“So this was to protect me?”
Daniel hesitated too long.
“He said that was part of it.”
Part of it.
I looked back at the graduation crowd.
“Where is he?”
Daniel exhaled hard.
“At the motel on Carver Road. I drove him there last night.”
Marcus opened the motel door on the second knock.
He was still in his dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, tie loose, graduation clothes hanging off him like they belonged to somebody else.
For one second, he looked relieved to see me.
That hurt worse than if he had looked cold.
I walked past him into the room and put the envelope on the table between us.
“I was going to call you,” he said.
“You handed me divorce papers at graduation.”
“I panicked.”
“Well, it sure seems like you planned this ahead.”
He swallowed.
“Daniel told me about the complaint,” I said. “Start there.”
The complaint was real.