Chapter 9
The building doorman was gone.
That was the first answer.
The second came from the cameras.
Three months of missing footage.
Exactly when Emily said Ryan’s violence worsened.
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
Ryan shook his head.
“I knew about one camera.”
“Which?”
“Hallway.”
“Why?”
“To know when you visited.”
Not to protect Emily.
To prepare the performance.
Linda sighed.
“He was terrible at pretending affection.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Ryan looked at her.
“I did love you.”
She laughed once.
Broken.
“No.”
“I married you.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
Good.
My daughter was returning.
Slowly.
Her voice first.
I looked at Linda.
“Why did you need surveillance before Thursday?”
“To understand patterns.”
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
“Emily’s?”
“She was part of yours.”
Not daughter.
Pattern.
Not woman.
Access point.
I stared.
“You selected Ryan’s marriage to her.”
Linda smiled.
“Emily selected him.”
Ryan looked away.
That told me enough.
“What did you do?”
Silence.
Emily stared at her husband.
“What?”
Ryan whispered:
“Nothing.”
Linda laughed.
“You pursued her exactly where I told you.”
Emily’s face changed.
“No.”
Linda looked almost amused.
“Charity gala. Army museum. Coffee shop afterward.”
My stomach tightened.
Those moments had built their relationship.
Ryan had always claimed coincidence.
Emily looked at him.
“You followed me.”
He snapped:
“I fell in love with you.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
Wrong answer.
She started crying.
Ryan reached toward her.
I blocked him.
He stared at me.
“She’s my wife.”
“No.”
Emily said it.
Both of us looked at her.
She repeated:
“No.”
Ryan’s face hardened.
“You don’t get to decide that while emotional.”
I nearly smiled.
Emily looked at him.
“You hit me.”
“You made me—”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
But held.
“You hit me.”
Silence.
Then my captain entered carrying a security badge.
One of my four trusted men.
My driver.
Paul Bennett.
My cousin.
The man who had driven me to buy the teddy bear.
I stared at the badge.
“Where is Paul?”
My captain answered:
“Gone.”
May you like
Linda’s smile widened.
And betrayal finally reached my own blood.
