Chapter 5
I stared at Thomas.
“No.”
He closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
My voice came out louder.
“You said Ryan was engaged before me.”
“That’s what Linda told people afterward.”
I looked at Megan.
She looked just as shocked.
“You knew he hit Sarah.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t know they were married?”
“No.”
Thomas sank into the chair.
“It happened quickly. They were both twenty-three. They drove to Indiana and got married at a courthouse. Ryan told us two weeks later.”
My hands felt numb.
“How long were they married?”
“Six months.”
I laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because my brain had nowhere else to go.
“I’ve been married to him for eight years.”
No one answered.
“He never told me.”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“I believed he had.”
“Why would you believe that?”
“Because when you got engaged, I asked Linda whether you knew about Sarah.”
“And?”
“She told me Ryan had explained everything.”
I turned away.
Another lie.
Another carefully placed lie that had allowed everyone to pretend the truth belonged to somebody else.
My mother asked the question I couldn’t.
“What happened to Sarah?”
Thomas looked toward the email on my phone.
“I don’t know exactly.”
Megan stared at him.
“You said she left.”
“She did.”
“Why are you saying it like that?”
Thomas rubbed both hands over his face.
“Because after she left Ryan, there was an investigation.”
My heart started racing again.
“What kind of investigation?”
He looked at me.
“Sarah disappeared for three days.”
The hotel room became painfully quiet.
My mother whispered, “Disappeared?”
“She eventually turned up at her sister’s house in Wisconsin.”
I exhaled.
Alive.
Thank God.
Thomas continued.
“She had injuries.”
Megan closed her eyes.
“No.”
“She told police Ryan had locked her in their apartment after an argument.”
My stomach turned.
“What?”
“He took her phone. Her keys. She said he wouldn’t let her leave.”
Every instinct in my body screamed.
“What happened?”
“She climbed out a bathroom window while he was asleep.”
I stared at the floor.
My mind returned to earlier that night.
You’re not leaving.
Ryan blocking the doorway.
Thomas stepping between us.
Maybe that wasn’t a moment of anger.
Maybe it was a pattern.
“Was he charged?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Sarah stopped cooperating.”
“Because Linda pressured her?”
“I think so.”
“You think?”
“I didn’t know all of it then.”
My anger snapped toward him.
“You keep saying you didn’t know.”
Thomas flinched.
“I know.”
“You lived in that family. You raised him.”
“I know.”
“You watched Linda cover for him.”
“Yes.”
“And you looked away.”
His face crumpled.
“Yes.”
That stopped me.
No defense.
No excuse.
Just yes.
Thomas looked at me.
“I failed Sarah.”
His voice shook.
“And I failed you.”
Megan began crying quietly.
I sat down.
My whole body hurt.
The burn.
The slap.
The betrayal.
The missing money.
But something else was happening now.
My fear of Ryan was becoming clearer.
More useful.
Fear was telling me to stop thinking like his wife.
Start thinking like someone who needed to survive him.
I opened the email again.
“Who sent this?”
The address was random.
No name.
I replied.
WHO ARE YOU?
No answer.
I tried again.
ARE YOU SARAH?
Still nothing.
Thomas leaned closer.
“Could be.”
“Do you know her last name?”
“Mitchell.”
I searched social media.
Dozens of Sarah Mitchells.
Then Megan found an old photograph saved on her phone.
A family barbecue.
Ryan looked younger.
Beside him stood a slim brunette woman.
She had one arm around him.
Sarah.
I used the photo to narrow the search.
After ten minutes, I found her.
Sarah Mitchell Walker.
Married.
Living in Wisconsin.
Her profile was private.
But her workplace was public.
A dental office outside Milwaukee.
I wrote down the number.
My mother touched my shoulder.
“Not tonight.”
I looked at the clock.
3:12 a.m.
She was right.
Thomas said he was going back home.
Megan refused to let him.
“Mom assaulted you.”
“She shoved me.”
“That’s assault.”
He sighed.
“I’ll stay somewhere else.”
“Stay here.”
He shook his head.
“I booked a room downstairs.”
Before leaving, he gave me the folder.
“You keep this.”
I looked at the documents.
“They belong to you too.”
“Make copies tomorrow.”
Then he hesitated.
“There’s one more thing.”
Of course there was.
He reached into his coat.
A small flash drive.
“I took this from Linda’s desk.”
“What’s on it?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared at him.
“You stole it?”
A tired smile crossed his face.
“Apparently Christmas changed my relationship with property rights.”
Megan almost laughed.
Almost.
He handed it to me.
“Don’t plug it into anything connected to your work.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if Ryan and Linda are doing what I think they’re doing, I don’t trust any file on that drive.”
My mother said, “What do you think they’re doing?”
Thomas looked at the fake property agreement.
“Fraud.”
The word sat between us.
Not family drama.
Not a bad investment.
Fraud.
By morning, none of us had slept much.
I called my office first.
I worked as a senior project manager for a medical technology company.
My boss, Caroline, answered despite the holiday.
When I explained that my identity might have been compromised, her voice changed immediately.
“Do you think company information is involved?”
“I don’t know.”
“Has Ryan ever used your laptop?”
My stomach tightened.
“Yes.”
“How recently?”
“Last week.”
Caroline was silent for a second.
“Don’t turn it on.”
“Why?”
“Bring it to IT tomorrow.”
I suddenly remembered Ryan sitting at our kitchen table with my work laptop.
He said he was checking a restaurant reservation because his phone was dead.
I had thought nothing of it.
Caroline continued.
“I’m locking your remote access.”
“Okay.”
“And Emily?”
