I could tell that Marcel had been collecting this information for years.
Maybe decades.
Finally, I asked the obvious question.
“Why didn’t you do it yourself?”
He sighed quietly.
“Politics.”
“Meaning?”
“Power requires alliances,” he said. “Some of these men were tied to business deals. Government contracts. Old favors.”
I waited.
He continued.
“And some accusations were never proven.”
Marcel looked me directly in the eye.
“I was weak where you won’t be.”
I looked down at the list again.
Names of men who thought they were untouchable.
Men who believed nobody would ever clean house.
I folded the pages slowly.
Marcel watched every movement.
“You want me to fix your mistakes,” I said calmly.
“I want you to build something better.”
I didn’t answer.
Didn’t argue.
Didn’t agree.
I just folded the paper once more and slid it into my inside jacket pocket.
Marcel’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Because silence is an answer.
And he knew exactly what mine meant.
CHAPTER 32
Ares
“Die with him.”
