knew only that the fall had been arranged somehow.
“And you stayed silent for six weeks?”
Gary’s face tightened.
“I confronted Preston.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gary looked toward Audrey’s room.
“Because he told me if I destroyed their marriage over something I couldn’t prove, Audrey would blame me.”
Rocco stood.
Gary flinched.
Rocco walked to the window instead.
That answer disgusted him because he understood it.
Families could turn silence into virtue very easily.
Protect the marriage.
Protect the name.
May you like
Wait until you’re sure.
By the time certainty arrived, somebody was usually already hurt.
