Chapter 3 - The Mistress Wasn’t the Secret
Vanessa Lane answered her hotel door wearing Jack’s shirt.
That alone nearly made him turn around.
Not because he was shocked.
Because he was suddenly disgusted by how ordinary it looked.
The same white dress shirt Evelyn used to steal from his closet on Sunday mornings during the first year of their marriage.
The same sleeves rolled over Vanessa’s wrists.
The same careless intimacy.
Jack stood in the hallway of the Commonwealth Hotel and felt something close to shame become physical.
Vanessa smiled.
“You finally decided to answer me.”
Jack walked inside without kissing her.
Her smile faded.
“Jack?”
He closed the door.
“Why did my mother call you three times the day Evelyn went into labor?”
Vanessa’s face changed for half a second.
It was enough.
Jack noticed everything for a living.
He had simply stopped noticing things that threatened the lies he preferred.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Wrong answer.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Your mother calls me. She likes me.”
“My mother doesn’t like anyone.”
“That sounds like a family problem.”
Jack stepped closer.
“9:12. 2:46. 7:03.”
Vanessa stopped pretending.
“Did you break into my phone?”
“My people don’t have to break into anything.”
“Charming.”
“What did she want?”
Vanessa looked toward the minibar.
Jack blocked her path.
“Don’t.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You don’t get to storm into my room and interrogate me because your wife finally left you.”
The words hit exactly where she intended.
Jack didn’t react.
“She left because I gave her reasons to leave.”
Vanessa blinked.
That wasn’t the answer she expected.
Jack continued.
“And one of those reasons is standing in front of me.”
Vanessa gave a short laugh.
“Oh, please. Don’t suddenly turn me into the villain because Evelyn found a backbone.”
“I was the villain.”
That silenced her.
Jack had never said it aloud before.
Not to Vanessa.
Not to anyone.
“I made the choice.”
He looked at her.
“But I want to know who helped arrange the opportunity.”
Vanessa’s expression went still.
Jack understood.
“So there was an arrangement.”
“No.”
“Vanessa.”
“You were lonely.”
“I was married.”
“You told me your marriage was dead.”
“I lied.”
She stared at him.
Jack reached for his phone.
“Marcus.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Jack pretended to place a call.
“Bring the file.”
“Wait.”
Jack lowered the phone.
There it was.
Fear.
“What file?” Vanessa asked.
“The one I don’t have yet.”
She looked furious.
“You manipulative bastard.”
“Usually.”
He put the phone away.
“Talk.”
Vanessa walked to the window.
Boston spread below them.
“I met Eleanor before I met you.”
Jack’s jaw hardened.
“How long before?”
“Six weeks.”
“Where?”
“New York.”
“What did she want?”
Vanessa turned.
“She said you were becoming careless.”
Jack almost laughed.
“My mother has been saying that since I was twelve.”
“She was worried Evelyn was making you soft.”
Something dark passed across his face.
“Continue.”
“She wanted me to take a communications contract with Callahan Holdings. Be around. Get your attention.”
“And sleep with me?”
Vanessa’s face flushed.
“She never said that.”
“She didn’t need to.”
“No.”
Jack looked away.
The ugliest part of the truth was that Eleanor could place a woman in his path.
She could create access.
She could make introductions.
But she could not make Jack walk into hotel rooms.
That had been his decision.
Every time.
“Why?”
Vanessa sat down.
“At first, I thought it was exactly what she said. Business. Image management. She told me Evelyn hated the Callahan world.”
“She did.”
“She said Evelyn was pressuring you to sell assets.”
Jack looked at her.
“That’s a lie.”
“I know that now.”
“What else?”
“She said Evelyn had threatened to take your future children away from Boston.”
Jack’s chest tightened.
“Before Lucas was conceived?”
“Yes.”
His mother had been preparing something before Evelyn was even pregnant.
“Why would she care who I slept with?”
Vanessa looked uncomfortable.
