Rebecca Fleming looked like Michael.<\/p>\n
I understood that before anyone introduced us.<\/p>\n
The same narrow eyes.<\/p>\n
The same slightly crooked smile I remembered from family photographs displayed in Walter\u2019s old house.<\/p>\n
Claire looked more like Evelyn than anyone should have found comfortable.<\/p>\n
Not because they were related.<\/p>\n
Because the resemblance came from manner rather than features.<\/p>\n
Stillness.<\/p>\n
Observation.<\/p>\n
Waiting until everyone else spoke first.<\/p>\n
Walter stood behind his desk when Kenneth and I arrived.<\/p>\n
Rebecca sat across from him.<\/p>\n
Claire stood by the window.<\/p>\n
Two attorneys occupied the far side of the room.<\/p>\n
Nobody offered coffee.<\/p>\n
That seemed appropriate.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re Red Marsh,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe own it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo recover assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur father\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter scoffed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael had no claim to those assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca ignored him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had claims he could not afford to litigate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean claims he lost.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean claims you buried under legal fees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter stepped forward.<\/p>\n
Kenneth intervened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not relitigating twenty-year-old corporate disputes in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is exactly what everyone has been doing. They just didn't know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hire Raymond Vale?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connor\u2019s letter said Vale had another employer before Gabriel reappeared.<\/p>\n
That aligned.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo investigate what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family trusts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy involve Melinda?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked toward Claire.<\/p>\n
Claire answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Connor\u2019s claim to succession depended increasingly on Noah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you investigated a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe investigated Connor\u2019s representation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is careful wording.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you believe Noah wasn't Connor\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of Connor\u2019s fertility diagnosis?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew about that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked annoyed at losing information advantage.<\/p>\n
Claire said, \u201cWe did not have the diagnosis initially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you have?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDates.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMelinda and Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s hand tightened on the desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca finally looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew Ethan had been in Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you said nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had said nothing to us about our father for two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this was revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cRevenge was tempting. Control was more useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least she was honest.<\/p>\n
Kenneth asked, \u201cHow much of the legacy trust interest does Red Marsh control?\u201d<\/p>\n
Their lawyers shifted.<\/p>\n
Rebecca answered anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't a number.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen ask through discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice may ask sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire crossed her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have committed no crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you authorize Thomas Vale to follow Melinda?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you authorize the anonymous photograph sent to Kirsten?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThreatening message?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGabriel\u2019s assault?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor being shot at?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe staged warehouse photo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s calm remained intact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose events damaged our position.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cViolence attracts criminal investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted civil discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth nodded slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause civil discovery could expose the trusts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout sending anyone to prison.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca glanced toward Walter.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrison was irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked disgusted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou manipulated my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour family has manipulated ours since before I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let my father die believing he had failed everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo did you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Michael tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you forced him out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tried to seize control.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought you were destroying the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter said nothing.<\/p>\n
Rebecca continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe mortgaged his house fighting you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI offered to buy him out fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou offered him enough to disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire finally spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The quieter sister carried more force.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe disappeared into alcohol, debt and shame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked away.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cAfter he died, we found correspondence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat correspondence?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLetters from Evelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn\u2019s name changed the room.<\/p>\n
Walter went still.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOld letters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Connor was born?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they suggest Michael was Connor\u2019s father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did more than suggest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you knew before Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSix years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Connor hired Vale.<\/p>\n
Before any of us understood why paternity had become such a loaded subject.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not tell Connor?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Claire answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause information is leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bluntness disgusted me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let a man question his identity for years because it benefited your corporate position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire met my gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
No apology.<\/p>\n
I understood something then.<\/p>\n
Connor was not the only person Walter\u2019s family system had shaped badly.<\/p>\n
He was merely the one whose damage had intersected mine.<\/p>\n
Kenneth asked, \u201cDid you provide those letters to Raymond Vale?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Vale knew Michael might be Connor\u2019s father before Connor hired him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That changed the sequence.<\/p>\n
Vale had not independently discovered Connor\u2019s paternity.<\/p>\n
He had been given the path.<\/p>\n
Then he sold the discovery back to Connor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much did you pay him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca named a number.<\/p>\n
Walter swore.<\/p>\n
Kenneth kept writing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Vale tell you Connor later hired him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou allowed him to work both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe encouraged it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted access.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Vale give you Connor\u2019s requests?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know Connor wanted his fertility records removed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew he had a diagnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you still let me remain ignorant.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were not part of our dispute.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI became collateral.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word landed without sympathy.<\/p>\n
Something in me chilled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least Connor eventually understood what he did to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s expression barely changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expect remorse from me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly accuracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
That got her attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you actually want from Melinda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvidence that Noah was Ethan\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Ethan had a biological son, that affected a different branch of the legacy holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter spoke sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had no right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had every right to determine who could inherit interests connected to our father\u2019s branch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough Noah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A one-year-old child had become a pivot point in multiple corporate structures.<\/p>\n
The obscenity of it exhausted me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Ethan know you were investigating?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you pay Vale to test him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you learn Noah was Ethan\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEight months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Gabriel resurfaced.<\/p>\n
Before the paternity lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why wait?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth asked.<\/p>\n
Rebecca smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause proof obtained illegally is bad litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you needed legitimate events to trigger court testing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cGabriel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe learned he existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou encouraged him to file.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who sent the anonymous message?\u201d<\/p>\n
She paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I studied her.<\/p>\n
She was telling the truth or was very good.<\/p>\n
Claire spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe discussed contacting him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca shot her a look.<\/p>\n
Claire continued anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided against it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause counsel advised it could look like interference.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo someone else did what you chose not to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire's face tightened.<\/p>\n
That was our first real reaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Thomas Vale?\u201d Kenneth asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you last speak?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cTwo weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore or after Gabriel was assaulted?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was his assignment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMonitor Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot Melinda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy Connor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he was moving money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you knew about hidden assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know they came from his divorce?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Raymond?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost certainly.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The Vale family sat between everyone\u2019s secrets.<\/p>\n
One father selling information.<\/p>\n
One son potentially acting on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Thomas ever express hostility toward Connor?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Claire answered this time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor humiliated me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room changed.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire stared out the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were twenty-five.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor and Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas and I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were dating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told Raymond.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat seems minor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaymond hated the Flemings. He threatened to cut Thomas off financially if he stayed with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Thomas choose you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor sent Raymond photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf?\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas using drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Connor exposed something true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn't make his motive noble.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRaymond forced Thomas into treatment. Thomas blamed Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid treatment work?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd later?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas left Indiana.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Thomas has hated Connor for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to shoot at him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust like everything you built Red Marsh to uncover.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not answer.<\/p>\n
Kenneth asked, \u201cDid Thomas know about the eighteen-million-dollar trust?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fake report?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Raymond have told him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real paternity results?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor\u2019s non-paternity to Walter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
So Thomas possessed every combustible secret.<\/p>\n
Motive still remained unclear.<\/p>\n
Morales arrived twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n
He questioned Rebecca and Claire separately.<\/p>\n
Their answers matched on most points.<\/p>\n
Red Marsh was theirs.<\/p>\n
They had hired Raymond.<\/p>\n
Later Thomas.<\/p>\n
Their goals were financial.<\/p>\n
Their methods invasive but, according to them, not violent.<\/p>\n
Then Morales showed us something recovered from Thomas\u2019s old apartment records.<\/p>\n
A company.<\/p>\n
Black Pike Services.<\/p>\n
Registered in Nevada.<\/p>\n
Owner hidden behind a nominee.<\/p>\n
Payments from Red Marsh had gone to Black Pike for \u201cfield research.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Black Pike had received other money too.<\/p>\n
From someone unexpected.<\/p>\n
Melinda Travis.<\/p>\n
I stared at the record.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree transfers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFour years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Noah.<\/p>\n
Around the first pregnancy.<\/p>\n
I looked at Walter.<\/p>\n
He looked equally shocked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was Black Pike then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPrivate investigation subcontractor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Melinda pay Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales said, \u201cWe asked her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe denies knowing the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Connor have used her account?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe says no.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmount?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEight thousand total.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Melinda four years earlier.<\/p>\n
My closest friend.<\/p>\n
Connor\u2019s secret lover.<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s partner.<\/p>\n
Pregnant.<\/p>\n
Terrified.<\/p>\n
Maybe she had hired an investigator too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did the payment memo say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales looked at the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cPersonal verification.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cVerification of what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales turned the sheet over.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an old invoice.\u201d<\/p>\n
He handed it to me.<\/p>\n
Client: M. Travis.<\/p>\n
Service: Background and identity confirmation.<\/p>\n
Subject: Daniel Cross.<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
The false name Ethan had used with Melinda.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe hired Thomas to find out who Daniel really was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Thomas discovered Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLikely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Melinda knew Ethan\u2019s identity before she claims she did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least earlier than she told us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of her saying, I swear I didn't know who he was when we met.<\/p>\n
That could still be true.<\/p>\n
But she had learned.<\/p>\n
Perhaps before the pregnancy ended.<\/p>\n
Perhaps before Connor\u2019s secret fertility test.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did Thomas finish the job?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales pointed to the date.<\/p>\n
Three days before Melinda terminated her first pregnancy.<\/p>\n
The timeline struck me hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Thomas tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have his report yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Melinda.<\/p>\n
I looked at Morales.<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cKirsten?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice sounded panicked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remembered something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked around the room.<\/p>\n
Everyone had heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI met him before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice found your payments.\u201d<\/p>\n
She began crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know he was Raymond\u2019s son.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't the important part.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you hire him to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFind Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the pregnancy ended.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was ashamed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat answer is getting old.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sobbed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Thomas tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Daniel Cross didn't exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the man I had been seeing was Ethan Fleming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor\u2019s uncle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI confronted Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe begged me not to tell Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he already knew about us.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor knew before the termination?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That contradicted both Connor and Ethan\u2019s versions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe night before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was terrified and Connor was my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
My friend.<\/p>\n
The words landed strangely.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo before Connor became your lover, you confided in him about Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Connor say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me Ethan was using me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came with me the next morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the termination.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suddenly the beginning looked different.<\/p>\n
Connor had entered the triangle not merely as lover.<\/p>\n
As confidant.<\/p>\n
As protector.<\/p>\n
Maybe as opportunist.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else did Thomas tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Melinda whispered, \u201cThat Ethan wasn't the only Fleming lying to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Connor had already hired Raymond to follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n
That did not fit the timeline Connor gave.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore your first pregnancy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Connor follow you before you were together?\u201d<\/p>\n
Melinda began crying harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she said the sentence that changed the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas said Connor had been watching me for months before I ever slept with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca Fleming looked like Michael. I understood that before anyone introduced us. The same narrow eyes. The same slightly crooked smile I remembered from family photographs displayed in Walter\u2019s old … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30519","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\/30519","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=30519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30609,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30519\/revisions\/30609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}