Chapter 5
I stared at my phone.
My hands were shaking.
Rebecca.
She'd tricked me.
All of it had been a lie.
The USB drive.
The tears.
The confession.
She'd been recording everything.
Evelyn was going to use it against me.
To make me look like the villain.
To make it look like I was conspiring against the family.
Against her.
Against Daniel.
Against Rebecca.
Harold looked at me.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
I turned to him.
My voice was trembling.
"It was a trap," I said. "Rebecca. She was working with Evelyn. She recorded everything. Our conversation. Everything I said. They're going to use it against me."
Harold's face hardened.
The lawyer stood up.
"Did she say anything else?" he asked.
"She said she has powerful friends," I said. "She said she's going to make me pay."
The lawyer nodded.
"We need to move fast," he said. "Before they can do anything. We have the evidence on the USB drive. That's real. We can prove it. Whatever they recorded... it won't matter. Not when we have the bank records. The transfer receipts. The emails."
"But what if they say I planted it?" I asked. "What if they say Rebecca was working with me? What if—"
"Stop," Harold said.
He stood up.
He put his hand on my shoulder.
"They can say whatever they want," he said. "But the truth is on our side. And my father is on our side. And the evidence is on our side. We will win. Do you understand me?"
I nodded.
But I was scared.
So scared.
The lawyer's phone rang.
He answered it.
He listened.
His face got harder and harder.
When he hung up, he looked at us.
"The police went to the house," he said. "Evelyn and Daniel aren't there. They're gone. And Rebecca is gone too. They took everything. Clothes. Passports. Cash. They've run."
I stared at him.
They'd run.
Evelyn.
Daniel.
Rebecca.
All three of them.
Gone.
"Where would they go?" Harold asked.
The lawyer shook his head.
"I don't know," he said. "But they have money. They have connections. They could be anywhere. And they're desperate. Desperate people do desperate things. We need to be careful. All of us. Especially you."
He looked at me.
"Me?" I said.
"They blame you for everything," the lawyer said. "They've lost everything. Their money. Their family. Their freedom. They have nothing left to lose. And they'll want revenge. On you. On Harold. On anyone who helped you."
I felt a chill run down my spine.
Evelyn was dangerous.
I knew that.
But desperate Evelyn?
That was terrifying.
"We need to get you somewhere safe," Harold said. "Somewhere they won't find you. Somewhere with security."
"I have a place," the lawyer said. "A safe house. It's not fancy. But it's secure. No one knows about it. You'll be safe there."
I nodded.
I didn't have anywhere else to go.
I didn't have anyone else.
Except Harold.
And the grandfather.
And the lawyer.
That was it.
We left the hotel.
We drove to the safe house.
It was a small cottage in the woods.
About an hour outside of town.
Surrounded by trees.
Far from any neighbors.
It had a security system.
Cameras.
A high fence.
It was safe.
Or as safe as anywhere could be.
Harold and the lawyer left me there.
They promised to come back in the morning.
With the grandfather.
With more security.
With a plan.
I was alone.
In the dark.
In the middle of the woods.
Hiding from my husband.
From my mother-in-law.
From my sister-in-law.
From the family I'd married into.
I sat on the couch.
I turned on the lamp.
I pulled out my laptop.
I looked at the USB drive.
Rebecca had given it to me.
But was it real?
Or had she tampered with it?
Had she planted evidence?
Had she changed things?
I needed to know.
I called the lawyer.
"I need to know if the evidence is real," I said. "I need to have it verified. Tonight. Before they can do anything."
The lawyer was quiet for a moment.
"I know a forensic accountant," he said. "The best. I can have him meet me at my office. I'll bring a copy of the drive. He can work through the night. We'll know by morning if it's real or not."
"Thank you," I said.
I hung up.
I made a copy of the drive.
I encrypted it.
I sent it to the lawyer's secure email.
And then I waited.
Alone.
In the dark.
I thought about Daniel.
About the life we'd had.
Or the life I'd thought we'd had.
Had any of it been real?
Had he ever loved me?
Or had it all been an act?
I thought about the day we'd met.
I'd been working at a coffee shop.
He'd come in every morning.
Always ordered the same thing.
Always smiled at me.
Always asked about my day.
He'd been charming.
Sweet.
Kind.
Or so I'd thought.
Had that all been an act?
Had he chosen me specifically because I was quiet?
Because I was poor?
Because I wouldn't ask questions?
Because I would be easy to control?
I felt sick.
I got up and walked to the window.
I looked out at the trees.
The moon was bright.
The woods were quiet.
Too quiet.
And then I saw it.
A flash of light.
Through the trees.
Far away.
But getting closer.
Car headlights.
My heart stopped.
Nobody knew where I was.
Except Harold.
And the lawyer.
And the people who worked at the hotel.
And...
Rebecca.
She'd seen me packing.
She'd seen my car.
She knew what kind of car I drove.
What color it was.
What the license plate was.
If she'd told Evelyn...
If they'd followed me...
The headlights turned off the main road.
They were coming down the dirt road toward the cottage.
I ran to the door.
I locked it.
I bolted it.
I pushed the couch in front of it.
I ran to the windows.
I closed the curtains.
I turned off the lamp.
I stood in the dark.
Listening.
The car got closer.
And closer.
And then it stopped.
Just outside the fence.
I heard car doors open.
And close.
Voices.
Quiet.
But I could hear them.
Evelyn's voice.
Daniel's voice.
Rebecca's voice.
May you like
They were here.
They'd found me.