“Because she wanted leverage.”
“Against me?”
“Against Evelyn.”
Jack’s phone buzzed.
Marcus.
He ignored it.
Vanessa continued.
“Your mother believed if Evelyn caught you cheating, she’d either leave quietly or become easier to control.”
“Why?”
“Prenup.”
Jack went still.
“Our prenup protects Evelyn.”
“The one she signed before the wedding does.”
Jack stared at her.
Vanessa swallowed.
“Eleanor told me there was supposed to be a postnuptial agreement after the baby.”
“What agreement?”
“I don’t know the details.”
Jack’s voice became dangerous.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“She wanted Evelyn to sign something?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After Lucas was born.”
Jack thought back.
Three months earlier Eleanor had repeatedly asked whether estate planning had been finalized.
She had suggested Evelyn sign updated family trust documents.
Jack hadn’t paid attention.
He had been too busy with Miami.
Too busy with Vanessa.
Too busy being exactly as distracted as his mother apparently needed him to be.
“What was in it?”
“I never saw it.”
“Who drafted it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Vanessa.”
“I don’t know!”
Her voice cracked.
Jack studied her.
For the first time, she didn’t look glamorous.
She looked scared.
“Why did my mother call you the night Evelyn went into labor?”
Vanessa looked toward the carpet.
“First call, she told me to keep you in Miami.”
Jack’s breathing changed.
“Second?”
“She asked whether you were planning to fly home.”
“And the third?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with something he didn’t expect.
Shame.
“She told me Evelyn had gone into labor.”
Jack’s face emptied.
Vanessa whispered, “Before you told me.”
For several seconds, no sound existed in the room.
Jack remembered standing on the balcony of the Miami hotel.
His phone ringing.
Evelyn saying the words.
I’m in labor.
Vanessa had already known.
“Why did you laugh?”
Vanessa looked sick.
“What?”
“Evelyn heard you.”
Jack took one step closer.
“When she called me, you laughed.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I didn’t know you were talking to her.”
“You knew she was in labor.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was her husband.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was supposed to go home.”
Tears formed in Vanessa’s eyes.
“Yes.”
“And you stayed.”
“So did you.”
Jack stopped.
She had him there.
No excuse.
No manipulation.
No Eleanor.
He stayed.
Vanessa wiped her cheek angrily.
“You want to hate me because it’s easier than hating yourself.”
“No.”
Jack’s voice was quiet.
“I have enough hate for both.”
His phone buzzed again.
This time he answered.
“What?”
Marcus didn’t waste time.
“Someone delivered a note to Evelyn’s cottage.”
Jack went rigid.
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
“Eleanor went there?”
“No. The note was delivered. We don’t know by whom.”
“Is Evelyn safe?”
“She’s being moved.”
Jack closed his eyes briefly.
“And Lucas?”
“Safe.”
“What did the note say?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Eleanor told Evelyn she doesn’t know what Vanessa really is.”
Jack looked directly at Vanessa.
Her face went white.
Marcus heard the silence.
“Jack?”
Jack lowered the phone.
“What else are you?”
Vanessa backed away.
“I don’t know what she meant.”
Jack’s gaze dropped to her handbag.
Vanessa moved toward it at the same time.
Too late.
Jack picked it up.
“Give me that.”
He emptied it onto the bed.
Wallet.
Lipstick.
Keys.
Phone.
Compact.
A small digital recorder.
Jack stared at it.
Vanessa lunged.
He caught her wrist.
“Don’t.”
“Jack, give it back.”
His voice went very quiet.
“What have you been recording?”
She pulled away.
“Nothing.”
Jack picked up the device.
Vanessa’s breathing quickened.
He pressed play.
At first there was static.
Then Eleanor’s voice filled the room.
Cold.
Controlled.
Distinctive.
“If Jack discovers the trust provision before the child is born, everything becomes difficult.”
Another voice.
Vanessa.
