Chapter 14 - The Double at the River
My name had become a costume everyone else wore.
The buyer's reservation read Emma Mercer. The payment account was another fake. The contact number traced to a disposable phone. Whoever was arranging the meeting wanted investigators to believe I'd sold the records.
Evelyn filed formal notices of identity fraud. Chen assured me they were following evidence, not accepting labels at face value.
I still felt hunted every time someone said my name.
Meanwhile, my doctor warned that my blood pressure was creeping upward. I needed rest, regular monitoring, and an emergency plan if labor began early. I looked at her and almost laughed. Rest was apparently the one thing money and power couldn't purchase.
June made soup. We watched a ridiculous holiday baking show. For forty minutes, I almost remembered what normal felt like.
Then the local news announced a police operation at the riverfront. Someone had tipped off reporters, and footage showed flashing lights near the old pier. The planned arrest had been compromised. Nathan escaped through a service passage, though officers recovered a case containing fake identification cards and financial records.
Raymond was detained for questioning, then released pending further developments. The sight of him walking through a wall of cameras with his lawyer beside him made me furious.
“He's smiling,” I said.
“He knows the cameras,” June answered.
That night, Celeste's cooperation changed. Through her attorney, she provided a location Nathan had used for meetings, and investigators found a storage locker rented under one of his aliases. Among the contents was a second photograph of Mom's courthouse meeting with Adrian. This one showed Raymond nearby, speaking into a phone.
On the back was a handwritten date that contradicted Adrian's story about when he first learned Raymond was involved.
I confronted Adrian on another call.
“You knew from the beginning,” I said.
“Yes,” he answered. “I knew Raymond ran the scheme. I thought I could get him to stop without destroying your family.”
“He destroyed it while you helped him hide.”
Adrian nodded through tears. “I know.”
May you like
Just then a sudden cramp gripped my lower back and wrapped around my stomach. I stood, felt a warm trickle down my leg, and looked at June.
“My water just broke.”
