Chapter 8 - Before Midnight
I turned toward the window so Daniel couldn’t read my expression.
“When tonight?” I asked.
“Eleven fifty-eight Eastern.”
“Where does it go?”
“Three shell companies. One in Nevada, one in British Columbia, one in Belize.”
I closed my eyes.
Vancouver.
Of course.
“Evan, can you stop it?”
“We already blocked the family-office side, but the documents have your signature. Dad wants to know if you authorized anything.”
“No.”
I heard him swear under his breath.
“Where are you landing?”
“Santa Rosa.”
Daniel began walking toward me.
“Claire?”
I turned away.
Evan understood.
“I’m calling our attorney. Don’t confront him alone.”
Too late for that.
I ended the call.
Daniel smiled.
“Everything okay?”
“No.”
“Who was that?”
“My brother.”
The smile disappeared.
“What did Evan want?”
I held his gaze.
“To wish us a happy anniversary.”
It was the first lie I had told my husband in months.
He knew.
I could tell he knew.
But he couldn’t prove it.
For once, the uncertainty belonged to him.
Valery brought coffee no one had ordered.
As she placed the cup beside me, she whispered, “He’s messaging someone.”
Daniel’s phone was low against his thigh.
I couldn’t see the screen.
Valery continued walking.
A minute later, Daniel stood.
“I need to speak with the captain.”
Valery blocked the galley entrance.
“The cockpit is sterile during this phase.”
“I chartered this aircraft.”
“And you still follow aviation rules.”
He smiled coldly.
Then he sat again.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Evan.
WE FOUND SOMETHING ELSE. CALL WHEN SAFE.
Under it came a photograph.
A scanned marriage license from Clark County, Nevada.
Groom: Adam Michael Blake.
Bride: Valery Anne Cole.
Date: twelve years ago.
There was no divorce record attached.
May you like
My first instinct was absurdly ordinary. I thought of our wedding cake. The place cards. My father crying before he walked me down the aisle. Two hundred people had watched Daniel promise that there was nothing in his past he would hide from me. If this license was still legally relevant, then even that promise had been spoken from inside another lie.
Private Jet Story - 20 Chapters
