Chapter 3
I had never seen him before.
But I knew immediately who he was.
He looked younger than me.
Maybe thirty-two.
Tall.
Expensive coat.
Dark hair.
And the confidence of a man who believed he belonged at another man’s front door.
He glanced past me.
“Is Sarah here?”
I stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind me.
“Who are you?”
His expression changed.
“You’re Daniel.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He swallowed.
“I’m Jason.”
I nodded slowly.
“Of course you are.”
He looked toward the upstairs windows.
“I need to speak with Sarah.”
“No.”
“This is between me and her.”
“No, it stopped being between you and her when you texted my wife in my house while my daughter was alone upstairs.”
His face changed.
“What?”
I watched him carefully.
“You didn’t know?”
He stared at me.
“Know what?”
“Sarah left Emma alone last night.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
He shook his head.
“She told me her sister was babysitting.”
I almost smiled.
“She told everyone that.”
Jason rubbed a hand over his face.
For the first time, he didn’t look confident.
He looked sick.
“I didn’t know.”
“I don’t care.”
“I wouldn’t have—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
I moved closer.
“You don’t get to stand on my porch and tell me about your morals.”
“I came because Sarah stopped answering.”
“Good.”
“She sent me a message around one.”
My heart tightened.
“What message?”
Jason hesitated.
“Ask her.”
“No. You came to my house. You can tell me.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he pulled out his phone.
“I think you need to see it.”
I didn’t take the phone.
“Read it.”
His jaw tightened.
“She said, ‘Daniel knows. Everything is ruined. Don’t contact me again. I should have listened to you when you said I needed to tell him before things went any further.’”
I stared at him.
“Further?”
Jason looked uncomfortable.
I stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
“Daniel—”
“What does ‘further’ mean?”
The front door opened behind me.
Sarah stood there wearing yesterday’s clothes.
Her eyes were swollen.
When she saw Jason, all the color left her face.
“What are you doing here?”
Jason looked at her.
“You stopped answering.”
“I told you not to contact me.”
“You also told me your husband knew everything.”
I turned toward Sarah.
“Apparently I don’t.”
She froze.
Jason looked between us.
“I should go.”
“No,” I said.
Sarah whispered, “Yes. Go.”
I looked at him.
“What does further mean?”
Sarah moved between us.
“Daniel, please.”
Jason looked miserable.
“Sarah was planning to leave you.”
Silence.
Sarah closed her eyes.
I felt nothing.
That frightened me more than anger would have.
I looked at her.
“You were planning to leave?”
“No.”
Jason stared at her.
“Sarah.”
She turned on him.
“Shut up.”
“You told me after Emma’s birthday.”
“I was confused.”
“You said you already talked to an attorney.”
I looked at Sarah.
“An attorney?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Daniel, let me explain.”
Jason seemed to realize too late that he had detonated something.
“I’m sorry.”
I pointed toward the street.
“Get off my property.”
He nodded.
Then Sarah said, “Wait.”
I looked at her.
Jason stopped too.
Sarah rushed down the porch steps.
“Jason, you cannot keep doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“Showing up.”
“You begged me not to disappear.”
“That was before.”
“Before your husband caught you?”
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the cold morning air.
Jason stared at her.
I stood there in disbelief.
Then he laughed once.
“That’s unbelievable.”
“Leave.”
“You know what?”
He pointed at Sarah.
“Tell him.”
She went still.
My stomach tightened.
“Tell me what?”
Jason looked at me.
Sarah grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
He pulled free.
“She wasn’t leaving you for me.”
I frowned.
“What?”
He looked at Sarah.
“She was leaving you anyway.”
“Jason.”
“She told me your marriage was already over.”
“That’s enough.”
“She told me she was waiting until she had enough money transferred into an account you couldn’t touch.”
My blood went cold.
Sarah whispered, “You son of a—”
I cut her off.
“What account?”
She looked at me.
“Daniel.”
“What account?”
“There is no secret account.”
Jason laughed bitterly.
“She showed it to me.”
Sarah stared at him with pure hatred.
“You promised.”
Jason shook his head.
“You lied to me too.”
I took a step toward Sarah.
