{"id":10323,"date":"2026-09-13T15:32:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T15:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=10323"},"modified":"2026-09-13T15:32:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T15:32:57","slug":"part-5-the-insurance-policy-was-only-the-beginning-because-patrick-had-already-chosen-the-date-he-expected-my-life-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=10323","title":{"rendered":"PART 5 \u2013 The Insurance Policy Was Only the Beginning, Because Patrick Had Already Chosen the Date He Expected My Life to Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I kept staring at the word beneficiary until it stopped looking like English.<\/p>\n<p>The page lay on Patrick\u2019s desk between us, clean and ordinary except for the numbers. A life-insurance policy should not have felt like a threat. Married people insured each other all the time. That was what I told myself first. It was the sensible explanation, the one I desperately wanted.<\/p>\n<p>Then I looked again at the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<p>FINAL TRANSFER.<\/p>\n<p>Six weeks away.<\/p>\n<p>My father still held the policy by one corner, careful not to smudge anything the officer might want photographed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow old is this?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman leaned over the desk. \u201cPolicy issue date is fourteen months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t buy this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The officer looked at me. \u201cDid you ever complete a medical examination for life insurance?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnswer health questions?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSign an application?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman turned several pages. \u201cThere may not have been a medical exam. Some policies are issued using medical databases and electronic underwriting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Patrick\u2019s imitation of my signature at the bottom of the application.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did it again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad said quietly, \u201cIt appears so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The benefit amount was one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars.<\/p>\n<p>My throat tightened.<\/p>\n<p>I had never been worth that much money alive.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick had apparently found a way for me to become valuable dead.<\/p>\n<p>The officer, Daniel Reyes, had introduced himself earlier simply as Officer Reyes, but his calm manner had changed when he saw the policy. He photographed every page, then stepped into the hallway and called someone.<\/p>\n<p>I could hear fragments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotential identity fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinancial motive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeed to determine whether there are additional concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did not say murder.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody did.<\/p>\n<p>That made the possibility worse.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stood beside the window with his hands on his hips.<\/p>\n<p>I had seen him furious before, but this was different. Anger moved through him without visible motion, compressing into a silence that made everyone else careful.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman examined the policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatrick may argue this was ordinary estate planning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat estate planning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know. But we have to think about how explanations will be framed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan he collect on this if the application was fraudulent?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly not. But whether he could collect and whether he believed he could are different questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That distinction landed heavily.<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does final transfer mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody knew.<\/p>\n<p>Officer Reyes returned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to treat this seriously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt means I\u2019m asking you not to return to this house alone. I also want you to document any direct contact from Patrick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you think I\u2019m in danger?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He chose his answer carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there are enough irregularities that caution is appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad gave a humorless smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is an impressive way to avoid the word yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes did not argue.<\/p>\n<p>I sat in Patrick\u2019s chair, suddenly aware that he had probably planned things in this exact room.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe while I cooked dinner ten feet away.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe while I sat downstairs believing he was answering emails.<\/p>\n<p>I studied the spreadsheet again.<\/p>\n<p>There were dates beside accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Several had already passed.<\/p>\n<p>The rows matched actions we had discovered.<\/p>\n<p>Money transferred.<\/p>\n<p>Power of attorney filed.<\/p>\n<p>Loan application.<\/p>\n<p>House refinance inquiry.<\/p>\n<p>Retirement withdrawal.<\/p>\n<p>Then I found a line I had missed before.<\/p>\n<p>Travel.<\/p>\n<p>Beside it was the same date as FINAL TRANSFER.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman bent closer.<\/p>\n<p>Dad moved beside him.<\/p>\n<p>The cell contained only one word.<\/p>\n<p>Briarwood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve never heard of it,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>Dad frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA mountain resort about three hours north.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Then I remembered.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick had mentioned it.<\/p>\n<p>Not once.<\/p>\n<p>Repeatedly.<\/p>\n<p>For the previous two months he had been telling me we needed time away. A romantic weekend. No phones. No work. No family.<\/p>\n<p>He had already selected the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Six weeks from now.<\/p>\n<p>The date on the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<p>I stood so quickly the chair rolled backward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad caught my arm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe planned a trip.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I told them.<\/p>\n<p>Officer Reyes immediately began writing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho chose the location?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatrick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he make reservations?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTransportation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said we\u2019d drive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn which vehicle?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My answer came slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis SUV.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes looked toward Dad.<\/p>\n<p>Another ordinary fact changed shape.<\/p>\n<p>Dad asked, \u201cWhat exactly did Patrick say about the trip?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I tried to remember.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said we needed to reconnect. That my family had been taking too much of my attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jason would have exploded if he had heard that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted a cabin,\u201d I continued. \u201cSomething private.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he mention hiking?\u201d Reyes asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWater?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a lake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad turned away.<\/p>\n<p>I knew what he was imagining because I was imagining it too.<\/p>\n<p>A mountain road.<\/p>\n<p>A trail.<\/p>\n<p>A lake.<\/p>\n<p>An accident.<\/p>\n<p>A grieving husband with a life-insurance policy nobody knew I had.