“Yes?”
“If there are financial crimes involved, you should get your own lawyer today.”
I thanked her.
Then I called the dental office in Wisconsin.
Closed for Christmas.
Of course.
I left no message.
At 8:40, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
A woman said, “Is this Emily Carter?”
My whole body went still.
“Yes.”
“My name is Sarah Walker.”
I sat down.
Megan stared at me.
Sarah continued.
“I think you emailed me last night.”
“No. I found your profile, but I didn’t message you.”
She was silent.
“Then someone else contacted both of us.”
My skin prickled.
“Did you send me documents about Ryan?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
“No.”
I looked at Megan.
Sarah’s voice lowered.
“Emily, are you safe?”
That question from a stranger almost broke me.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“He hit me last night.”
Silence.
Then Sarah exhaled shakily.
“I’m sorry.”
“He also took money. A lot of money.”
“That sounds like him.”
“You know about the fraud?”
“No. But Ryan always believed rules were for other people.”
I closed my eyes.
“Sarah, I was told you were his fiancée.”
A humorless laugh.
“I was his wife.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“I think you know why.”
I did.
“Thomas said you disappeared for three days.”
Sarah went quiet.
“What exactly did he tell you?”
“That Ryan kept you in the apartment.”
“It was two days.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Police reports said three because my sister didn’t know where I was the first night.”
“What happened?”
Sarah’s breathing changed.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Then listen carefully.”
I put the phone on speaker.
Megan leaned closer.
Sarah said, “Ryan never started with hitting.”
My eyes closed.
“He started with money. Then friends. Then family.”
Every word landed.
“He complained every time I helped my sister. He said my mother used me. He checked our bank account constantly. He wanted receipts.”
My stomach twisted.
“He started telling me I was irresponsible.”
I could hear my own marriage in her voice.
“Then he changed passwords.”
I opened my eyes.
“Bank passwords?”
“Everything.”
Megan whispered, “Jesus.”
Sarah continued.
“When I challenged him, he would say I was unstable. Emotional. Ungrateful.”
My eyes burned.
“Then Linda got involved.”
“What did she do?”
“She told me a good wife supports her husband.”
Of course.
“She called me selfish.”
Of course.
“She said Ryan had anger because I made him insecure.”
My throat tightened.
Of course.
Sarah became quiet.
“The first time he hit me, Linda brought me makeup.”
Megan covered her face.
I couldn’t speak.
“She didn’t ask if I wanted help. She showed me how to cover the bruise.”
My mother whispered, “That woman is evil.”
Sarah heard.
“Yes.”
I forced myself to ask.
“How did you get away?”
“I stopped telling him I was leaving.”
The answer chilled me.
“I acted normal.”
“What?”
“I apologized. I cooked dinner. I slept beside him. I made him think he had won.”
My stomach turned.
“Then?”
“Two weeks later, I packed a bag while he was at work.”
“But Thomas said you climbed through a bathroom window.”
“That was before.”
My breathing stopped.
“There were two incidents?”
“More than two.”
Silence.
Then she said, “Emily, if Ryan thinks he’s losing control, he gets dangerous.”
I looked toward the locked hotel door.
“He found our hotel last night.”
Sarah went silent.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you use a joint credit card?”
I froze.
The hotel.
I had.
Because I was panicked.
Because the card was in my wallet.
“Oh God.”
“Cancel the card.”
I did it while we were still talking.
Sarah continued.
“Change your phone passcode. Turn off location sharing. Check your car for trackers.”
Megan stood immediately.
“We’re checking the car.”
I looked at her.
She grabbed Thomas on the way downstairs.
Sarah said, “Do not go back to your house alone.”
“I won’t.”
“And Emily?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t believe him when he cries.”
My eyes filled.
“He will.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he cried with me.”
She paused.
“He cried while police were outside the apartment.”
My throat closed.
“He said I was ruining his life.”
Those exact words.
Different woman.
Same man.
Sarah and I talked for almost an hour.
Before hanging up, she gave me permission to share her old police reports with my lawyer if necessary.
“I kept everything,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because for years I thought someday another woman might need it.”
I couldn’t answer.
After the call, I sat silently.
Then Megan returned with Thomas.
Her face was white.
“What?”
She held out her hand.
In her palm was a small black device.
Magnetic.
About the size of two stacked coins.
“We found it underneath your car.”
My heartbeat stopped.
“A tracker?”
Thomas nodded.
“Looks like one.”
I stared at it.
Ryan hadn’t found the hotel because of the credit card.
He had known exactly where I was.
The whole time.
Megan put it in a plastic bag.
“We’re giving it to the police.”
My phone rang.
Attorney Benjamin Cross again.
I let it go to voicemail.
Then a second call appeared.
My company.
Caroline.
I answered.
Her voice was urgent.
“Emily, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“IT checked access logs after I froze your account.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did they find?”
“Someone downloaded confidential vendor files from your account last Thursday.”
I stopped breathing.
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“The download happened at 2:16 a.m.”
I remembered that night.
I had been asleep.
Ryan had been downstairs.
Caroline continued.
“There’s more.”
I closed my eyes.
“Tell me.”
“The files contain contract pricing and bank routing information.”
My knees weakened.
“Caroline…”
“I need you to understand how serious this is.”
“I do.”
“No, Emily.”
Her voice lowered.
“One of those vendors reported an attempted wire transfer yesterday.”
I went cold.
“How much?”
“Four hundred and seventy thousand dollars.”
Nobody in the room moved.
May you like
Then Caroline said the sentence that made the missing savings look almost small.
“The transfer instructions were submitted from your email account.”
