Chapter 7 - The Tape
What happened before I became Mrs. Bennett
Laura opened the door before I knocked.
She looked smaller than I expected.
Not weak.
Just tired.
She stepped aside.
“Come in.”
I entered.
Her house was modest.
No expensive furniture.
No photographs on the walls.
Nothing that suggested the woman sitting across from me had once been married to Mark Bennett.
She poured tea.
My hands were shaking too badly to drink it.
“Where is Maya?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I won't tell you yet.”
“Why?”
“Because she is terrified of Mark.”
“So am I.”
Laura looked at me.
“Good.”
I frowned.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because fear can keep you alive.”
I sat across from her.
“What happened?”
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
She looked toward the window.
“Mark was charming when I met him.”
I almost smiled bitterly.
“He still is.”
“That's how men like him survive.”
She folded her hands.
“He made me feel chosen.”
“What changed?”
“Money.”
I listened.
“Mark's father died.”
She continued.
“He inherited access to several accounts. Not everything was his, but he convinced people it was.”
“Fraud.”
“Yes.”
“You found out?”
“I noticed transfers.”
“Then?”
“I confronted him.”
“What did he do?”
“He told me I was confused.”
I knew the feeling.
“When I refused to sign a document, he became violent.”
I swallowed.
“He pushed me.”
“Down the stairs?”
“Yes.”
My hands tightened.
“Patricia found me.”
“And said you had died?”
“No.”
Laura looked at me.
“She said if I wanted to survive, I had to disappear.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“Because Mark had already convinced the police I was mentally unstable.”
I felt sick.
“He showed them medical records.”
“Fake records.”
“Exactly.”
She leaned back.
“Then he made me an offer.”
“What offer?”
“Leave.”
“And he would leave you alone?”
“He promised.”
“Did he?”
Laura smiled without humor.
“No.”
She got up.
Went to a cabinet.
Returned with a small cassette recorder.
Old.
Scratched.
She placed it on the table.
“This is the original.”
I stared.
“Of what?”
“The conversation.”
“Which conversation?”
“The one where Mark told Patricia what he planned to do to you.”
My skin prickled.
“What?”
Laura pressed play.
Static.
Then a man's voice.
Mark.
You can't tell her.
Patricia's voice followed.
She'll ask questions.
Mark:
Then keep her busy.
Patricia:
She's not stupid.
Mark laughed.
She doesn't need to be stupid. She just needs to believe she's loved.
My stomach turned.
The tape continued.
Patricia:
And the properties?
Mark:
Once the nonprofit grows, she'll sign anything.
Patricia:
What if she doesn't?
Mark:
Then we'll make sure she doesn't have anywhere else to go.
I stopped breathing.
Laura paused the recording.
“That was twenty-three years ago.”
I couldn't speak.
“Before our wedding?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you keep it?”
“Because I knew one day I would need it.”
I looked at her.
“Why now?”
“Because Maya found the ledger.”
“You said that.”
“She found something else.”
“What?”
Laura sat down again.
“A photograph.”
“Of what?”
She looked straight at me.
“Your husband meeting the man who owns the company financing everything.”
“Evelyn said there was someone else.”
Laura nodded.
“There is.”
“Who?”
“His name is Charles Voss.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Laura pulled out a newspaper article.
I recognized the photograph.
Charles Voss.
Private equity investor.
Known for buying distressed companies.
No.
Not companies.
Nonprofits.
He had acquired three regional charities over the past decade, dismantled them, sold their property, and absorbed their donor lists.
I felt cold.
“Mark is working with him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To destroy Second Chapter House.”
“Why?”
Laura looked at me.
“Because your nonprofit has become a threat.”
“To what?”
“His other business.”
She reached for another file.
Inside was a map.
Several locations were highlighted.
Shelters.
Community centers.
Training facilities.
All former nonprofit properties.
“All of these were acquired by companies linked to Voss.”
I stared.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Second Chapter House is the only organization in the region he hasn't been able to control.”
“Why?”
“Because you refused his money.”
I remembered.
Three years earlier, a private investor had offered us $5 million.
I had declined.
Mark had been furious.
He told me I had embarrassed him.
I suddenly understood why.
“You wanted me to accept it.”
Mark had wanted me to accept it.
Laura nodded.
“It would have given Voss influence over the board.”
“And Mark would have had control.”
“Yes.”
I looked down.
“How much money has Mark taken?”
Laura hesitated.
“Personally?”
“Yes.”
She pushed a document toward me.
I read the total.
$1,870,000.
My vision blurred.
“He stole nearly two million dollars.”
“More.”
“How much more?”
“From the nonprofit.”
I looked up.
“$4.6 million.”
I couldn't speak.
“Where did it go?”
Laura pointed to one of the pages.
“Property.”
“Those four buildings?”
“Those and two more.”
I shook my head.
“But the buildings are still being used.”
“Yes.”
“Then why steal them?”
Laura's expression changed.
“Because he doesn't intend to keep them.”
A car passed outside.
Headlights swept across the room.
We both turned.
Laura whispered:
“They found us.”
I looked through the curtain.
A black SUV had stopped across the street.
The driver's window was dark.
“Is that Mark?”
Laura shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
She grabbed my wrist.
“Take the tape.”
“What?”
“Take it and run.”
The SUV door opened.
A man stepped out.
Tall.
Gray coat.
He looked toward the house.
Laura's face went white.
“That's Charles Voss.”
My blood ran cold.
He started walking toward the front door.
Laura pushed the cassette into my hand.
“Go through the back.”
“Come with me.”
“I can't.”
“Laura.”
“I've spent fourteen years hiding.”
She looked at me.
“You don't get to.”
A hard knock struck the front door.
Once.
Twice.
Then a man's voice.
“Laura.”
She closed her eyes.
“It starts now.”
The doorknob turned.
I looked at the back door.
Then the cassette in my hand.
May you like
Then Laura.
And before I could decide what to do, the front door exploded inward.
