After My Murder I Returned

The Deposition

Chapter 10: The Deposition

Day 72 started with a subpoena.

Jonah called at 7:03 AM. Voice shaking.

“Nate. I, um... I got served.”

Nathan was already awake. Hadn’t slept after Douglas’s “parking garage” comment. “What kind of served?”

“Subpoena. Witness. State v. Caldwell Capital. It’s about, um, about market manipulation. They want me to testify about my ‘meeting’ with Douglas Rivers.”

Nathan’s jaw locked. “He set you up.”

“I didn’t say anything. I swear. I just—”

“I know.” Nathan was already grabbing his keys. “Don’t talk to anyone. Not the press. Not the DA. Not even your professor. I’m calling our lawyer.”

“We don’t have a lawyer, Nate.”

“We do now.”

---

Reed Capital. 9 AM.

Margaret Sloane. General Counsel. Sixty. Iron gray hair. Had been with Damien since the ’90s. Didn’t like Nathan.

She read the subpoena twice. “This is sloppy,” she said. “Douglas is trying to drag Reed Capital into Caldwell’s mess. Make it look like we’re colluding.”

“We’re not,” Nathan said.

“No. But you, um, you met with him. At Blue Bottle. Public place. Cameras. That’s a problem.”

Jonah was in the corner. Silent. Pale.

“He ambushed him,” Nathan said. “Douglas called Jonah. Manipulated him into a meeting.”

“Can you prove that?” Margaret asked.

Nathan pulled out his phone. Played the voicemail Jonah recorded.

Douglas: “Jonah, it’s Douglas Rivers. I really admire what you’re doing at Georgetown. I’d love to mentor you. Bright young men need guidance.”

Margaret listened. Then: “It’s not illegal. It’s creepy. But not illegal.”

“So what do we do?” Jonah asked. Small.

“We prepare,” Margaret said. “You tell the truth. You met him once. For coffee. He said nothing material. End of story.”

“And if they ask about Nathan?” Jonah glanced at him.

“Tell the truth,” Nathan said. “I showed up. Told him to stay away from you. That’s it.”

Margaret closed the file. “I’ll prep you both. Tomorrow. 8 AM. Don’t be late.”

After Jonah left, Margaret looked at Nathan. “You fired Hargrove.”

“Yeah.”

“Good. He was dirty. But now you, um, you’ve got a target on your back. Caldwell’s people. Douglas’s people. They’ll come for you in that deposition.”

“Let them.”

“Don’t be stupid, Nathan. This isn’t a boardroom. This is federal court. You lie, you go to jail.”

“I’m not going to lie.”

“No. But you’re going to want to.” She stood. “Because they’re going to ask why you’re buying Douglas Rivers’s debt. And ‘he’s a bad man’ isn’t, um, isn’t admissible.”

Nathan didn’t answer.

---

Day 75 was the deposition.

U.S. District Court. Downtown DC. Marble everywhere. Intimidating on purpose.

Nathan wore the black suit. No tie. Sophia said it made him look “less guilty.”

Jonah went first. Thirty minutes. He was honest. Shaky, but honest. Coffee. No business discussed. Nathan interrupted. End.

Then it was Nathan’s turn.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Wells. Forties. Sharp suit. Sharper eyes.

“Mr. Reed,” she said. “You’re the son of Damien Reed, CEO of Reed Capital?”

“Yes.”

“And you, um, you recently assumed a more active role in the company?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Nathan looked at the court reporter. Then at Wells. “Because I decided to stop being a disappointment.”

A few people in the gallery coughed. Hiding laughs.

Wells didn’t smile. “You fired Richard Hargrove. CFO. Why?”

“Expense irregularities. And he approved a loan against policy.”

“What loan?”

“Adonis Daniels. $250,000. Personal. Gym expansion.”

Wells wrote something down. “Do you know Mr. Daniels personally?”

“No.”

“Ever met him?”

Nathan’s throat went dry. “Once. Outside Reed Capital. After the loan was pulled.”

“What did you discuss?”

“He asked why it was pulled. I told him policy.”

Wells looked up. “Did you threaten him?”

“No.”

“Did you say, quote, ‘you will have litigation’?”

Nathan blinked. He recorded it?

“I said we don’t fund businesses with open litigation. It was, um... it was a general statement. Risk assessment.”

