Chapter 12 - Two Suitcases
Daniel moved toward the galley.
Valery shut the compartment.
“Do not touch that bag,” he said.
“It was loaded under a passenger name not on our manifest,” she replied.
“My name is on the manifest.”
“Daniel Mercer is.”
He stopped.
Valery picked up the intercom handset.
“I’m notifying the captain.”
Daniel reached for it.
I stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
His eyes met mine.
There was no charm left in them now.
“You think you know what’s happening,” he said. “You don’t.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
“Won’t.”
His mouth tightened.
“If I tell you everything here, you’ll make it worse.”
“For who?”
He didn’t answer.
Valery informed the captain that unmanifested luggage had been found.
We were told not to open it.
Daniel sat down again.
For five minutes, nobody spoke.
Then my phone buzzed.
Evan.
I answered with an earbud this time.
“Tell me.”
“We traced Alder Crest.”
“And?”
“It’s registered to a woman named Monica Vale.”
“Who is she?”
“Trying to find out. But Claire—listen—Daniel has been paying her every month for two years.”
I stared across the cabin.
Daniel was looking out the window.
“How much?”
“Ten thousand. Sometimes fifteen.”
My throat tightened.
“An affair?”
“I don’t know.”
Valery sat beside me.
Evan continued.
“There’s more. Monica Vale booked a room at the Fairmont Vancouver tonight. Two guests.”
I looked at Daniel.
His phone lit up on the seat beside him.
For one second, I could read the message preview.
MONICA: ARE YOU STILL BRINGING HER?
Her.
Not coming.
Bringing.
Me.
May you like
I felt a strange wave of calm. The message finally stripped away the last soft explanation I could invent for him. Maybe he loved me. Maybe he had once wanted out. Maybe some part of our marriage had been real. None of that changed the fact that someone in Vancouver was waiting for him to deliver me like an appointment. I saved a screenshot of the message before he could delete it.
Private Jet Story - 20 Chapters
