Chapter 11
I stared at the police officers.
They were standing in my office.
Telling me I was a suspect in a murder investigation.
Richard Evans was dead.
Murdered.
And they thought I did it.
"This is ridiculous," the lawyer said. He'd arrived within minutes of the police. "My client had nothing to do with this. She was here. At the office. All day. We have dozens of witnesses. Security camera footage. Everything."
"We're not saying she did it," one of the officers said. "We're just saying she's a person of interest. We need to ask her some questions. We need to rule her out."
"Then ask," the lawyer said. "But here. Now. In my presence. And she's not going to the station. Not unless you arrest her."
The officers looked at each other.
"Okay," the first officer said. "Here. Now."
They sat down.
They started asking questions.
Where was I on the night of the murder?
Did I know Richard Evans?
Had I ever threatened him?
Had I ever met him?
I answered honestly.
I was at home.
Alone.
Reading.
I knew who Richard Evans was.
I'd never met him.
I'd never threatened him.
I'd never even spoken to him.
The officers listened.
They took notes.
They asked more questions.
And then they left.
They didn't arrest me.
But they didn't rule me out either.
"This is bad," the lawyer said when they were gone. "Very bad."
"Why?" I asked. "I didn't do it. I have an alibi. Sort of. I was home alone. But I have no reason to kill him. No motive."
"On the contrary," the lawyer said. "You have plenty of motive. He helped Evelyn steal millions of dollars. He helped her try to destroy you. He helped her try to kill you. He's the reason your marriage fell apart. The reason your life was destroyed. The police will see that as motive. And Evelyn... she's in prison. But she still has friends. Still has connections. She could have set this up. To frame you. To get revenge. To destroy everything you've built."
I felt sick.
Evelyn.
Of course.
She'd set this up.
She'd had Richard killed.
Or she'd had someone kill him.
And she'd framed me.
It was perfect.
She got rid of Richard.
Who might testify against her.
Who might take a deal.
And she got rid of me.
Or at least tried to.
Two birds with one stone.
Classic Evelyn.
"What do we do?" I asked.
"We prove you didn't do it," the lawyer said. "And we prove Evelyn did. Or that she had it done. We need to find out who really killed Richard. And we need to prove it. Fast. Before the police decide they have enough evidence to arrest you."
I nodded.
But I was scared.
So scared.
I was already on thin ice.
With the public.
With the business.
With everything we'd built.
If I was arrested for murder...
It would all come crashing down.
Everything.
I called Matthew.
I told him what was happening.
He came to the office immediately.
"I don't believe it," he said. "You'd never do anything like this. Never."
"Thank you," I said.
"I'm going to help you," he said. "We're going to figure out who really did this. And we're going to prove you're innocent. Together."
I nodded.
I was grateful.
So grateful.
I wasn't alone.
Not anymore.
I had a family.
People who believed in me.
People who would fight for me.
We spent the next week investigating.
The lawyer hired a private investigator.
Matthew and I went through everything we knew about Richard.
His life.
His connections.
His enemies.
And we found something.
Richard had been in contact with someone.
Someone from prison.
Someone who'd been giving him orders.
Telling him what to do.
Telling him who to kill.
Evelyn.
She'd been running things from prison.
Using a smuggled cell phone.
Using contacts on the outside.
She'd ordered Richard killed.
Because he was going to talk.
He was going to make a deal with the prosecution.
To testify against her.
Against Daniel.
Against Rebecca.
To get a reduced sentence.
And she'd found out.
So she'd had him killed.
And she'd framed me.
Perfect.
But we had no proof.
Just theories.
Just connections.
Nothing the police would accept.
We needed more.
We needed real evidence.
And then we got a break.
The private investigator found something.
A witness.
Someone who'd seen the murder.
Someone who'd seen who did it.
A homeless man who'd been sleeping in the alley where Richard was killed.
He'd seen everything.
And he was willing to talk.
For a price.
We paid him.
He talked.
He described the killer.
A man.
Tall.
Thin.
Dark hair.
A tattoo on his neck.
A snake.
And he had a name.
Or at least a nickname.
"Snake."
The lawyer ran the name through his contacts.
