Chapter 8
Police found Ryan’s car two hours later.
Abandoned behind a closed hardware store.
Ryan was gone.
So was my tablet.
By midnight, the story had changed from a divorce disaster into something I barely recognized.
Officers asked whether Ryan had access to weapons.
Whether he had threatened me.
Whether he had ever disappeared before.
Whether he had friends outside the state.
I answered everything.
No.
No.
No.
Maybe.
Linda sat on the curb wrapped in a blanket, crying.
Nobody comforted her.
Not even me.
At one point she looked up and said, “This is your fault.”
Emily almost exploded.
I didn’t.
I was too tired.
“Of course you think that.”
“If you hadn’t called the police—”
“He ran because of what he did.”
“He was scared!”
“So am I.”
“You don’t care what happens to him.”
I looked at her.
“I cared about him for six years.”
My voice cracked.
“That’s why this hurts.”
Linda looked away.
The next morning, Ryan still hadn’t been found.
Rebecca told me not to return home alone.
A police officer agreed to meet me there so I could collect documents and clothing.
Megan came too.
The house felt different.
Like a stage after the audience leaves.
The same furniture.
The same walls.
But the story was over.
I walked upstairs.
Our bedroom was a mess.
Drawers open.
Closet boxes pulled down.
Ryan had searched everything again.
“What was he looking for?” Megan asked.
“I don’t know.”
Then I noticed something.
My passport was missing.
So was my birth certificate.
And the folder containing our tax returns.
“He took my documents.”
The officer photographed everything.
Megan checked Ryan’s office.
“Sarah.”
I walked in.
She was staring at an empty section of floor beside his desk.
“What?”
“There used to be a filing cabinet here.”
“What filing cabinet?”
“Black. About this tall.”
She held her hand waist-high.
“I’ve never seen one.”
“It was here when I came over at Christmas.”
I frowned.
Christmas had been eight months earlier.
Ryan told me the office was messy and kept the door locked most of that week.
“Maybe he moved it.”
“He did.”
The officer looked at us.
“Any idea where?”
Megan and I answered together.
“No.”
I opened drawers.
Mostly empty.
Then I found a business card.
Curtis Vale.
A phone number.
An address.
Daniel had told police about him already.
The officer took the card.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at me.
I answered carefully.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then Ryan.
“Sarah.”
My body went cold.
The officer immediately gestured for me to keep him talking.
“Where are you?”
“I’m safe.”
“Where?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why did you run?”
“You know why.”
“No. I don’t.”
“You called the police.”
“Because you used forged documents to take my money.”
“I didn’t forge them.”
There it was.
The next version.
“Who did?”
“Curtis.”
“Did you ask him to?”
Silence.
“Ryan?”
“I didn’t know what he was going to do.”
“That’s a lie.”
“You don’t understand that guy.”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s not a consultant.”
I looked at the officer.
“What is he?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Yes, you do.”
Ryan exhaled.
“He fixes things.”
“What things?”
“Debt.”
“How?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters if you ran from the police because of him.”
Another silence.
Then Ryan said, “He has copies of everything.”
“Everything what?”
“Our financial records.”
“My records?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“You gave him my Social Security number.”
“I had to.”
“You had to?”
“I was trying to negotiate.”
“With whom?”
“Victor.”
The man he owed.
My stomach tightened.
“You gave some stranger my personal information because you owed another man money?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“It is exactly like that.”
The officer mouthed: Keep him talking.
I forced myself to stay calm.
“Where’s my tablet?”
“With me.”
“Why?”
“Because Curtis used it.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I swear.”
“You threatened to destroy it.”
“Because I knew the messages would make me look guilty.”
“You are guilty.”
“Not of everything.”
“What are you not guilty of?”
A long pause.
Then he said, “I never planned to hurt you.”
I felt sick.
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I never wanted any of this.”
“Where are you?”
“I need money.”
The officer’s eyes sharpened.
“For what?”
“To leave.”
“Leave where?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“You took my passport.”
“I need documents.”
“You can’t use my passport.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you take it?”
Silence.
“Ryan?”
“I thought it might be worth something.”
My stomach turned.
“To whom?”
“I don’t know.”
