Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED COAT
The police wanted me protected.
The hospital moved me to a private floor under another name.
Chloe stayed with Dad.
Julian had vanished.
His bank cards stopped moving.
His phone was off.
For the first time since my crash, I understood something worse than pain.
Waiting.
Every sound outside my room made me flinch.
Every unfamiliar voice made my pulse jump.
The next morning, Detective Grant arrived with photographs.
“We identified the owner of the prepaid number.”
She placed a picture in front of me.
A woman in a red coat stood outside a coffee shop.
Thirty-five.
Dark hair.
Elegant.
Familiar.
My stomach dropped.
“I know her.”
“Who?”
“Vanessa Hale.”
Julian’s executive assistant.
The woman who sent Christmas gifts to our house.
The woman who hugged me at company dinners.
The woman who once told me I was “lucky to have a man like Julian.”
Grant watched my face.
“How close are they?”
“I thought professional.”
She slid another photograph across the table.
Julian and Vanessa were kissing inside a parking garage.
The picture was dated six months earlier.
I stared at it.
Something inside me became very quiet.
Not broken.
Finished.
Dad entered with coffee.
He saw the photograph.
“Oh.”
That single word carried more anger than shouting.
Grant continued.
“We searched Vanessa’s apartment.”
“And?”
“She’s gone.”
Of course she was.
“But we found financial records.”
She handed me a statement.
Julian had transferred money to Vanessa for nearly two years.
Five thousand.
Eight thousand.
Twelve thousand.
Always from an account I had never seen.
“How much?”
“Approximately one hundred eighty thousand dollars.”
I laughed.
It sounded wrong in the room.
“When I wanted to replace our leaking dishwasher, he told me money was tight.”
Dad squeezed my shoulder.
Grant turned another page.
“There’s more.”
There was always more.
“Three months ago, Vanessa purchased a house in Florida.”
“With his money?”
“Partly.”
“Whose name is on it?”
“Both of theirs.”
I stared at the paper.
They weren’t just having an affair.
They had built another life.
Then Grant placed one final document on the bed.
A life insurance amendment.
The beneficiary remained Julian.
But the policy had been increased.
Not one million.
Three million.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
I had never signed it.
“He forged this.”
“That’s what we believe.”
My father stood completely still.
“So the motive is money.”
Grant shook her head.
“Not entirely.”
She produced another file.
“Julian’s company is collapsing.”
He owed creditors millions.
He had hidden losses from investors.
A three-million-dollar insurance payout would have kept him alive financially.
And my death would have given him full control over several investment accounts I inherited from my mother.
I felt sick.
“How much?”
“Another two point four million.”
Dad walked to the window.
I knew he was trying not to show what he felt.
Then my phone rang.
Private number.
Grant motioned for me to answer.
She activated recording equipment.
I pressed the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
Julian’s voice came through.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Audrey.”
I stopped breathing.
“Where’s Chloe?”
“Safe, thanks to your father.”
“You abandoned her.”
“I panicked.”
“You tried to take her out of the country.”
“I was protecting her.”
“From who?”
A pause.
Then Julian said something I never expected.
“From your father.”
Dad looked at me.
“What are you talking about?”
“You think he came back because he loves you?”
Julian laughed quietly.
“Ask him why he was investigating me before your accident.”
I turned toward Dad.
He didn’t move.
Julian continued.
“Ask your father what he knew.”
Then the line went dead.
I stared at Dad.
“You were investigating Julian?”
Dad said nothing.
“Before the crash?”
His silence answered me.
May you like
My voice cracked.
“Why?”