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. We don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad came closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to turn every ugly thing he did into attempted murder without proof.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you think it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His silence answered.<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>For years, Patrick had accused Dad of assuming the worst about him.<\/p>\n<p>Now the worst was beginning to sound reasonable.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes asked for my phone.<\/p>\n<p>He searched my messages with Patrick and found references to Briarwood.<\/p>\n<p>One message was from three weeks earlier.<\/p>\n<p>I booked the overlook cabin. You\u2019re going to love how isolated it is.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered smiling when I received it.<\/p>\n<p>Now the word isolated made my skin crawl.<\/p>\n<p>Another message.<\/p>\n<p>No Jason. No work. No calls from your father. Just us.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes photographed the screen.<\/p>\n<p>Then my phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone froze.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes nodded toward it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnswer normally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I swiped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A woman\u2019s voice said, \u201cIs this Jenna?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is Melissa from Briarwood Ridge Resort. I\u2019m calling about your reservation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My knees weakened.<\/p>\n<p>I put the call on speaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat reservation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor October twenty-fourth through October twenty-sixth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The date.<\/p>\n<p>Exactly six weeks away.<\/p>\n<p>I gripped the edge of the desk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a change request submitted by Mr. Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat change?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe asked us to remove your name as the secondary registered guest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone in the room looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Melissa sounded confused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said you might arrive separately and that he wanted the reservation in his name only.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen was this change requested?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the bank froze my accounts.<\/p>\n<p>After I stayed at Dad\u2019s house.<\/p>\n<p>After Patrick knew the police were involved.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes moved closer to the phone.<\/p>\n<p>I continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas anything else changed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes. He changed the cancellation policy and asked whether the cabin deposit could be transferred to a different date if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat date?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me check.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Keyboard clicks.<\/p>\n<p>Then Melissa said, \u201cNext weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s expression sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick was moving the trip forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he give a reason?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said your schedules changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Reyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do I tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He whispered, \u201cCancel nothing yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMelissa, don\u2019t make any additional changes. Someone may contact you about the reservation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs something wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I ended the call.<\/p>\n<p>The room stayed silent for several seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Then Dad said, \u201cHe was planning to bring the trip forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one answered.<\/p>\n<p>My phone buzzed.<\/p>\n<p>A text from Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>We need to meet today.<\/p>\n<p>Another.<\/p>\n<p>Alone.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes read it over my shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>Then a third arrived.<\/p>\n<p>There are things your father hasn\u2019t told you.<\/p>\n<p>That sentence worked exactly as Patrick intended.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Dad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat things?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>It was slight.<\/p>\n<p>But I saw it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does he mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick texted again.<\/p>\n<p>Ask Richard why he really started looking into my accounts before Sunday dinner.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the screen.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not let him redirect this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started looking because I was alerted to irregularities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFriday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd dinner was Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat irregularities?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe investment account.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what you said.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stepped closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Patrick seems to think there\u2019s something else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman spoke. \u201cJenna, he may simply be trying to create distrust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Dad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I\u2019m done accepting partial answers from men who say they\u2019re protecting me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words landed harder than I intended.<\/p>\n<p>Dad absorbed them.<\/p>\n<p>Then he nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He walked to Patrick\u2019s bookshelf and sat in the chair beside it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFriday morning, someone from the company called me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat company?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBennett Industrial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s main business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had received an inquiry about one of our smaller subsidiaries. Nothing unusual by itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe inquiry referenced financial information that wasn\u2019t public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind of information?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDebt structure. Internal valuation. Timing on a contract renewal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow would Patrick get that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you suspected him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suspected someone close enough to know both me and the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought about Patrick\u2019s spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were investigating him before the car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The admission hurt despite everything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou invited us to dinner because of it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to observe him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed in disbelief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo dinner really was an investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Dinner was dinner. But I had questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick\u2019s accusation had contained a sliver of truth.<\/p>\n<p>That did not excuse anything Patrick had done, but it reminded me how badly I needed facts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you find?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at Mr. Coleman.<\/p>\n<p>The attorney reached into his briefcase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found that Patrick had been communicating with an intermediary connected to a private investment group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He placed another document on the desk.