Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN I MARRIED HAD TWO STORIES
For the first time since coming home, I wondered whether Megan was a victim at all.
I hated myself for thinking it.
Then I remembered Tommy’s weak body in my arms.
Lily dragging him across the floor.
Megan had left them.
No explanation could erase that.
Detective Alvarez warned me not to jump to conclusions.
“Photographs have context.”
“She was smiling with a man who says she shot him.”
“He was severely injured. We need a full statement.”
“And the hostage video?”
“Could still be real.”
“Or staged.”
“Yes.”
I looked toward my children’s rooms.
“Then I don’t know who I’m protecting them from.”
“That’s why officers stay.”
Calvin survived surgery.
For several hours he couldn’t speak.
Meanwhile federal investigators examined my father’s ledger.
The news was both better and worse than I expected.
Better because it supported my claim that Diane had been using stolen identities.
Worse because my identity really had been part of the network.
Agent Bennett explained it to me.
“You’re likely a victim of identity fraud.”
“Likely?”
“The pattern strongly supports that interpretation.”
“That sounds almost reassuring.”
“It means we need to verify everything.”
“Do it.”
She showed me copies of old transactions.
Richard Mercer’s company.
My father’s identity.
Robert’s.
Several employees.
Then mine.
“Diane rotated people,” Bennett explained. “Small corporations. Consulting companies. Property purchases.”
“What was she hiding?”
“Money originally taken from Mercer Manufacturing.”
“How much?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Millions?”
“Potentially tens of millions.”
I stared at the records.
“And Megan?”
“She appears on some documents.”
My chest tightened.
“As a victim?”
Bennett looked at me.
“As an authorized signer.”
I leaned back.
“So she was involved.”
“At some point, yes.”
“How long?”
“Possibly from before your marriage.”
Calvin’s story was true.
Megan had entered my life because Diane sent her.
I suddenly remembered our first meeting.
She had spilled wine near me.
We laughed.
She said she hated those formal charity events.
I believed chance had placed us beside each other.
Maybe there had never been chance.
At four that afternoon, Detective Alvarez told me Calvin was awake.
I wanted to speak with him.
Police refused.
Instead, Alvarez went personally.
He returned almost two hours later.
“Well?”
He sat across from me.
“Calvin says Megan shot him.”
“Why?”
“He says she believed he was working for Diane again.”
“Was he?”
“He says no.”
“What were they doing together?”
“Trying to recover a file.”
“What file?”
“Diane’s records on Robert.”
“Why?”
“Leverage.”
“Against Robert?”
“Against Diane.”
I frowned.
“Explain.”
“Calvin says Megan planned to threaten public exposure. If Diane touched you or the children, Megan would release everything.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“That plan worked beautifully.”
“No.”
Alvarez’s expression hardened.
“It failed.”
“Obviously.”
“According to Calvin, Megan arranged for you to be away while she confronted Diane.”
My chest tightened.
“My business trip?”
“Yes.”
“That trip had been scheduled for months.”
“But the Singapore portion was added recently.”
He was right.
A client request.
Four unexpected days.
“Was that manipulated?”
“We’re checking.”
I thought about the custody documents.
“The plan to make me look abusive?”
“Calvin says Megan participated early on.”
“Early?”
“For years.”
I stared at him.
“He says Megan originally helped Diane create information about you because she was afraid.”
“Then she changed her mind.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After Tommy was born.”
That hurt in a different way.
Lily hadn’t been enough to make her stop?
I immediately hated myself for the thought.
Fear did strange things to people.
But so did choices.
“Why did Megan leave the children?”
Alvarez’s face changed.
“This is where Calvin’s version becomes complicated.”
“Tell me.”
“He says she didn’t.”
I almost stood.
“I found them alone.”
“He claims a babysitter was supposed to arrive thirty minutes after Megan left.”
“What babysitter?”
“A woman named Sarah Kim.”
“I know Sarah.”
She had watched Lily before.
“Did she come?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“She received a text from Megan canceling.”
I stared at Alvarez.
“Megan canceled?”
“Sarah says the message came from Megan’s number.”
“That doesn’t mean Megan sent it.”
“Correct.”
My mind raced.
“What about the food?”
“Calvin says Megan left a stocked kitchen.”
“That part is true. Diane removed it.”
“So Megan might have believed the children were with Sarah.”
“Possibly.”
“But why leave before Sarah arrived?”
“Calvin says Megan panicked.”
