Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Special Agent Lena Ortiz arrived at Claire’s hospital room shortly after noon.
She wore no visible weapon.
No badge clipped dramatically to her jacket.
No expression suggesting surprise.
She looked like a forty-year-old accountant who had been asked to sit through another meeting.
Rebecca trusted her immediately.
Claire did not.
“Mrs. Cole.”
“Claire.”
“Claire.”
Ortiz sat down.
“I understand you have information regarding Miles Carter, Warren Pike and possibly your husband.”
“Possibly?”
Ortiz gave her a level look.
“Your attorney explained that you’re careful with words.”
“I used to work in finance.”
“So I heard.”
Rebecca placed a folder on the table.
“We want an agreement before Claire provides access to additional evidence.”
Ortiz did not touch it.
“Immunity?”
“Protection.”
“From whom?”
Claire answered.
“Everyone.”
Ortiz looked at her stomach.
“People tried to run your car off the road this morning.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe your husband ordered that?”
Claire hesitated.
“No.”
Rebecca turned toward her.
Ortiz noticed.
“Why not?”
“Adrian does terrible things for reasons he believes are rational. Trying to kill me while I’m carrying his daughter wouldn’t be rational.”
“People surprise us.”
“Adrian surprises other people. Not me.”
It was the first time Claire said the sentence aloud.
And immediately wondered whether it was still true.
Ortiz opened the folder.
“What exactly is Atlas?”
Claire explained.
Ortiz’s expression became much more interested.
“Can your husband access it remotely?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Can Carter?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Adrian trusts Miles with his life. He doesn’t trust anyone with his money.”
Rebecca almost smiled.
Ortiz did not.
“If Atlas authenticates internal servers, it could give us a direct evidentiary chain.”
“That’s why I took it.”
Ortiz leaned back.
“You stole property from your husband.”
“Yes.”
“Knowing it could be used against him.”
“Yes.”
“After publicly witnessing him propose to another woman.”
Claire’s eyes hardened.
“If you’re trying to establish whether this is revenge, save your time. I found Miles’s transfers eight months before the proposal.”
Ortiz held her gaze.
Then nodded.
“Good answer.”
Claire disliked her less.
They spent two hours going through records.
By late afternoon, Ortiz believed enough to call her supervisor.
Claire would be moved to a protected location outside Boston.
No electronic devices tied to her identity.
No contact with Adrian.
No contact with friends.
Rebecca would remain her legal intermediary.
“What about my prenatal care?”
“We’ll arrange it.”
“And after the baby is born?”
“We’ll discuss longer-term options.”
Claire turned toward the window.
The sky was already darkening.
Christmas Day.
Her first Christmas alone.
Rebecca stepped beside her.
“You can still stop.”
Claire looked at her.
“No.”
“You know what this means.”
“Yes.”
“Once they authenticate Atlas, this becomes bigger than your marriage.”
“It already is.”
At the Cole mansion, Christmas lunch had been canceled.
Guests gone.
Flowers dying.
Champagne abandoned.
Brooke was furious.
“You embarrassed me.”
Adrian looked up from his desk.
“Excuse me?”
“You vanished after proposing.”
“My wife is missing.”
Brooke rolled her eyes.
“There it is again.”
Adrian’s face changed.
“What?”
“Your wife. Your wife. Your wife.”
Brooke held up the diamond.
“You gave me this twelve hours ago.”
“I remember.”
“Do you?”
Adrian stood.
Brooke took a step back without realizing it.
He noticed.
Everyone feared him eventually.
Claire had stopped.
Maybe that should have warned him.
“My child is missing with her.”
“The baby is inside Claire.”
“That is my child.”
Brooke crossed her arms.
“And what am I?”
Adrian stared at her.
He had spent eleven months convincing himself Brooke was freedom.
She was fun where Claire had become cautious.
Admiring where Claire had become questioning.
Easy where Claire had become complicated.
But standing in his study on Christmas morning, Brooke did not look like freedom.
She looked young.
Beautiful.
Impatient.
And completely uninterested in whether his unborn daughter was alive.
“My fiancée,” he said.
It sounded strange.
Brooke smiled.
“Exactly.”
A knock interrupted them.
Luca Moretti entered.
Brooke looked annoyed.
Adrian nodded toward the door.
“Give us a minute.”
When Brooke left, Luca waited.
“Say it.”
“Your people didn’t hit Claire’s car.”
Adrian’s stomach tightened.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“Pike?”
“Vehicle was registered through a company tied to his nephew.”
Adrian went still.
Luca continued.
“And Miles met with Warren Pike three nights ago.”
“Where?”
“Philadelphia.”
“He told me he was in Baltimore.”
“He wasn’t.”
Adrian walked to the window.
Christmas lights covered the trees Claire had decorated.
He suddenly remembered her standing on a ladder while seven months pregnant because she disliked how one strand hung.
He had told her to let staff do it.
She had laughed.
“If I let your staff decorate, everything will look like a hotel.”
Now the house looked exactly like a hotel.
Beautiful.
Empty.
Temporary.
“What else?”
Luca placed photographs on the desk.
Miles entering a private club.
Warren Pike ten minutes later.
Another photo.
Brooke.
Adrian stared.
“What is this?”
“Taken six weeks ago.”
Brooke was leaving the same club.
