Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Beneath the Marriage
Federal agents arrived before Lily and I left for the hospital.
The team leader was Special Agent Nolan Pierce.
Nolan had supervised my operation near the Canadian border.
He walked into my kitchen looking as though someone had aged him ten years since dawn.
“Tell me you never discussed operational details with Grant.”
“I didn’t.”
“Locations?”
“No.”
“Names?”
“No.”
“Travel dates?”
“He knew when I left and when I expected to return.”
Nolan looked toward the living room.
“That may have been enough.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
“We lost a confidential source three weeks ago.”
I stopped breathing.
Nolan lowered his voice.
“We thought someone on the northern side identified him.”
“And now?”
“Now we’re not sure.”
I looked at Grant through the doorway.
He stared back.
For years, I had believed I knew every expression on my husband’s face.
That morning, I realized I had never known the man wearing them.
“You think Grant leaked information?”
“I think we need evidence.”
Santos approached carrying a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was Grant’s laptop.
“We found encrypted messaging software.”
Grant stood up.
“That is my business computer.”
Nolan barely looked at him.
“What business?”
“I manage private equity.”
“Then you can explain the encrypted foreign accounts.”
Grant’s arrogance flickered.
Vanessa suddenly looked at him.
“Foreign accounts?”
“Be quiet.”
Her face sharpened.
“Don’t tell me to be quiet.”
Grant turned on her.
“Vanessa.”
She stood.
“You said the money was from the divorce settlement.”
The room changed.
Nolan looked at me.
I looked at Vanessa.
“What divorce settlement?”
Vanessa froze.
Grant closed his eyes.
I stepped closer.
“What divorce?”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“You really don’t know?”
“Know what?”
She looked at Grant.
Then back at me.
“He said you signed everything before you left.”
“I signed nothing.”
“He showed me documents.”
Grant snapped.
“Vanessa, stop talking.”
She ignored him.
“He said the house would be his by September.”
“He said Lily would go to boarding school.”
I could hear my heartbeat.
“And me?”
Vanessa’s confidence disappeared.
“He said you wouldn’t be a problem much longer.”
Nobody spoke.
Nolan’s face became completely still.
“What exactly did he say?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“He said people disappear in dangerous jobs all the time.”
Grant lunged toward her.
Two officers grabbed him immediately.
Vanessa screamed.
For the first time, she looked genuinely terrified.
Grant struggled against the officers.
“You stupid woman!”
Nolan stepped between them.
And Vanessa finally understood something Lily had probably understood weeks earlier.
May you like
Grant Carlisle was not protecting her.
He was protecting himself.
