Chapter 11 - The WitnessLaura finally tells Skylar what happened
Laura agreed to speak privately.
Not at the police station.
Not in a courtroom.
At a quiet safe location.
Skylar entered the room.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Laura looked older than her photograph.
But her eyes were sharp.
“You're Skylar.”
“Yes.”
Laura nodded.
“I heard about you.”
Skylar swallowed.
“What did you hear?”
“That he married again.”
Skylar lowered her eyes.
Laura looked at the burn scar still healing on Skylar's cheek.
“He did this?”
“Yes.”
Laura whispered:
“Then he's getting desperate.”
Skylar sat across from her.
“What happened to you?”
Laura looked toward the window.
“I trusted Derek.”
Skylar said nothing.
“We met through work.”
“He was charming.”
“I know.”
Laura smiled sadly.
“They all say that.”
“All?”
“Men like Derek don't invent themselves. They inherit techniques.”
She explained everything.
The manipulation.
The financial pressure.
The secret accounts.
The requests for signatures.
The sudden emergencies.
Then she discovered something.
A file containing names of women.
Assets.
Insurance policies.
Debt levels.
She realized she wasn't special.
She was a target.
“When I confronted him, he threatened me.”
“With what?”
“My career. My family. My credit.”
“What happened next?”
“I disappeared.”
Skylar frowned.
“Did you fake it?”
Laura nodded.
“I realized the only way to survive was to become someone else.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“I did.”
Skylar stared.
“What?”
“Local police didn't believe me.”
“How?”
“Derek had already reported that I stole money from him.”
Laura gave a bitter laugh.
“He had documents.”
Forged ones.
Just like Skylar's.
“So you ran.”
“I did.”
“And Victor?”
Laura's face tightened.
“He wasn't Derek's partner.”
Skylar frowned.
“Then what was he?”
“A collector.”
“For whom?”
Laura hesitated.
“People more powerful than Derek.”
She explained that Derek and Suzanne were not the top of the network.
They were middlemen.
They collected information.
They targeted vulnerable people.
They funneled money upward.
Victor enforced debts.
“And now?”
Laura looked directly at Skylar.
“Now Derek has lost control.”
“Because of me?”
“Because you left.”
Skylar felt tears in her eyes.
“I thought leaving meant I was weak.”
Laura shook her head.
“It means you became dangerous to them.”
Skylar stared.
Laura continued.
“The moment you took the medical report, you stopped being controllable.”
Then Laura reached into her bag.
She removed a small flash drive.
“This is why they are afraid.”
Skylar looked at it.
“What is it?”
“Names.”
“How many?”
“Thirty-seven.”
Skylar's heart sank.
“Victims?”
“Yes.”
“Proof?”
“Yes.”
“Why give it to me?”
Laura's eyes hardened.
“Because I want them finished.”
Skylar took the drive.
“What about Victor?”
“He knows I have it.”
Skylar froze.
“What?”
Laura nodded.
“He's been looking for me.”
Then Skylar's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
Tell Laura we know where she is.
Another message arrived immediately.
And Skylar, we know where you sleep.
Mara stood up.
“Don't reply.”
Then a third message arrived.
A photograph.
Skylar's hotel room.
Taken from the hallway.
Her bedroom door was visible.
Someone had photographed her while she slept.
The timestamp was eleven minutes earlier.
Skylar felt the blood drain from her face.
Laura looked at the photograph.
May you like
Then whispered:
“They found us.”
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