Miles beside her.
Adrian said nothing.
Luca watched his face.
“You know about that?”
“No.”
“There’s more.”
“Of course there is.”
“Brooke met Miles at least seven times before you started sleeping with her.”
Adrian slowly sat down.
That landed differently.
“When?”
“First confirmed meeting was fourteen months ago.”
His affair with Brooke began eleven months ago.
Three months later.
Luca continued.
“We pulled security from one of Pike’s properties. Brooke was there twice.”
Adrian looked at the engagement ring photograph on his phone.
Brooke crying.
Brooke saying yes.
The ballroom applauding.
He had thought he was humiliating Claire because of his own arrogance.
Now another possibility appeared.
What if he had been manipulated into doing exactly what Miles needed?
Drive Claire out.
Break the marriage.
Distract Adrian.
Destroy the one person examining the numbers.
“Does Brooke work for Miles?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
Luca nodded.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“If Claire has evidence, Miles will keep hunting her.”
“I know.”
“And if federal authorities have her—”
“I know.”
“You could be exposed too.”
Adrian looked at him.
Luca was one of the few people willing to say it.
“You want me to prioritize my freedom over my wife?”
“I want to know what you want prioritized.”
Adrian looked at Claire’s empty chair across the room.
Then he answered.
“Claire.”
Luca nodded once.
“And the baby.”
Another nod.
“Even if she’s talking to the government?”
Adrian’s expression did not change.
“Yes.”
That night Brooke received a message.
She was alone in the guest suite.
Miles: We need to meet.
Brooke typed back.
Are you insane? Adrian is suspicious.
Three dots appeared.
Then:
You were supposed to keep him focused on you.
Brooke stared.
I did.
Miles replied.
Then why is he asking about Boston?
Her pulse increased.
I don’t know anything about Boston.
The reply came immediately.
You know enough.
Brooke deleted the messages.
She did not notice Adrian standing silently outside the partially open bedroom door.
He had come to ask her about the photographs.
Instead, he heard enough.
Brooke turned.
Saw him.
Her face collapsed.
“Adrian.”
He opened the door.
“Who are you talking to?”
“No one.”
He held out his hand.
“Phone.”
“Adrian—”
“Phone.”
She backed away.
“This is ridiculous.”
He did not raise his voice.
That made it worse.
“Give me your phone, Brooke.”
She threw it onto the bed.
“Fine.”
Adrian picked it up.
No messages.
Deleted.
He looked at her.
“Did Miles introduce us?”
Brooke’s lips parted.
“No.”
Wrong answer.
Because Luca had already confirmed he did.
Adrian nodded.
Brooke rushed forward.
“Wait.”
He walked toward the door.
“It wasn’t like that.”
Adrian stopped.
The sentence everyone used when it was exactly like that.
“Explain.”
Brooke started crying.
Real tears this time.
“Miles said you were unhappy.”
Adrian said nothing.
“He said Claire was controlling you.”
Silence.
“He said you needed someone who understood your world.”
“How much did he pay you?”
Brooke looked insulted.
“It wasn’t money.”
“What was it?”
“He promised me opportunities.”
Adrian laughed once.
Cold.
“You slept with me for opportunities.”
“I fell in love with you.”
“Eventually?”
Brooke’s face crumpled.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Did you know he was stealing from me?”
“No.”
“Did you know he was working with Pike?”
“No.”
“Did you know he sent men after Claire?”
Brooke froze.
That was enough.
Adrian’s blood turned to ice.
“You knew.”
“I didn’t know they were going to hurt her.”
“What did you think they were going to do?”
“He said she had something.”
Adrian grabbed Brooke’s wrist.
Not hard.
But she gasped.
“What did Miles say Claire had?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“A key.”
Adrian released her.
Brooke continued rapidly.
“He said if she left, everything could fall apart.”
“Did he say where she was?”
“No.”
“Did he say anything else?”
Brooke shook her head.
Then stopped.
Adrian saw it.
“What?”
“He said the attorney wouldn’t protect her.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What attorney?”
“I don’t know.”
“Brooke.”
“Rebecca something.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Rebecca Shaw.
Claire’s attorney.
Miles knew.
Which meant Claire’s location might already be compromised.
Adrian pulled out his phone.
Called Luca.
“Move.”
“What happened?”
“Miles knows the lawyer.”
“How?”
“Doesn’t matter. Find Claire before he does.”
Adrian looked at Brooke.
Then added,
“And lock down the house.”
Brooke stared.
“What are you doing?”
Adrian took the engagement ring from her finger.
She looked shocked.
“You can’t—”
“I just did.”
“Adrian, please.”
He put the diamond into his pocket.
Then opened the door.
Two guards waited outside.
“Ms. Lawson stays here.”
Brooke’s face went white.
“You’re imprisoning me?”
“No.”
Adrian looked back.
“You’re free to leave.”
Relief crossed her face.
Then he finished.
“But if you leave, Miles will know you told me.”
Brooke’s relief disappeared.
Adrian walked away.
For the first time since Christmas Eve, he stopped thinking like an abandoned husband.
He started thinking like the man everyone else feared.
And Miles Carter had just made the worst mistake of his life.
May you like
He had given Adrian something more dangerous than anger.
He had given him a reason to believe Claire had been right all along.
