Chapter 9 - THE DIVORCE WASN'T AN ACCIDENTWe hid in an abandoned church outside the city.
Brenda finally explained.
“Christopher was never supposed to marry you.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
She nodded.
“They needed access to your family.”
“My family?”
“Your father.”
I looked at Christopher.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
Brenda continued.
“Your father's records disappeared after his death. But one person had copies.”
“Me?”
“No. You had something else.”
“What?”
“His trust account.”
I shook my head.
“My father barely had money.”
“Not money.”
Brenda pulled out a folder.
“A key.”
The same B-17 key.
“You had it for years.”
“I found it yesterday.”
“Exactly.”
She pointed to Christopher.
“They needed to know where it was.”
I turned toward him.
“Did you marry me to find it?”
Christopher looked devastated.
“No.”
Brenda interrupted.
“He was ordered to get close to your family.”
Christopher finally spoke.
“I refused.”
“They threatened him.”
“I still refused.”
“Then they threatened Rebecca.”
Silence.
I looked at him.
“All those years?”
“I loved you.”
My eyes burned.
“But you still betrayed me.”
“I did.”
He swallowed.
“I thought I could protect you and get out.”
Brenda looked away.
“You couldn't.”
I sat down.
My entire marriage suddenly felt like a room where all the walls had been moved while I slept.
“What was my father's secret?”
Brenda answered.
“He discovered that Corbin Holdings was being used to launder money for a criminal network.”
“Who ran it?”
“Not Douglas.”
“Not Ethan?”
“Ethan was the lawyer.”
“Then who?”
Brenda looked at me.
“Garrett's wife.”
I froze.
“Garrett was never married.”
“Exactly.”
She pointed to a photograph.
A woman stood beside Garrett at a charity gala.
Beautiful.
Blonde.
Smiling.
My eyes narrowed.
“Who is she?”
“Laura.”
“Who?”
“She died five years ago.”
Garrett stared at the photograph.
Then he whispered:
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because I attended her funeral.”
Brenda shook her head.
“No.”
She turned the photograph over.
On the back was a date.
Two years after Laura's supposed death.
“She was alive.”
Garrett took the photograph.
The woman was standing beside Ethan.
Then I noticed something else.
A ring.
A distinctive black stone.
I had seen that ring before.
On Gertrude.
My stomach dropped.
“Gertrude.”
Brenda nodded.
“Gertrude is Laura.”
The room went silent.
Garrett looked like he'd been punched.
His brother's wife had been living under another identity.
And the woman who pretended to be Gertrude had access to everything.
“Then why did she save us?” I asked.
“She didn't.”
Brenda's eyes hardened.
“She needed something from you.”
“What?”
“The evidence.”
A phone rang.
Garrett checked it.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Bring Rebecca to the estate.”
Garrett said nothing.
The voice continued.
“You have until midnight.”
“What happens after midnight?”
A pause.
“Your mother dies.”
The call ended.
Garrett stood.
“We're going back.”
Christopher grabbed his arm.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why go?”
Garrett looked at me.
“Because I am done running.”
I held the B-17 key.
“And I'm coming.”
Garrett shook his head.
“No.”
I looked him directly in the eyes.
“My whole life was built around protecting other people.”
I stood.
“For once, I'm protecting myself.”
We returned to the estate just before midnight.
The house was dark.
Every door was unlocked.
No guards.
No staff.
No Douglas.
No Gertrude.
Garrett entered first.
A single light turned on in the dining room.
Evelyn sat at the table.
Alive.
Untouched.
Beside her was Douglas.
His hands were tied.
Garrett stared.
Then a voice came from behind us.
“Welcome home.”
Gertrude stepped into the light.
She wasn't smiling.
And in her hand was a remote control.
May you like
“Rebecca,” she said.
“You're going to open the safe.”
