Chapter 10 - The Price of a Wife
Five million dollars.
That was the value Grant placed on removing me from his life.
Not because he hated me.
Hatred would have been easier to understand.
He did it because of arithmetic.
Five million from my life insurance.
Control of our shared assets.
Continued access to a criminal logistics network worth tens of millions.
And Vanessa.
Grant had calculated that my death would solve several problems at once.
People imagine evil arrives shouting.
Sometimes it arrives carrying a spreadsheet.
Colin Reese provided enough evidence to obtain additional warrants.
Emails.
Encrypted messages.
Payment instructions.
A recorded conversation he kept because he feared Grant would eventually blame him.
In the recording, Grant’s voice was unmistakable.
“If she comes back alive, everything gets complicated.”
Victor answered.
“Then pray she stays curious.”
Grant laughed.
That laugh ended something inside me.
Not love.
Love was already gone.
Grief.
Until then, some part of me had been grieving the man I thought existed.
After hearing that laugh, I understood there was nobody left to grieve.
The man I loved had either disappeared long ago or had never existed at all.
The task force expanded nationwide.
Banking investigators froze accounts.
Customs teams monitored crossings.
Canadian authorities were notified through formal channels.
Grant, Vanessa, and Victor became subjects of a coordinated manhunt.
Then Grant called me.
Directly.
At 2:16 in the morning.
The phone on the bedside table vibrated.
Unknown encrypted number.
I answered only because Marcus had configured monitoring.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then:
“Evelyn.”
My husband’s voice.
I sat up.
Across the room, Lily slept.
“Grant.”
“You’ve made quite a mess.”
I almost admired the arrogance.
“You tried to have me killed.”
“That’s what they’re telling you?”
“It’s what you said.”
Silence.
“You’ve always believed recordings tell the whole story.”
“No.”
I looked at Lily.
“Cameras helped.”
His breathing changed.
“You watched those?”
“Yes.”
“Vanessa got out of control.”
“You closed the door.”
“What?”
“When Lily begged you to let her out.”
He said nothing.
“I watched you close the door.”
“Evelyn—”
“You watched her suffer because keeping Vanessa happy mattered more than your daughter.”
“You don’t understand what Vanessa is like.”
“Then why are you with her?”
Silence.
Good question.
“Where is Lily?”
My entire body went cold.
“Don’t ever ask me that again.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“You lost the right to use that sentence.”
“You can’t erase me.”
“You did that yourself.”
His voice hardened.
“You think the government will save you?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Evidence.”
He laughed once.
I continued.
“Your accounts are frozen.”
Silence.
“Colin Reese is cooperating.”
Silence.
“Your safe was found.”
His breathing changed.
There.
Fear.
“You’re lying.”
“The black one beneath the stairs.”
Grant swore.
I almost smiled.
For years he had won arguments by making me doubt what I knew.
That trick no longer worked.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I want you to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Helping them.”
“You mean doing my job?”
“You’re recused.”
That answer interested me.
Very few people knew my formal status.
“You have another source.”
He realized his mistake.
Too late.
“Who told you I was recused?”
Silence.
“Grant?”
The line went dead.
I called Marcus immediately.
They traced the call.
Montana.
Near Great Falls.
Not enough to locate him.
Enough to narrow the search.
More importantly, Grant’s comment proved the leak network had not ended with Colin.
Someone else was feeding him current information.
Marcus ordered a compartmented communication review.
Only six people had been told I was formally recused from the operational case.
Marcus.
His supervisor.
Two prosecutors.
A task-force analyst.
And an assistant U.S. attorney named Daniel Price.
By morning, Price had disappeared.
His phone was found in an airport parking garage.
His car was gone.
His wife said he left at midnight claiming there was an emergency hearing.
There wasn’t.
We had a second leak.
And Grant had a federal prosecutor.
That changed the danger level dramatically.
Price knew warrant strategies.
Cooperating witnesses.
Asset seizures.
Potential safe locations.
Maybe even how authorities intended to intercept Grant.
Marcus moved Lily again.
This time to a protected federal residence outside the city.
No phones except secured devices.
No visitors.
No predictable schedules.
On Lily’s sixth birthday, there were no classmates.
No giant party.
No banner.
Just me.
Dr. Reynolds.
Marcus.
Rosa.
And a pink cake.
Lily wore the yellow dress she had begged for.
It still fit.
Barely.
I placed six candles on the cake.
“What do you want to wish for?” Rosa asked.
Lily looked at me.
“You don’t say wishes.”
Rosa smiled.
“That’s true.”
Lily closed her eyes.
Blew out the candles.
Everyone clapped softly.
Then Lily climbed into my lap.
She leaned against my ear.
“I wished Daddy would stop finding us.”
My heart broke.
I kissed her forehead.
“He will.”
I didn’t know if I was making a promise.
Or a prediction.
Then Marcus’s secure phone rang.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Walked away.
Then turned toward me.
“We found Price.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Grant?”
“No.”
“Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Victor?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Price says Victor is planning to leave tonight.”
“Where?”
“Canada.”
“And Grant?”
“He says Grant isn’t going with him.”
“Why?”
Marcus looked toward Lily.
May you like
Then back at me.
“Because Grant says he can’t leave without his daughter.”
