Chapter 3 - MY HUSBAND CAME HOME SMILING
I did not go to the address immediately.
For the first time all afternoon, fear overpowered curiosity.
Instead, I copied the entire USB onto two encrypted drives.
One went into my safe-deposit box.
The other went to my attorney, Rebecca Sloan.
I told her only:
“If I call you tonight and say ‘cancel dinner,’ open everything.”
Rebecca knew me well enough not to ask why.
At 7:12 p.m., Callum came home.
He was smiling.
That frightened me.
“Hey.”
He kissed my cheek.
The same man whose voice I had heard threatening Elise Vale four years earlier stood in our kitchen loosening his collar like it was any ordinary Thursday.
“You forgot lunch.”
He glanced at the untouched bag on the counter.
“So I did.”
“And your tie.”
I lifted it.
He laughed.
“Bad morning.”
Then he looked at me carefully.
“Paige said you left quickly.”
“I had a headache.”
“Everything okay?”
“Fine.”
Twelve years of marriage taught me Callum’s tells.
He never rubbed his thumb along his wedding ring unless he was nervous.
He was doing it now.
“What happened at the hospital?” I asked.
“Security problem.”
“What kind?”
“Someone accessed a restricted floor.”
“With your badge?”
His thumb stopped.
Only for a second.
Then:
“Apparently an old credential got duplicated.”
“Old?”
“Yes.”
“Paige said it was yours.”
“She probably misunderstood.”
He poured himself water.
No wine.
Callum only avoided alcohol when he needed absolute control.
I watched him.
“Who is Elise Vale?”
The glass stopped halfway to his mouth.
There.
A full second.
Then he recovered.
“Former resident.”
“What happened to her?”
“She wasn’t suited to surgery.”
“That’s all?”
“Claire.”
His tone changed.
Not angry.
Concerned.
The voice he used whenever he wanted me to feel slightly foolish.
“Why are you asking about a resident who left years ago?”
“No reason.”
He studied me.
Then smiled.
“Someone said something to you today.”
Not a question.
I said nothing.
Callum placed his glass down.
“Elise had serious problems.”
“What kind?”
“Professional instability.”
“Drugs?”
He looked surprised.
So he knew I knew something.
“Among other things.”
“Did you see drugs in her locker?”
“No.”
“Were you near it that night?”
His eyes sharpened.
“What exactly did you hear?”
I smiled.
“Nothing.”
For a moment neither of us moved.
Then his phone rang.
He walked into the study to answer it.
I heard only fragments.
“She doesn’t know.”
Pause.
“No.”
Pause.
“The drive was supposed to be destroyed.”
My entire body went cold.
I moved closer to the hallway.
Callum lowered his voice.
Then I heard:
“If Mara contacted Claire, we have a much bigger problem.”
Mara.
The stranger.
I quietly returned to the kitchen before he came out.
Callum smiled at me again.
“Emergency consult.”
“Of course.”
He kissed my forehead.
That gesture used to comfort me.
Now it felt like camouflage.
At 10:30, after Callum fell asleep, I checked the inside pocket of the coat he had worn to work.
His hospital badge was there.
Not missing.
Not duplicated.
The same badge Paige had watched Mara use.
And tucked behind it was a second card.
Issued by Hawthorne Ridge Security.
May you like
Authorized user:
MARA VALE.
