And the fact that Emily knocked anyway, bruised and terrified and certain I’d turn her away — the fact that she loved me more than she feared my rejection — is the only reason I am not, right now, a ruined old man wondering where his life went.

Chapter 14 — The Cousin Named Marcus

My attorney was a sharp, plain-spoken woman named Rachel Bennett, and when she had gone through the drive and the messages she told me exactly what to do and, more importantly, what not to do.

“This doesn’t prove every single thing we suspect, not yet,” she said.

“But it’s more than enough to protect your assets, to submit the evidence properly, and to ask for a formal investigation.

And listen to me, Walter — the assault on Emily gets handled as its own matter.