“What exactly happens when the baby arrives?”
Eleanor responded.
“The succession clause activates.”
Jack stopped playback.
He looked at Vanessa.
“What succession clause?”
“I don’t know.”
“Play dumb again and you’ll regret meeting me.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
Jack pressed play.
Eleanor’s voice returned.
“Patrick designed it before he died. The first legitimate grandson receives controlling interest at thirty-five, but his mother becomes temporary trustee if Jack is deemed compromised.”
Jack froze.
Patrick.
His father.
Dead eleven years.
Vanessa’s recorded voice asked, “Compromised how?”
Eleanor answered.
“Criminal indictment. Incapacity. Divorce under specified circumstances.”
Jack stopped breathing.
He understood.
Lucas wasn’t just Jack’s son.
Under a trust Jack had apparently never been shown, Lucas potentially shifted control of billions of dollars in legitimate Callahan holdings.
And Evelyn, as Lucas’s mother, could become temporary trustee.
Vanessa whispered, “That’s why Eleanor wanted her to sign the new agreement.”
Jack slowly looked at her.
“To waive it.”
“Yes.”
His mother had tried to distract him.
Break his marriage.
Isolate Evelyn.
Then place documents in front of a postpartum woman before she understood what she was surrendering.
Jack picked up the recorder.
“How long have you known?”
“A month.”
“Why record Eleanor?”
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“Because your mother started threatening me.”
“With what?”
“She knows things about my brother.”
Jack said nothing.
“He has debts. Serious ones.”
“What kind?”
“The kind Eleanor could use.”
Jack looked toward the window.
All this time, he had believed he was the most dangerous Callahan.
He had forgotten who taught him.
“Does my mother know you recorded her?”
“No.”
“Does anyone else?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Jack noticed.
“Who?”
“I made a copy.”
“Where?”
“With someone I trust.”
“Name.”
“No.”
Jack stepped toward her.
Vanessa shook her head.
“If something happens to me, it gets released.”
“To who?”
“Everyone.”
Jack stared at her.
For the first time, he understood why someone might be following Evelyn.
Not because Evelyn had left.
Because Lucas had been born.
“Marcus,” Jack said into the phone.
“I’m here.”
“Double protection on Evelyn.”
“She won’t like that.”
“I don’t care.”
“Wrong answer.”
Jack took a breath.
Then forced himself to say it differently.
“Ask her.”
Marcus was silent.
Jack continued.
“Tell her Lucas may be tied to a family trust Eleanor has been hiding.”
Marcus swore.
Jack looked at Vanessa.
“And tell Evelyn not to sign anything with the Callahan name on it.”
Marcus replied, “I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
The call ended.
Jack turned back to Vanessa.
“You’re coming with me.”
She laughed nervously.
“Absolutely not.”
“My mother knows you’re a liability.”
“So?”
“So the photograph of Evelyn wasn’t a warning to me.”
Jack picked up Vanessa’s phone.
“It was a warning to all of us.”
Vanessa’s face slowly changed.
Jack continued.
“Someone wants control of Lucas before a judge, attorney, or trustee can determine what Patrick’s trust actually says.”
Vanessa whispered, “Eleanor?”
Jack looked toward the door.
“I don’t know.”
For the first time since Evelyn left, that was what truly frightened him.
Because Eleanor was ruthless.
But Eleanor was predictable.
Whoever had photographed Evelyn through a cottage window had known information Eleanor supposedly didn’t have.
Meaning there was another player.
Someone close enough to the Callahan family to know about the trust.
Close enough to track Evelyn.
And confident enough to threaten Jack Callahan inside his own city.
Then Vanessa’s phone lit up on the bed.
A text message.
NO CALLER ID.
Jack read it.
So did Vanessa.
YOU SHOULD HAVE DESTROYED THE RECORDER.
Vanessa whispered, “Jack…”
May you like
A second message appeared.
NOW WE TAKE THE CHILD.
