Cal was no longer in the garage when we returned.<\/p>\n
The suitcase remained open.<\/p>\n
The cash was gone.<\/p>\n
That told me he knew the situation had changed.<\/p>\n
Stephanie noticed first.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPassport?\u201d<\/p>\n
I checked.<\/p>\n
Still there.<\/p>\n
That was interesting.<\/p>\n
If he intended to flee immediately, the passport mattered more than six thousand dollars.<\/p>\n
Unless the cash was for someone else.<\/p>\n
I walked into the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cCal?\u201d<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
The kitchen was empty.<\/p>\n
Living room.<\/p>\n
Empty.<\/p>\n
Upstairs, our bedroom door stood open.<\/p>\n
Several drawers had been disturbed.<\/p>\n
His phone charger was missing.<\/p>\n
Not his clothes.<\/p>\n
Not shoes.<\/p>\n
Not toiletries.<\/p>\n
He had taken only selected things.<\/p>\n
I called him.<\/p>\n
Straight to voicemail.<\/p>\n
Stephanie stood in the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould we call police?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word surprised both of us.<\/p>\n
I was done protecting the shape of my life.<\/p>\n
I dialed.<\/p>\n
Before the call connected, someone knocked hard at the front door.<\/p>\n
Three times.<\/p>\n
Stephanie froze.<\/p>\n
I looked through the side window.<\/p>\n
Martin Kincaid stood on the porch.<\/p>\n
Cal's father.<\/p>\n
I opened the door but kept the chain engaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
That was Martin's first question.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was hoping you knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if he's gone, we don't have much time.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime for what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJosie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnswer me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked toward the street.<\/p>\n
Then back.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus.\u201d<\/p>\n
I removed the chain.<\/p>\n
Martin stepped inside.<\/p>\n
He looked older than he had at Christmas dinner.<\/p>\n
His coat was half-buttoned.<\/p>\n
His gray hair was flattened on one side as though he had dressed in a hurry.<\/p>\n
Then he saw Stephanie.<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is she here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie folded her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood morning to you too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere's Cal?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he take the suitcase?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCash?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin swore.<\/p>\n
That reaction told me he knew the suitcase existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sent the anonymous messages?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you install remote software on his phone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat phone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe burner.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked genuinely confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cCal has a burner?\u201d<\/p>\n
I believed that reaction too.<\/p>\n
Which meant the anonymous source still wasn't Martin.<\/p>\n
I held up the red folder.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know what this is?\u201d<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen start.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin removed his coat.<\/p>\n
We went to the kitchen.<\/p>\n
He declined coffee.<\/p>\n
I remained standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo did Stephanie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin sat alone at the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cCal got involved with Marcus three years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou guaranteed Northline.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Cal said he had a legitimate acquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou believed him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you meet him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the second financing round.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSecond?\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
Martin looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were three.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTotal capital?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout two hundred thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie whispered, \u201cJesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped the back of a chair.<\/p>\n
Cal had admitted one hundred twenty thousand in debt.<\/p>\n
Martin had just described two hundred thousand in financing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did the rest come from?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInvestors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe. Eric. Two others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stole from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you known?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA year.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer hurt in a different way.<\/p>\n
Christmas dinner replayed in my mind.<\/p>\n
Diane touching my wrist.<\/p>\n
Martin telling Cal to forget the roof.<\/p>\n
His family had not merely known about Emma.<\/p>\n
Martin had known I was being financially exploited.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you sat at dinner with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I thought I could get Cal out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou chose your son.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin flinched.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least he did not insult me with an excuse.<\/p>\n
I opened the file.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about these loans?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew about one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are three.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes lifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe insurance?\u201d<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it was part of an estate plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a forged signature?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDecember fourteenth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin went still.<\/p>\n
I watched him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know the date.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cCal was in Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he was unreachable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn't at a meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was he doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin hesitated.<\/p>\n
Stephanie said, \u201cTell her.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was closing one of the Northline transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat transaction?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA property transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the apartment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat apartment?\u201d<\/p>\n
I showed him the lease.<\/p>\n
He read it.<\/p>\n
His face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've never seen this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEmma was listed as an occupant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie said, \u201cShe never lived there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I placed the insurance policy beside it.<\/p>\n
\u201cEight days before I ended up in urgent care, Cal took out a policy on me. The day I got sick, he was in Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin stared at the documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosie, I don't think Cal poisoned you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fact that he used the word before I had said it frightened me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't say poisoned.\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's what you're thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShould I be?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you so sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I know why you got sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin rubbed his hands together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was not supposed to involve you.\u201d<\/p>\n
My body went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was not supposed to involve me?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe medication.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat medication?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCal had pills in his truck.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat pills?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSedatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie whispered, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin continued reluctantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrescription medication. Not his.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought you had taken one.\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers went numb.<\/p>\n
I remembered the urgent-care visit.<\/p>\n
Severe dizziness.<\/p>\n
Vomiting.<\/p>\n
Confusion.<\/p>\n
The physician had asked whether I had taken anything unusual.<\/p>\n
I had said no.<\/p>\n
I had gone home believing I had a virus combined with dehydration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would I take one of Cal's pills?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how did one get into me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked at the floor.<\/p>\n
I felt something in me snap into focus.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kept them in a vitamin bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat vitamin bottle?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same brand you used.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became silent.<\/p>\n
I took daily vitamin D supplements.<\/p>\n
Back then Cal and I had kept vitamins in the kitchen and spare bottles in our travel bags.<\/p>\n
I remembered that morning.<\/p>\n
I had rushed.<\/p>\n
Grabbed a pill.<\/p>\n
Swallowed it with coffee.<\/p>\n
