Chapter 7 - THE PENDANTI had worn the necklace for eleven years.
Through college.
Through my wedding.
Through arguments.
Through pregnancy.
Through every night I had cried because I suspected Daniel was cheating.
My father had once told me never to remove it.
I had assumed it was sentimental.
It wasn't.
Edward turned the pendant over.
There was a tiny seam I had never noticed.
Detective Alvarez used a specialized tool.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a microscopic metal strip.
A key.
Not a normal key.
A data key.
A security token.
Edward stared at it.
“I never knew he gave it to you.”
My heart pounded.
“What does it unlock?”
He looked at the metal strip.
“Everything.”
A laptop was brought in.
The key was inserted.
The screen remained black for several seconds.
Then a message appeared.
IDENTITY VERIFICATION REQUIRED.
My fingerprint was scanned.
The screen changed.
WELCOME, MARIAN CARTER.
I stared.
My father had built the system to recognize me.
Folders appeared.
Hundreds of them.
Financial accounts.
Property records.
Corporate ownership documents.
Encrypted correspondence.
Then one folder appeared in red.
DANIEL REED
I couldn't breathe.
I clicked it.
The first file showed Daniel's employment history.
Not the company he had told me he worked for.
A different company.
A private security firm.
The second file contained photos.
Daniel following my father.
Daniel meeting Richard Voss.
Daniel entering my college dormitory.
I stepped back.
“He was watching me?”
Edward nodded.
“Before you met him?”
“Yes.”
The next file was worse.
A timeline.
I met Daniel in 2017.
But his surveillance of me began in 2015.
Two years earlier.
He had photographed me walking to class.
Eating lunch.
Leaving the library.
Talking to friends.
I felt sick.
I had fallen in love with a man who had studied me before he ever introduced himself.
The final file contained one video.
Daniel speaking to someone off camera.
“We need access to the Meridian account.”
A man's voice asked:
“And the daughter?”
Daniel answered.
“I'll handle her.”
The video ended.
I looked at Detective Alvarez.
“He married me for money.”
“Probably.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“That isn't the worst part.”
Edward looked at me.
“The worst part is that he never expected me to survive.”
Silence.
Then another file opened automatically.
PROJECT MERIDIAN: PHASE TWO
A document loaded.
Date:
Tomorrow.
The purpose:
Transfer all assets upon verified disappearance of beneficiary.
My name was listed as the beneficiary.
My stomach turned.
“They were planning to make me disappear.”
Detective Alvarez's expression hardened.
“That's what it looks like.”
Then another line appeared.
WITNESS: VANESSA SHAW
I looked at Edward.
“That's why they took her.”
A notification appeared on screen.
An incoming file.
No sender.
Only one sentence:
Your husband is coming for the key.
The hospital lights suddenly flickered.
The door locked automatically.
Then the fire alarm began screaming.
Someone shouted in the hallway.
Detective Alvarez reached for her weapon.
Edward grabbed the laptop.
I held Lily close.
And from the other side of the door…
I heard Daniel's voice.
“Marian.”
He sounded calm.
May you like
Almost affectionate.
“Open the door.”
