Chapter 9 - I TOLD LAUREN I WANTED HER BACK
The kidnapping changed everything.
Thomas wanted the original drive.
Federal agents had copies.
But he believed the original contained something unique.
Maybe an encryption key.
Maybe another file.
We didn't know.
He called again.
“Bring Lauren.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She knows where the second copy is.”
Lauren never mentioned a second copy.
Police questioned her.
She broke.
There was one.
My father had hidden two drives.
Thomas knew Lauren helped search Mom’s house.
He assumed she found it.
She had.
She hid it.
Why?
Insurance.
Of course.
Everyone in this nightmare collected leverage.
Lauren said the second drive was inside our house.
Behind the master-bathroom mirror.
Federal agents recovered it.
Thomas wanted Lauren plus the drive.
We needed Mom alive.
So police built a sting.
Lauren would cooperate.
But Thomas knew her.
He might sense fear.
I suggested something everyone hated.
I would pretend Lauren and I had reconciled.
If Thomas believed I still trusted her, he might believe she had manipulated me successfully.
Lauren and I met in a monitored room.
She looked at me.
“You want me to act like your wife.”
“No.”
I stared.
“I want you to act like the woman Thomas thinks you are.”
“What woman?”
“The one who got away with it.”
That hurt her.
Good.
She needed to understand.
We recorded a staged phone call.
I told Lauren I believed Thomas forced her.
I told her I still loved her.
Those words tasted poisonous.
She cried.
Some tears were real.
I felt nothing.
Maybe sadness for who I thought she was.
Nothing more.
Thomas intercepted enough communication to believe the story.
Then he called.
“Tomorrow.”
Location: abandoned marina warehouse forty miles east.
Lauren.
Me.
Drive.
No police.
Of course police would be there.
We prepared.
Then Lauren said something privately.
“Andrew.”
“What?”
“If he sees Rose alive, he'll kill her before negotiating.”
I stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because that's what he told Colin.”
So we needed control before entering.
Agents planned angles.
Drones.
Snipers.
Boats.
Technology.
Still, my mind kept returning to one thing.
Mom.
Terrified.
Unable to run.
Again.
I realized the lake had changed me too.
Every time I saw a wheelchair near water, my chest tightened.
Trauma spreads.
Lauren watched me.
“I’m sorry.”
I laughed once.
“Don't.”
“I am.”
“You're sorry because consequences arrived.”
“No.”
“How would I ever know?”
She had no answer.
Then she whispered:
“Graham really did attack me.”
I didn't respond.
“If I had told police the truth then, maybe none of this—”
“Maybe.”
I looked at her.
“But you learned that pushing someone near water could look accidental.”
Her face went white.
She understood.
Whatever happened with Graham, she carried the method forward.
That was enough for me.
Tomorrow was not about our marriage.
It was about Mom.
At 5:30 a.m., we drove toward the marina.
Lauren sat beside me.
Wire beneath her shirt.
I wore one too.
She said:
“Do you hate me?”
“Yes.”
Honest.
She nodded.
“Do you think you'll ever forgive me?”
“I don't know.”
Another honest answer.
“Will you tell Rose I’m sorry?”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because if you’re sorry, you tell her yourself and accept whatever she gives you back.”
Lauren cried quietly.
I looked out the window.
No comfort.
Some consequences belong to the person carrying them.
Ahead, the lake appeared through trees.
Same blue water.
Different dock.
My hands began shaking.
Then Sloan’s voice came through the hidden earpiece.
“Andrew, breathe.”
I did.
May you like
We were going back toward the water.
This time, prepared.
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