Chapter 9 - THE DEAL
Rachel moved Lily and Noah again.
This time, I wasn’t told where.
At first, I hated it.
Then I realized that was exactly why it was safer.
Vanessa remained with the FBI.
Not as family.
As a witness.
And possibly a defendant.
By midnight, she finally began talking.
Names.
Accounts.
Dates.
William’s associates.
A judge.
Two executives.
Three police officers.
A private security contractor.
“You knew all these people?” I asked.
“I knew some.”
“How much money did you move?”
She looked down.
“About six million.”
“Six million dollars.”
“Yes.”
“You committed financial crimes for him.”
“Yes.”
“And married me.”
“Yes.”
“Was any part of us real?”
Her face folded.
“Adrian—”
“Answer.”
“I loved you.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
She started crying.
I felt nothing.
“At first, I got close to you because William wanted someone inside your life.”
There it was.
The sentence I already knew but still wasn’t prepared to hear.
“And later?”
“Later I fell in love with you.”
“You abused my daughter.”
She covered her mouth.
“You locked my children outside.”
“I know.”
“No. You know you got caught.”
She looked away.
Rachel stepped in.
“Enough.”
I walked out.
At 2:14 a.m., an encrypted message arrived.
William.
COME TO THE OLD MERCER BOATHOUSE AT NOON.
BRING VANESSA.
NO POLICE.
CLAIRE LEAVES WITH YOU.
Rachel immediately started planning surveillance.
Vanessa read the message.
“He wants me dead.”
“Probably,” Rachel said.
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“Comforting.”
“You don’t have to go.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
“I helped cause this.”
“That doesn’t erase what you did.”
“I know.”
She took a breath.
“But if going gets Claire out, I’m going.”
The next morning, we drove north.
Unmarked FBI vehicles stayed miles behind.
The boathouse sat beside a gray lake surrounded by pine trees.
No visible guards.
No cars.
Too quiet.
Vanessa and I walked inside.
William was waiting.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Same warm expression he wore at Christmas dinner.
“Adrian.”
I wanted to kill him.
Instead I said, “Where is she?”
“Soon.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You tried to have Hayes killed.”
William smiled.
“Colin became unreliable.”
“You sent people to my children.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“That was a warning.”
I clenched my jaw.
“You photographed my daughter through a window.”
“Yes.”
“You call that a warning?”
“I call it restraint.”
Vanessa whispered, “You’re sick.”
William looked amused.
“From you, that’s almost charming.”
I stepped forward.
“Claire.”
He nodded toward a side door.
It opened.
A woman walked through.
My knees nearly gave out.
Claire.
Alive.
She stared at me.
I stared at her.
Four years vanished in one second.
“Adrian.”
I crossed the room.
William said, “Stop.”
I stopped.
Two armed men appeared on a balcony above us.
Claire shook her head.
“Don’t.”
I could barely speak.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you come home?”
Her eyes filled.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three times.”
My heart broke.
“Three?”
“William intercepted me twice.”
“And the third?”
She looked toward Vanessa.
Vanessa went pale.
“No.”
Claire’s voice trembled.
“The third time, Vanessa found me.”
I turned.
Vanessa backed away.
“Claire.”
“You told me Adrian hated me.”
“I was trying to protect—”
“You showed me divorce papers.”
I stared at Vanessa.
“What divorce papers?”
Claire continued.
“You told me he had married you because he finally knew what kind of woman I was.”
Vanessa began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“You forged divorce papers?”
No answer.
Claire looked at me.
“For three years, Adrian, I thought you knew I was alive.”
My chest felt like it had been ripped open.
“I didn’t.”
She nodded, sobbing.
“I know that now.”
William clapped once.
Softly.
“Beautiful.”
I turned.
“You’re done.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“We’re finally beginning.”
Then the boathouse doors slammed shut.
May you like
And William said:
“Adrian, before anybody leaves, Claire has one more truth to tell you.”