<\/p>\n<p>The group had been trying to acquire one of Dad\u2019s affiliated companies at a discount.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick appeared to have provided information that could weaken its negotiating position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would he get?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEquity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the deal succeeded, potentially several million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick\u2019s failing company.<\/p>\n<p>My accounts.<\/p>\n<p>My house.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s business.<\/p>\n<p>The pieces were no longer scattered.<\/p>\n<p>He had been trying to bridge his financial disaster with my family\u2019s assets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if I died?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody answered.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at the insurance policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne point two five million.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad said, \u201cWe still don\u2019t know what he intended.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated that he was right.<\/p>\n<p>The evidence was terrible.<\/p>\n<p>But terrible was not the same as complete.<\/p>\n<p>Officer Reyes\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>He answered, listened, then walked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSend me the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He wrote something down.<\/p>\n<p>When he ended the call, his expression had changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe located Patrick\u2019s SUV.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBriarwood Ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every hair on my arms rose.<\/p>\n<p>Dad said, \u201cHe drove there today?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what we need to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My phone buzzed again.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>I know you\u2019re reading these.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>Ask your father what happens if his company fails.<\/p>\n<p>A third message appeared.<\/p>\n<p>You think I\u2019m the only one hiding something.<\/p>\n<p>I showed Dad.<\/p>\n<p>He shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s trying to bait you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maybe.<\/p>\n<p>But there was panic in Patrick\u2019s timing.<\/p>\n<p>Something at Briarwood mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Something he wanted before police could reach it.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes made another call.<\/p>\n<p>While he spoke, I returned to the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<p>I traced the dates again.<\/p>\n<p>One column farther to the right contained initials.<\/p>\n<p>Some I did not recognize.<\/p>\n<p>One appeared repeatedly.<\/p>\n<p>M.C.<\/p>\n<p>Beside the insurance policy.<\/p>\n<p>Beside the travel entry.<\/p>\n<p>Beside FINAL TRANSFER.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is M.C.?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Coleman leaned over.<\/p>\n<p>Dad frowned.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes ended his call and looked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould be anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then I remembered Patrick\u2019s business partner.<\/p>\n<p>A man he had mentioned dozens of times but rarely brought around.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus Cole.<\/p>\n<p>My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cM.C. could be Marcus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s eyes sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you know about him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patrick always said Marcus handled operations.<\/p>\n<p>He had blamed Marcus whenever deals stalled, but praised him whenever money arrived.<\/p>\n<p>I searched my phone contacts.<\/p>\n<p>No Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>Then I remembered a Christmas party two years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Tall man.<\/p>\n<p>Gray suit.<\/p>\n<p>Thin scar near his chin.<\/p>\n<p>He had looked at me strangely when Patrick introduced us, as though he already knew more about me than I knew about him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatrick said Marcus was his oldest business friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes wrote the name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFull name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Dad noticed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes looked at us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe name came up in a fraud case three years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCharges were never filed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe complainant died before the case developed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes continued carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was ruled an accidental fall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mountain cabin suddenly felt very close.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<p>M.C.<\/p>\n<p>FINAL TRANSFER.<\/p>\n<p>Briarwood.<\/p>\n<p>Then I noticed something else.<\/p>\n<p>Beside the travel line, partly hidden by the fold in the paper, was a handwritten note.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus confirms site.<\/p>\n<p>I read it aloud.<\/p>\n<p>Dad moved so quickly his chair scraped the floor.<\/p>\n<p>Officer Reyes took the page from me.<\/p>\n<p>His expression went flat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat changes things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe find Marcus Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My phone rang again.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>This time Reyes shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The call stopped.<\/p>\n<p>A voicemail notification appeared.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes told me to play it on speaker.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick\u2019s voice filled the office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJenna, you need to stop digging. I mean it. You don\u2019t understand what Marcus is capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>His breathing sounded uneven.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI made mistakes, but this isn\u2019t what you think. If he contacts you, don\u2019t meet him. Don\u2019t go anywhere alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The message ended.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody moved.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time since opening the drawer, Patrick did not sound controlling.<\/p>\n<p>He sounded afraid.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at Reyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Patrick is warning her about Marcus, then maybe he isn\u2019t the only threat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at my phone.<\/p>\n<p>Another message arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Not from Patrick.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>Only one sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick has been lying to both of us.<\/p>\n<p>Attached beneath it was a photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick and Marcus stood beside a black SUV in the Briarwood parking lot.<\/p>\n<p>The image had been taken less than twenty minutes earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had circled Patrick in red.<\/p>\n<p>Then another message appeared.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to know what your husband planned for October 24, ask him why he brought a shovel.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=10324\">Click here to continue reading: PART 6: A Photograph From Briarwood Showed Patrick Beside a Shovel, but the Man Watching Him Knew More About My Marriage Than I Did<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I kept staring at the word beneficiary until it stopped looking like English. The page lay on Patrick\u2019s desk between us, clean and ordinary except for the numbers. A life-insurance &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10343,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10323\/revisions\/10343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}