Chapter 7 - LUCAS CAME HOME EARLY
Lucas returned to Denver nine days after leaving.
Not two years.
Nine days.
I knew before he knew I knew.
Federal agents tracked his entry.
My attorneys told me to stay elsewhere.
I refused at first.
Then Rebecca asked:
"What exactly are you trying to prove by sleeping in that house?"
That ended the argument.
I stayed with Claire.
Cameras remained active.
At 8:43 p.m., Lucas entered our home.
He did not call me first.
That mattered.
A husband returning unexpectedly from a two-year overseas assignment should probably tell his wife.
Lucas went directly to the study.
He opened drawers.
Checked the desk.
Turned on my computer.
Tried my password.
Failed.
Then he went to the bedroom.
Opened the safe.
Empty.
I had removed my personal documents legally under counsel's advice.
He stood motionless for nearly a minute.
Then called me.
I answered.
"Lucas?"
"Where are you?"
His voice was wrong.
"I'm at Claire's."
"Why?"
"She had a breakup."
Claire silently mouthed:
RUDE.
I almost smiled.
"When are you coming home?"
"Tomorrow."
"I'm home."
I pretended shock.
"What?"
"Surprise."
"You're in Denver?"
"Meeting got moved."
"But Zurich—"
"I'll explain."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted to surprise you."
Of course.
"Okay."
"Come home."
It wasn't a request.
"I've had wine."
"Take a car."
"I'm tired."
Silence.
Then:
"Anne, come home."
I looked at Agent Brooks, who was listening through an authorized arrangement with my counsel present.
"I'll come tomorrow morning."
Lucas exhaled.
"Fine."
The call ended.
At 9:11, he called someone else.
We couldn't hear.
At 9:28, he left.
He drove to a hotel.
At 10:03, Melanie called me.
"He's coming here."
"What?"
"Lucas. He texted me. He says he's flying to Palm Springs tonight."
"Do not meet him alone."
"I'm at my father's house."
That was somehow not comforting.
"Does Richard know?"
"Yes."
Then she whispered:
"Anne, Lucas asked if I talked to you."
My stomach dropped.
"What did you say?"
"No."
"Did he believe you?"
"I don't know."
The next morning, Lucas texted me.
EMERGENCY MEETING. HAD TO FLY BACK OUT. SORRY I MISSED YOU.
He still wanted the lie alive.
Why?
Because he still needed my signature.
The investigators decided pressure could expose movement.
The bank sent Lucas a notice requiring in-person identity verification for certain authority changes.
He reacted immediately.
He called me six times.
I answered the seventh.
"What is going on?"
"I don't know."
"Did you report fraud?"
"I told you my credit alert—"
"Stop."
There it was.
No tenderness.
"Anne, listen carefully. You need to call the bank and tell them everything is legitimate."
My heart pounded.
"Is it?"
Silence.
"What does that mean?"
"Why are there accounts in my name I don't recognize?"
Too far.
Rebecca's eyes widened.
I had deviated.
Lucas went completely silent.
Then:
"What accounts?"
"I got a notice."
"From where?"
"I don't remember."
"Forward it."
"I deleted it."
"Anne."
"What?"
"Where are you?"
My blood chilled.
"Home."
Lie.
He knew.
I heard it.
Then he laughed softly.
"No, you're not."
The line went dead.
Agent Brooks stood.
"We're moving you."
Everything accelerated.
Claire packed.
I barely had time to think.
Melanie called.
No answer when I called back.
Then Richard.
"Lucas knows."
"Where is Melanie?"
"She left."
"What?"
"He called her. She left twenty minutes ago."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
I felt sick.
"Track her phone."
"Off."
Agent Brooks was already coordinating.
Forty-three minutes later, Melanie's car was located at a private airfield outside Palm Springs.
No Melanie.
No Lucas.
A charter jet had departed thirty minutes earlier.
Destination filed as Cabo San Lucas.
But flight plans could change.
Richard looked destroyed.
"He's taking her."
Agent Brooks corrected him.
"We don't know that."
Melanie was an adult.
Maybe she went willingly.
Then my phone received a message from her.
One sentence.
ANNE, I'M SORRY.
Attached was a photograph of the second phone.
Then:
I TOLD HIM EVERYTHING.
My stomach dropped.
Another message.
HE SAID YOU'RE TRYING TO DESTROY US.
Then:
I DON'T KNOW WHO TO BELIEVE.
I called.
No answer.
Lucas texted next.
Finally.
No love.
No Zurich.
No pretending.
YOU SHOULD HAVE SIGNED THE PAPERWORK.
I stared.
Then another.
YOUR FATHER SHOULD HAVE MINDED HIS OWN BUSINESS TOO.
My hands began shaking.
Agent Brooks took a photograph of the screen.
"Don't respond."
I didn't.
Lucas continued.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT CHARLES DID.
Then:
ASK DAVID WHO REALLY STOLE THE PATENTS.
Interesting.
He was trying to fracture us.
Maybe truth.
Maybe manipulation.
Then:
YOU THINK MELANIE IS THE MISTRESS? ASK HER WHOSE IDEA PALM SPRINGS WAS.
I looked at Richard.
He looked sick.
My phone rang.
Melanie.
I answered.
"Where are you?"
Her voice was trembling.
"On a plane."
"With Lucas?"
"Yes."
"Are you safe?"
Pause.
"Yes."
Lucas's voice sounded faintly in the background.
"Give me the phone."
"Melanie, listen to me."
Lucas came closer.
"Anne."
His voice.
No mask now.
"Hello, sweetheart."
I felt nothing.
That surprised me.
"What do you want?"
"You."
I laughed.
"No."
"I want you to stop listening to people who hated me before they knew me."
"My father knew you."
"Your father used you."
"So did you."
Silence.
Then:
"Sign the authorization."
"No."
"You don't understand what happens if you don't."
"Explain."
"People lose everything."
"I already lost you."
He laughed.
"That's what you think this is about?"
Then his voice hardened.
"Those patents belong to Helix."
"They belong to me."
"They belong to whoever survives the paperwork."
That sentence would matter later.
At the time, I simply heard arrogance.
Agent Brooks wrote:
KEEP HIM TALKING.
I did.
"Did you marry me for them?"
Pause.
"At first?"
My heart stopped.
Lucas exhaled.
"Yes."
There it was.
Eight years reduced to one word.
"At first," I repeated.
"I wasn't supposed to love you."
Tears filled my eyes despite everything.
"Don't."
"It's true."
"Don't you dare make this romantic."
"I'm not."
"You slept with another woman."
"Because our marriage was over."
"News to me."
"Anne—"
"You forged my signature."
"Because you never cared about the company."
"You stole my identity."
"I protected what Charles was going to waste."
"You planned to blame me."
Silence.
Then Lucas made his mistake.
"You would've been fine."
Agent Brooks stopped writing.
I whispered:
"Fine?"
"A settlement. A quiet divorce. Enough money to live however you wanted."
"And the criminal accounts in my name?"
Long silence.
Lucas realized.
"Who told you?"
I said nothing.
"Anne."
The line disconnected.
Agent Brooks looked at me.
"That was useful."
I felt sick.
Useful.
My marriage had become evidence.
Twenty minutes later, aviation authorities confirmed the charter changed destination after departure.
Not Mexico.
Costa Rica.
Lucas was running.
With Melanie.
And possibly with access to millions stolen through companies carrying my name.
But before the day ended, Melanie sent one more message.
A location pin.
May you like
Then four words.
I BELIEVE YOU NOW.