I ran a hand over my face.
“That’s not good enough.”
“No.”
“Even if she thought someone was coming, she left two small children alone.”
“Yes.”
Finally someone said it plainly.
Megan might have been terrified.
Threatened.
Manipulated.
But she still made a dangerous choice.
“What happened after she left?”
“She met Calvin in Chicago.”
“To get Robert’s file?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Calvin says Diane’s people found them.”
“The hostage video.”
“He says he escaped.”
“And Megan?”
“He thought she had been taken.”
“Then how did she shoot him?”
“Yesterday morning she suddenly appeared at his motel.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“She thought he betrayed her.”
“According to him.”
“Did she?”
“Shoot him? Yes.”
I stared at the floor.
“Where did she go?”
“He doesn’t know.”
My wife had become a stranger inside ten minutes.
A woman who could cry over her children, lie to her husband, collect blackmail, flee across states, and shoot a man.
Then Alvarez handed me an evidence bag containing a folded piece of paper.
“What’s that?”
“Calvin said Megan dropped it at the motel.”
I read it.
Three addresses.
One in Chicago.
One outside Indianapolis.
One in Ohio.
I recognized the Ohio address.
“Why is my uncle Robert’s cabin on here?”
“Calvin doesn’t know.”
I did.
Robert was heading toward my mother’s house.
But he owned an isolated hunting cabin two hours away.
I hadn’t been there since I was seventeen.
“Send police.”
“They’re already going.”
My phone rang.
Uncle Robert.
Alvarez nodded.
I answered.
“Where are you?”
Robert sounded out of breath.
“At the cabin.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because Megan is here.”
I stood.
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Put her on.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“She has a gun.”
Alvarez immediately motioned for officers.
“Is she threatening you?”
“Yes.”
Then I heard Megan in the background.
“Give me the phone.”
Robert said, “No.”
A crash.
Then Megan’s voice filled the line.
“Ethan.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“Megan.”
“Are Lily and Tommy safe?”
“Yes.”
She began crying.
“Oh God.”
“Where are you?”
“You know.”
“Police are coming.”
“I know.”
“Put the gun down.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Robert knows where my mother is.”
I looked at Alvarez.
“Does he?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
Robert shouted in the background.
“She’s lying!”
Megan yelled, “Shut up!”
I had never heard her sound like that.
“Megan.”
She started breathing hard.
“I didn’t know Sarah never came.”
“I need you to explain everything.”
“I will.”
“You left them alone.”
“For thirty minutes.”
“You don’t leave a five-year-old with a baby for thirty seconds.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke.
“I know.”
“What happened to Calvin?”
“He betrayed me.”
“He says you shot him.”
“He reached for a gun.”
“Did he have one?”
Silence.
“Megan.”
“I thought he did.”
I closed my eyes.
“Where is Diane?”
“Robert took her.”
I stared at the phone.
“What?”
Robert shouted, “That’s not true!”
Megan yelled back, “Tell him!”
A loud bang exploded through the call.
My heart stopped.
“Megan!”
Silence.
Then heavy breathing.
“MEGAN!”
A voice returned.
Robert.
“She fired into the wall.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Put the gun down.”
“She won’t.”
I heard sirens faintly through his end.
Police were close.
“Megan,” I called.
No answer.
Then Robert whispered.
“Ethan, there’s something you need to know before they get here.”
“What?”
“Megan didn’t come here looking for Diane.”
“Then why is she there?”
“She came for the basement.”
My body went cold.
“What basement?”
“You remember the storm cellar?”
“Yes.”
“It isn’t a storm cellar.”
“What is it?”
Robert took a breath.
“Your father used it.”
“For what?”
“To hide Richard.”
I frowned.
“Richard died six years ago.”
“Yes.”
“What are you saying?”
Robert’s voice dropped.
“Richard Mercer survived the crash.”
I couldn’t speak.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
“Megan buried her father.”
“No, Ethan.”
Robert sounded like a man finally surrendering to a secret.
“The coffin was empty.”
I gripped the phone.
“If Richard survived…”
“He was badly injured. Your father hid him while they gathered evidence.”
“Then where is he now?”
Robert looked away from the phone.
I heard a metal door opening.
Then Megan started crying.
Not angry crying.
Not frightened crying.
The kind that comes from seeing a ghost.
A man’s weak voice sounded in the background.
“Megan?”
May you like
She gasped.
“Dad?”
