“Why would my own family do that to me?”

“Because Daniel offered Arthur a seat on one of his subsidiary boards,” Marcus replied. “And Arthur was deeply in debt.”

The rain began to beat harder against the windshield, a steady, deafening drum.

“Where is Daniel now?” I asked.

“He’s at the penthouse,” Marcus said. “Clara is there too. They’re trying to figure out how to handle the SEC inquiry.”

“Are they together?”

“For now,” Marcus said. “But Daniel is panicked, Emily. When he’s panicked, he cuts his losses.”

“What are you going to do, Marcus?”

“I’ve already done my part,” he said. “The rest is up to you. Just remember, Clara doesn’t know Daniel is planning to throw her to the wolves.”

The line went dead.

I sat in the quiet of the car, the USB drive heavy in my hand.

I put the car in drive and pulled back into the slow-moving Michigan Avenue traffic.

My hands were steady now, gripped tightly around the steering wheel.

The drive to the penthouse took twenty minutes through the heavy afternoon congestion.