Chapter 8
I couldn’t move.
Seven years vanished.
Suddenly I was thirty-two again, standing beside a hospital bed while a doctor told me Claire had died before the ambulance arrived.
The police said she lost control on a wet road.
Her car hit the median.
Then a concrete barrier.
No witnesses.
No other vehicle identified.
I buried her believing it was an accident.
Now Evan sat across from me saying she wasn’t alone.
“What do you mean?”
He looked sick.
“I saw her earlier that night.”
“That’s not what you said.”
“I know.”
“You told me you were at home.”
“I lied.”
I stood so fast Brooks moved between us.
“Why?”
“Because we argued.”
“You and Claire?”
“Yes.”
“About what?”
Evan looked at the floor.
“Your company.”
My company had barely existed then.
“What about it?”
“She thought I was taking advantage of you.”
I stared at him.
“That sounds like Claire.”
“She wanted you to change the partnership agreement.”
“Why?”
“Because she discovered I’d taken a private loan using part of my shares as collateral.”
I remembered the loan.
But I hadn’t learned about it until two years after Claire died.
“You told me that happened later.”
“I lied about the date.”
My fists clenched.
Brooks spoke calmly.
“Mr. Cole, what happened that night?”
Evan wiped his face.
“I went to your house because Claire had called me. You were traveling.”
“Denver.”
“Yes.”
“What time?”
“Around eight.”
“And?”
“She told me she had documents showing the loan violated our agreement.”
“It did.”
“I was scared.”
“Did you threaten her?”
“No.”
“Did you hurt her?”
“No!”
Brooks leaned forward.
“Did you follow her when she left?”
Evan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“I wanted the documents.”
“She had them in the car?”
“I thought so.”
“What happened?”
“She drove away. I followed.”
“On the highway?”
“Yes.”
“Were you close to her?”
“Not that close.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She called me while driving.”
“What did she say?”
“That she was going to tell you everything.”
“And you?”
“I begged her not to.”
“Then?”
“She hung up.”
His voice cracked.
“A few minutes later, I saw her car lose control.”
I stopped breathing.
“You saw the crash?”
“Yes.”
“And you left?”
His silence answered.
I lunged.
Brooks and another officer grabbed me.
“You left her there!”
“I panicked!”
“She could have been alive!”
“I called 911!”
“From where?”
“A pay phone two exits away.”
“You coward!”
“I was terrified!”
“You let me spend seven years believing nobody saw what happened!”
“I’m sorry!”
I wanted to break every chair in the room.
Instead, Brooks forced me back into my seat.
He waited until I calmed down.
Then asked Evan, “Why would Mrs. Carter know this?”
Evan’s face went gray.
“I told her.”
I laughed.
Of course.
“When?”
“Last year.”
“The night she kissed you?”
He nodded.
“I had been drinking.”
“You told my wife the biggest secret of your life because you were drinking?”
“I felt guilty.”
“You felt guilty enough to tell her. Not me.”
“I couldn’t face you.”
I stared at him.
“Did Vanessa blackmail you?”
He hesitated.
That was answer enough.
Brooks leaned in.
“What did she demand?”
“At first, nothing.”
“At first?”
“Then three months ago she asked me to convince Michael to accept Halcyon’s revised valuation.”
My head snapped toward him.
“You pushed that deal hard.”
“I know.”
“You told me it was best for the company.”
“I thought it was.”
“Because she threatened you?”
“Yes.”
Brooks asked, “How?”
“She said if I didn’t help, she would tell Michael I caused Claire’s death.”
“You did cause it!”
“I didn’t hit her car.”
“You chased her down a highway!”
“I know!”
The room went silent.
Then Brooks looked at the address from the text.
“Do you recognize this location?”
Evan leaned over.
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“A storage facility.”
“Whose?”
“Richard Hale rented a unit there.”
“How do you know?”
“I met him there once.”
Brooks immediately started coordinating with officers.
I barely heard him.
Claire.
Vanessa.
Evan.
Richard.
Everything in my life seemed connected by lies.
An hour later, police entered the storage facility with a warrant.
I wasn’t allowed inside.
Brooks made me wait in a car across the street.
When he returned, he carried a file folder sealed inside an evidence bag.
His expression told me the news was bad.
“What?”
“We found financial records.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
“That’s not surprising anymore.”
“And surveillance photographs.”
“Of what?”
“Your office. Your mother’s house. Rebecca’s house.”
My stomach tightened.
“Anything else?”
He hesitated.
“Claire.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Photographs of your first wife.”
“That’s impossible.”
“They appear to be old.”
“How old?”
“Before the crash.”
My world tilted.
“Why would Richard Hale have photographs of Claire?”
“We don’t know.”
I opened the car door.
Brooks stopped me.
“Michael.”
“I need to see them.”
“You need to prepare yourself.”
“For what?”
“One photo shows Claire meeting someone outside a hotel.”
“Who?”
He didn’t answer.
“Who?”
Brooks finally turned the evidence photograph toward me.
Claire stood near the entrance of a Houston hotel.
She looked angry.
Facing her was a woman.
Younger.
Long dark hair.
Thin.
But unmistakable.
Vanessa.
I stared at the photograph until my vision blurred.
“That can’t be her.”
“It appears to be.”
“Vanessa told me she never knew Claire.”
Brooks nodded.
The timestamp was eight months before Claire died.
I looked at another photograph.
Claire was pointing a finger at Vanessa.
Vanessa was reaching toward her.
“What were they doing?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where did Richard get these?”
“We’re trying to determine that.”
My phone rang through the car speakers.
Rebecca.
I answered immediately.
“Is Noah okay?”
“Yes.”
Her voice sounded strange.
“What happened?”
“Michael, someone delivered something.”
“What?”
“A package.”
My chest tightened.
“Don’t touch it.”
“Police already checked it.”
“What’s inside?”
“A flash drive.”
I closed my eyes.
“Anything else?”
“A note.”
“What does it say?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Michael…”
“Read it.”
Her voice dropped.
“Your first wife discovered Vanessa before you did.”
I gripped the seat.
“There’s another line.”
“What?”
“She says Claire tried to warn you.”
I looked back at the photograph of the two women.
“But Vanessa and I didn’t meet until two years after Claire died.”
May you like
Rebecca was silent.
Then she whispered, “Apparently Vanessa met you long before you met her.”