Then became sick before lunch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did he get the sedatives?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were they for?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI swear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would he hide sedatives in a vitamin bottle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin's face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said they were Marcus's.\u201d<\/p>\n
That made no sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus used the restaurant office to move more than money sometimes. Pills. Cash. Documents. Cal found the bottle in a box.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd brought it home?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd instead of destroying it, he put it in a bottle identical to mine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don't tell me he didn't poison me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't believe he meant to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wording mattered.<\/p>\n
Not didn't.<\/p>\n
Didn't mean to.<\/p>\n
Stephanie sat down slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Cal know Josie had taken one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe called him from urgent care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI called him six times,\u201d I said. \u201cHe didn't answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't he come home?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he was afraid the hospital would test you.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe left me there because he was afraid they'd find what I'd taken.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey treated symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin nodded.<\/p>\n
I walked away from the table.<\/p>\n
For two years I had remembered that day as one of those strange medical episodes that never receives a satisfying explanation.<\/p>\n
Cal had brought soup that night.<\/p>\n
He had sat beside me on the couch.<\/p>\n
He had touched my forehead.<\/p>\n
Asked if I needed anything.<\/p>\n
I had thanked him for taking care of me.<\/p>\n
The memory became unbearable.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he know which pill I swallowed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he know the dose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he think I could die?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin's eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was terrified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not answer the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the insurance policy.<\/p>\n
Eight days earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy buy the policy before that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew it existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me Marcus required key-person coverage connected to financing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm not his business partner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened December fourteenth after he called you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI drove to Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo help him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecover the bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur house?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt a chill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bottle was at the Charlotte apartment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how did I take a pill from it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said he thought I had taken one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you just said the bottle was in Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
The contradiction hit him too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat can't be right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich part?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me the bottle was at the apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did he connect my illness to it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked genuinely shaken.<\/p>\n
For the first time, he seemed to realize he had carried a false explanation for two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe there were two bottles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie said quietly, \u201cOr Cal lied about where it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the red folder again.<\/p>\n
Apartment.<\/p>\n
Insurance.<\/p>\n
Forged loans.<\/p>\n
Emma.<\/p>\n
December fourteenth.<\/p>\n
Everything kept circling Charlotte.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was at the apartment that day?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin answered slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cCal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus came later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie's face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never got her name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMid-thirties. Blonde. Short hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew no one who fit immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was she doing there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArguing with Cal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn't hear all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you hear?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething about your signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat signature?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInsurance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLoans?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed a broker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had a document case.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ask Cal?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said she handled financing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened after?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Marcus arrive before or after her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus took the documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat documents?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he take the bottle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCal.\u201d<\/p>\n
A long silence settled across the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Then Stephanie said, \u201cWhere is the apartment now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do,\u201d I answered.<\/p>\n
The lease had an address.<\/p>\n
I picked up my coat.<\/p>\n
Martin stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn't asking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can't just drive there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Cal may already be headed there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took the cash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could mean anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin pulled out his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me twenty minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've been sitting here knowing where he is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know where he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin unlocked the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked if I still had the apartment key.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin reached into his coat pocket.<\/p>\n
He placed a brass key on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you still have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Cal gave it to me after December fourteenth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said if anything happened to him, I was supposed to empty the apartment before anyone else got there.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone else meaning Marcus?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
The message was shorter than the others.<\/p>\n
Do not let Martin give Cal the key.<\/p>\n
I looked slowly toward my father-in-law.<\/p>\n
A second message arrived.<\/p>\n
The blonde woman was not a broker.<\/p>\n
I showed Stephanie.<\/p>\n
Then Martin.<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
Another message.<\/p>\n
She was your witness.<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
Witness to what?<\/p>\n
Before I could type the question, one final message appeared.<\/p>\n
Ask what she saw Cal sign in your name.<\/p>\n
I looked at the red folder.<\/p>\n
Then at the insurance policy.<\/p>\n
Then at the three fraudulent loans.<\/p>\n
For the first time, I understood that somewhere in Charlotte there might be a person who had watched my husband forge me into his secret life.<\/p>\n
And whatever she had witnessed was important enough that someone had spent two years making sure I never knew she existed.<\/p>\n
I took the brass key from the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm going to that apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin reached for it.<\/p>\n
I closed my fist.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJosie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou kept enough secrets for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
Stephanie put on her coat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin looked between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have no idea who may be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes three of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I slipped the key into my pocket.<\/p>\n
Then I looked at the insurance policy one last time before closing the folder.<\/p>\n
Eight days before I got sick, Cal had insured my life.<\/p>\n
On the day I became ill, he had been inside a hidden apartment in another state, arguing with a woman about my signature.<\/p>\n
And now, after the money disappeared, after the loans surfaced, after someone broke into Eric's office, my husband was apparently trying to get back into that same apartment before I did.<\/p>\n
Whatever remained there was not history.<\/p>\n
It was evidence.<\/p>\n
And Cal was already moving to reach it first.<\/p>\n
Cal was no longer in the garage when we returned. The suitcase remained open. The cash was gone. That told me he knew the situation had changed. Stephanie noticed first. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6340,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6309\/revisions\/6340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}