The officer wrote quickly on a notepad.
I asked, “What’s on the tablet?”
Ryan started crying.
Not loud.
Just broken.
“I ruined everything.”
I gripped the phone.
“Then stop running.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“If Victor finds me—”
The line crackled.
“What about Victor?”
“He thinks I have the inheritance.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
“I told him I could pay him.”
“With my money.”
“I thought I could fix it before you found out.”
“How much did you promise him?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
I closed my eyes.
He had promised a stranger two hundred thousand dollars of money I didn’t even know existed.
The officer motioned for me to ask his location again.
“Ryan, where are you?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Where are you?”
“Tell Mom I’m sorry.”
“Ryan.”
“And Sarah?”
“What?”
His voice broke.
“The inheritance isn’t the only reason Curtis wanted your documents.”
I stopped breathing.
“What else?”
“He found out who your grandfather was.”
“I know who he was.”
“No.”
Ryan’s voice lowered.
“You know he had money.”
“What don’t I know?”
“He owned part of something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know the name.”
“Ryan.”
“Some manufacturing company.”
Daniel had mentioned that.
“A small interest.”
“That’s what they told you?”
My skin prickled.
“What do you mean?”
“I heard Curtis talking to Victor.”
“About what?”
“Your grandfather’s shares.”
“What shares?”
“They said the trust was worth more if you didn’t sell.”
My heart pounded.
“How much more?”
“I don’t know.”
“You always say that right before the number gets worse.”
He gave a weak, painful laugh.
Then silence.
“Ryan?”
“They said maybe five million.”
The room tilted.
Megan grabbed my arm.
I stared at the floor.
Five million.
Daniel had said 1.8.
Either Ryan was lying.
Or someone had lied to Daniel.
“Why would Curtis know?”
“He ran a background search on William.”
“For you?”
“No.”
Ryan’s answer came too quickly.
“For Victor.”
I looked at the officer.
This was bigger than debt.
Bigger than Linda.
“Ryan, come to the police station.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Another long silence.
When he spoke again, his voice was barely audible.
“Curtis isn’t helping Victor collect my debt anymore.”
“What is he doing?”
“He’s trying to buy it.”
“Buy what?”
“Your inheritance.”
I frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“He thinks if they pressure me enough, I can pressure you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He doesn’t know me very well.”
“No.”
Ryan sounded strange.
“Neither did I.”
For the first time, he sounded like he understood.
Then there was a loud noise on his end.
A car door.
Ryan stopped breathing.
“What happened?”
No answer.
“Ryan?”
He whispered, “They found me.”
The line went dead.
“Ryan?”
Nothing.
I called back.
Straight to voicemail.
The officer immediately contacted dispatch.
I stood in Ryan’s office gripping my phone.
Megan whispered, “Do you think that was real?”
I looked at her.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Twenty minutes later, Daniel called.
I almost didn’t answer.
I couldn’t handle another disaster.
But I did.
“Sarah, I need you to come to my office.”
“What happened?”
“We completed a deeper review of your grandfather’s holdings.”
My pulse jumped.
“Ryan said something about company shares.”
Daniel went quiet.
“How would Ryan know?”
“I’ll explain later. How much are they worth?”
“Sarah, the original estate summary was based on a redemption figure provided by the company.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they offered to buy your grandfather’s shares from the estate.”
“For 1.3 million?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Your grandfather specifically instructed that you be given the choice to keep them.”
I closed my eyes.
“How much are they actually worth?”
Daniel exhaled.
“At the latest private valuation?”
“Yes.”
“Approximately 4.7 million dollars.”
I sat down.
Megan covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“And there is something else.”
Of course there was.
“The company has received an acquisition offer.”
“What happens if it sells?”
“Your shares could increase significantly in value.”
“How significantly?”
“Possibly above seven million.”
I stared at the empty space where Ryan’s filing cabinet used to be.
Suddenly his two-hundred-thousand-dollar debt seemed small.
Terrifyingly small.
“Who knows about this?”
“Very few people.”
“Curtis Vale knows.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said, “That is a problem.”
I looked at the police officer.
“No.”
I thought about Ryan’s final words.
May you like
They found me.
“It’s more than a problem.”
