Exposure. The word felt clinical and cold, nothing like the vibrant, warm person Danny had been. Danny, who never met a stranger, who could make anyone laugh, who had been planning to propose to his girlfriend Sarah next month. Danny, who was supposed to help me paint my kitchen this weekend.
“What circumstances?” Rachel asked when I couldn’t find my voice.Detective Morrison pulled several photographs from his folder, placing them face-down on my coffee table. “Your brother was found approximately two miles from a hunting cabin that belongs to Marcus Webb. Are you familiar with that name?”
The name hit me like a physical blow. Marcus Webb. Danny’s former business partner. The man who had been like a brother to Danny until money and greed had torn their friendship apart in the most spectacular and public way possible.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “I know Marcus.”
“When did you last see Mr. Webb?”
The memory came flooding back with painful clarity. “At the courthouse. Six months ago. During the civil trial.”The trial where Danny had sued Marcus for embezzling nearly $200,000 from their joint construction business. The trial where Marcus had counter-sued, claiming Danny was the one who had stolen money and used Marcus as a scapegoat. The trial that had ended with the judge ruling in Danny’s favor and ordering Marcus to pay restitution he claimed he didn’t have.
The trial where Marcus had stood up in the courtroom, pointed directly at Danny, and said loud enough for everyone to hear: “You’ve destroyed my life, and I’ll never forget it.”
The Partnership That Went Wrong
Danny and Marcus had been best friends since high school, the kind of friendship that people write songs about. They’d played football together, dated sisters for a while, and after graduation, they’d pooled their savings and construction skills to start Webb & Patterson Contracting. For five years, their business had thrived, built on Danny’s natural leadership abilities and Marcus’s attention to detail.They were successful enough to employ twelve people, successful enough to buy matching trucks, successful enough to take their wives on vacation together every summer. Danny would joke that he and Marcus were like an old married couple, finishing each other’s sentences and anticipating each other’s needs on job sites.