Wells stared. Then moved on. “Douglas Rivers. You’re acquiring his debt. Why?”

Nathan had rehearsed this. “It’s an undervalued asset. We specialize in distressed debt. His portfolio has strong collateral. It’s business.”

“Is it personal?”

“No.”

“Your friend Jonah Carter testified that Douglas Rivers contacted him. After you started acquiring the debt. Coincidence?”

“I don’t know why Douglas does anything.”

Wells leaned forward. “Mr. Reed. Is this a vendetta?”

“No.”

“Then why does your father’s company need eighty-seven percent of a man’s personal debt?”

Nathan looked at her. “Because if we don’t buy it, someone worse will.”

Court recessed.

Nathan walked out and saw him.

Adonis. Back row. Same tank top. Same smile.

He didn’t say anything. Just nodded. Once.

Like, I see you.

Nathan kept walking.

---

Day 77 was Amber.

She got pulled into a consult on Damien’s case. Standard protocol for cardiac patients with family history.

She found Nathan in the hospital waiting room. He was there for Damien’s stress test.

“Nathan,” she said. No Mr. Reed. Not in the hospital.

“Dr. Evans.” He stood. “Uh... everything okay?”

“No.” She sat. Across from him. Clipboard on her knees. “Your dad’s numbers are good. That’s not why I’m here.”

Nathan waited.

“I saw the subpoena list,” she said. “Public record. Your name was on it. State v. Caldwell Capital.”

“Yeah.”

“So.” She clicked her pen. “You’re, um, you’re in the middle of a federal case. Your dad just had a cardiac event. You’re running Reed Capital. And you still haven’t called the therapist.”

Nathan rubbed his face. “Not now, Amber.”

“Dr. Evans,” she corrected. Automatic. “And yes, now. Because you look like you’re going to collapse. And I’m, um... I’m not treating you in the ER at 3 AM because you think sleep is optional.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.” Her voice was flat. “You’re running a war on four fronts. Douglas. Caldwell. Adonis. Your own guilt. And you think if you just, like, if you just work harder, you can control it.”

Nathan stood. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know trauma,” she said. Stood too. “I see it every day. And you, Nathan... you’ve got it written all over you. The hypervigilance. The insomnia. The way you, um, the way you react to names. Douglas. Adonis.”

He froze.

She saw it. “Yeah. I noticed. At the gala committee meeting — Sophia mentioned you shut down the Rivers donation. At the ER — you flinched when I said Adonis was a common name. You know them. And you’re scared of them.”

“I’m not scared,” Nathan said. Quiet.

“Then what are you?”

He didn’t answer.

Amber stepped back. Professional again. “Call him, Nathan. Dr. Cho. Or don’t. But don’t, um... don’t bleed out in my hospital because you’re too stubborn to ask for help.”

She walked away.

Nathan sat back down.

Hands shaking.

She was right.

---

Day 80 was Sophia.

Nathan came home to find her in the kitchen. Holding an envelope. Cream. Expensive.

“This came for me,” she said. “Hand-delivered. No return address.”

She handed it over.

Nathan opened it.

Sophia —

I heard Damien is recovering. Wonderful news. The Foundation is lucky to have him. You’re lucky to have him.

We should have lunch soon. I have so many ideas for the gala. And I’d love to properly meet your son. He seems... intense.

- Melanie Rivers

Nathan set the note down. Carefully.

“She knows where we live,” he said.

Sophia was pale. “Nathan. Who is she?”

He looked at his mom. Really looked.

And he told her the only truth he could.

“She’s the reason I’m not dead yet.”

Sophia didn’t cry. She just nodded.

Then she picked up the note. Tore it in half. Then quarters.

“Not again,” she said. “Not this family.”

Damien walked in then. Saw the paper. Saw their faces.

“What?” he said.

Nathan looked at him. “We need to talk. All of us. Tonight.”

Damien studied him. Then nodded. “Okay.”

That night, Nathan told them part of it.

Not the time travel. Not the death.

But Douglas. The debt. The risk. Melanie’s games.

Damien listened. The whole time.

When Nathan finished, Damien said one thing:

“Good. Now we, mmm... now we finish it.”

We.

Nathan slept that night.

For the first time in weeks.

--