Chapter 6 - The Photograph
Emma took the photograph to the Newport police.
The officer at the desk studied it and frowned. "Could be a tourist photo."
"It was sent to me by someone who knew my husband was looking for me."
"Is your husband threatening you?"
"No."
"Has he hired anyone to follow you?"
"He says he hasn't."
The officer's eyes softened in the cautious way people looked at pregnant women under stress.
Emma hated it.
"I'm not imagining this."
"I didn't say you were."
"You didn't have to."
Mara squeezed her arm.
They filed a report anyway.
That night, Emma finally listened to Nathan's voice mails.
The first were frantic.
Emma, please call me.
Please tell me you're safe.
I found the medical bill. I'm so sorry.
By the seventh, his tone had changed.
The last message was quiet.
I keep wanting to say I never cheated. But I did. Maybe not the way I used to define it. Still, I gave someone else the time, attention, and honesty I owed you. I'm not asking you to forgive that.
Emma covered her face.
Mara sat beside her on the couch.
"Does hearing him say it help?"
"It makes me angry that he can finally say it when I'm three thousand miles away."
"Both can be true."
The next morning, Eleanor called.
"Nathan fired Olivia."
Emma closed her eyes. "I didn't ask him to."
"He knows."
"Is he looking for me?"
"No. He had security check whether anyone else was."
Emma sat straighter. "Anyone else?"
"Olivia had her communications team monitoring you. Nathan stopped it."
Emma told her about the photograph.
Eleanor's voice sharpened. "Send it to me."
"Why?"
"Because I recognize the reflection in the clinic window."
Emma enlarged the image.
A dark SUV was visible behind the photographer.
"Whose car?"
Eleanor took a breath.
"Olivia's."
Emma's stomach twisted.
Then someone knocked on the apartment door.
Three slow knocks.
Mara was downstairs.
Emma stood very still.
A woman's voice came from the hallway.
May you like
"Emma? We need to talk."
Olivia.
