Chapter 11 - THE WIFE WHO HELPED HIM HUNT ME
Connor Walsh had been married for four years.
Not to me.
To Jessica Walsh.
The woman who'd been sending him messages.
The woman Margaret identified as a former accountant.
The woman everyone believed was his mother.
I stared at the marriage record Camila had forwarded to my attorney.
The dates were real.
At least, the filing appeared to be.
The names matched.
Connor Michael Walsh.
Jessica Elaine Walsh.
Married in Nevada.
Four years earlier.
My hands trembled.
"Then why did Margaret say she was his mother?"
Lucia studied the document.
"Because Jessica Walsh may not be the same person as the older accountant."
I looked up.
"What?"
"There are two women using the same name."
My stomach tightened.
Two Jessicas.
Two identities.
Another layer of deception.
The investigator reviewed the records.
The older Jessica Elaine Walsh had previously worked with Carlo Versani.
She was Connor's mother.
But four years earlier, a younger woman named Jessica Palmer married Connor and began using the surname Walsh.
Both were commonly called Jess.
I sat back.
"So the messages were from his wife."
Lucia nodded.
"And his mother was involved in the financial scheme."
I stared toward the window.
I'd spent two years believing Connor and I were building a future.
He already had a wife.
And his mother had apparently helped him target me.
The humiliation was almost unbearable.
But anger soon replaced it.
"Why would his wife agree to this?"
The investigator opened a financial report.
"She received payments from companies associated with Versani."
My stomach tightened.
"She knew?"
"That's one of the questions being investigated."
Then another document appeared.
A proposed beneficiary transfer.
My trust assets.
Connor listed as the controlling representative.
Jessica listed as a secondary beneficiary.
I stared.
"They planned to divide it."
Lucia looked grim.
"That's what the documents suggest."
The following day, investigators located Connor's wife.
She agreed to speak through an attorney.
Her statement changed everything.
She admitted knowing Connor had started a relationship with me.
She claimed she'd been told it was part of a plan to recover money owed to his family.
When she discovered the false death certificate and suspected vehicle tampering, she became frightened.
"I didn't know they were going to hurt her," she told investigators.
She also provided text messages showing Connor discussing the night of my crash with Carlo Versani.
One message was dated three hours before I left the apartment.
Make sure she takes Highway 3.
My stomach turned.
Another read:
The road will finish what you started.
I covered my mouth.
Connor hadn't simply hoped I'd leave.
He'd directed me toward the road where someone expected me to die.
Then Lucia's phone rang.
She listened.
Her expression changed.
"Adrien?"
He turned.
"What?"
"Police found Connor."
I stopped breathing.
"Where?"
"At a private airstrip outside Billings."
Adrien's jaw tightened.
"Was he arrested?"
Lucia nodded.
"Yes."
Relief washed through me.
Then she hesitated.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"They recovered a laptop from his luggage."
My pulse quickened.
"What's on it?"
May you like
Lucia looked directly at me.
"A video of your father's final conversation with Carlo Versani."