And he found him.
Snake was a known hitman.
A criminal.
Someone who did jobs for money.
And he had connections.
To Evelyn.
To her old network.
To the people who'd helped her run the fraud.
We had our man.
But we still needed proof.
Proof that Evelyn had hired him.
Proof that I was innocent.
And then we got another break.
The police found the murder weapon.
A gun.
Dumped in a dumpster.
And they found fingerprints on it.
Snake's fingerprints.
They arrested him.
And he talked.
He told the police everything.
Who had hired him.
How much he'd been paid.
Where the money had come from.
Evelyn.
From prison.
Through a middleman.
She'd paid him fifty thousand dollars to kill Richard.
And to plant evidence that would frame me.
A strand of my hair.
Taken from my car.
Which had been broken into a week before the murder.
Everything fit.
Everything made sense.
The police cleared me.
They charged Snake with murder.
They charged Evelyn with conspiracy to commit murder.
And they charged the middleman too.
It was over.
I was innocent.
Evelyn was going to spend the rest of her life in prison.
Probably without parole.
She'd never hurt anyone again.
Never.
The business celebrated.
The family celebrated.
We were all safe.
Finally.
Truly safe.
But I was different now.
The experience had changed me.
Made me stronger.
Harder.
More determined.
I knew what I wanted.
I knew what I was fighting for.
And I would never let anyone take it from me.
Never again.
Six months later.
The business was doing better than ever.
Expanding.
Growing.
Thriving.
Matthew was now my partner.
Equal in every way.
We made a great team.
Sarah had started her own charity.
Helping women who'd been lied to.
Manipulated.
Betrayed.
Women just like her.
Harold worked with her.
Volunteering.
Trying to make amends.
Trying to redeem himself.
Slowly.
But surely.
The grandfather was happy.
Proud.
Watching his grandson grow.
Watching his business thrive.
Watching his family heal.
And me?
I was happy.
Truly happy.
I had a family.
A business.
A purpose.
A life.
My own.
Built by me.
For me.
And for the people I loved.
I was strong.
I was confident.
I was free.
And then I met someone.
Someone new.
Someone who would change everything.
All over again.
His name was James.
He was a doctor.
Kind.
Honest.
Strong.
He'd been working with Sarah's charity.
Providing medical care to women in need.
We met at a fundraiser.
We talked.
We laughed.
We connected.
And for the first time since Daniel.
Since everything.
I felt something.
Something real.
Something good.
We started dating.
Slowly.
Carefully.
I was scared.
So scared.
Scared to trust again.
Scared to be hurt again.
But James was patient.
Kind.
Understanding.
He didn't push.
He just loved me.
For who I was.
Scars and all.
And slowly.
Very slowly.
I learned to love him back.
A year later.
We got married.
A small ceremony.
On the beach.
Just family and close friends.
The grandfather walked me down the aisle.
Matthew was my best man.
Sarah was my matron of honor.
Harold was there too.
Smiling.
Proud.
James was perfect.
Everything I'd ever wanted.
Everything I'd ever needed.
And I was happy.
Truly happy.
But I knew the past was never really gone.
It was always there.
Lurking.
Waiting.
And one day.
It would come back.
One last time.
To test me.
To see if I was really strong enough.
To see if I'd really won.
And that day came.
Six months after my wedding.
I got a letter.
From Daniel.
From prison.
He wanted to see me.
He said he had something important to tell me.
Something that would change everything.
I didn't want to go.
I didn't want to see him.
I didn't want to reopen old wounds.
But James encouraged me.
"Closure," he said. "You need it. For both of you. Go see him. Hear what he has to say. And then you can finally let it go. Forever."
I knew he was right.
So I went.
I drove to the prison.
I sat in the visiting room.
And I waited.
And then Daniel was brought in.
He looked different.
Thinner.
Paler.
Older.
But his eyes were the same.
Sad.
Regretful.
He sat down across from me.
He looked at me.
Tears in his eyes.
"Thank you for coming," he said.
I nodded.
"What did you want to tell me?" I asked.
Daniel took a deep breath.
And he told me.
May you like
Something that would change everything.
One last time.
