A Lifelong Protector
He wasn't a fugitive, but a faithful friend keeping a sacred vow.
Mark was the only person David trusted to be his one, untraceable link to his old life. The burner phone was for their brief, annual check-ins, and the cash was an emergency fund Mark had slowly saved, just in case David ever needed to run again. Clara realized she hadn't married a criminal; she had married a man of incredible loyalty, who had silently carried the weight of protecting his friend for over twenty years.