“How much?”
She said nothing.
“How much money did you move?”
“It’s my money too.”
“How much?”
Her voice cracked.
“Eighty thousand.”
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“Eighty thousand dollars?”
“It came from our joint savings.”
“Our savings for what?”
She looked away.
Emma’s college account sat separately.
Our emergency fund was separate.
The joint savings account was mostly for a lake house we had been discussing for years.
I pulled out my phone.
Sarah panicked.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking the account.”
“Daniel, don’t.”
I logged in.
My fingers shook.
The balance was far lower than it should have been.
Not eighty thousand lower.
One hundred and forty thousand lower.
I looked up slowly.
Sarah’s face told me she knew.
“You said eighty.”
She backed away.
“Daniel.”
“One hundred and forty thousand dollars is missing.”
Jason stared at her.
“You told me eighty.”
“Shut up!”
I stepped between them.
“Where is the rest?”
“It’s not gone.”
“Where is it?”
“I moved it.”
“To where?”
“My own account.”
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
I held up the phone.
“There are withdrawals spread across eleven months.”
She blinked.
I kept scrolling.
Transfers.
Cashier’s checks.
Electronic payments.
Amounts ranging from five thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars.
“Who is J. Mercer Holdings?”
Jason went completely still.
I saw it.
So did Sarah.
I turned toward him.
“Is that you?”
He shook his head slowly.
“My last name is Mercer.”
I laughed.
Of course it was.
“Did my wife give you money?”
“No.”
I looked back at the screen.
“Then why did our account send twenty-five thousand dollars to a company with your last name?”
Jason pulled out his phone.
“I’ve never heard of J. Mercer Holdings.”
Sarah grabbed for my arm.
“Stop this.”
I moved away.
“Is it his company?”
“No.”
“Then whose?”
“I don’t know.”
Jason stared at her.
“You told me you invested money.”
She turned pale.
I looked at him.
“Invested where?”
He shook his head.
“She said a friend had an opportunity.”
“Jason.”
Sarah’s voice was a warning.
He ignored her.
“She said she was building enough money to start over.”
I stared at my wife.
“You invested our savings?”
“It was supposed to double.”
“In what?”
She pressed her lips together.
“What?”
She suddenly looked terrified.
Not guilty.
Terrified.
I lowered my voice.
“Sarah. In what?”
She looked at Jason.
Then at me.
Finally she whispered, “It wasn’t an investment.”
I waited.
She began crying.
“It was debt.”
“What debt?”
“I can fix it.”
“What debt?”
She sat on the front step.
“I borrowed money.”
“From who?”
She shook her head.
My heart started pounding harder.
“Sarah.”
“I was trying to put it back before you noticed.”
“How much did you borrow?”
She didn’t answer.
Jason looked stunned.
“You told me you had money.”
“Because I didn’t want you to know!”
“Know what?”
She stood up suddenly.
“That I had a problem!”
The door opened again.
Emma stood inside in her pajamas, holding her stuffed rabbit.
“Mommy?”
Everything stopped.
Sarah wiped her face instantly.
“Oh, baby.”
She moved toward Emma.
I stepped in front of her.
“I’ll get her.”
Sarah’s face twisted.
“She’s my daughter.”
“And we’re not having this conversation in front of her.”
I picked Emma up.
Jason quietly backed toward his car.
I looked at him.
“You and I are not done.”
He nodded.
“I figured.”
Then he left.
Sarah followed me into the house.
I made Emma breakfast.
She sat in her high chair, eating banana slices and watching cartoons while Sarah and I stood in the kitchen pretending our marriage had not exploded.
I poured coffee.
“Tell me about the debt.”
Sarah sat at the table.
“I started playing online.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Poker. Sports betting. Casino games.”
I stared at her.
“You gamble?”
She closed her eyes.
“I did.”
“How long?”
“Almost two years.”
My stomach dropped.
“How did I not know?”
“Because you weren’t here.”
I slammed the coffee cup down.
“No.”
Emma looked over.
I immediately lowered my voice.
“No. We are not doing that anymore.”
Sarah whispered, “I’m not blaming you.”
“You keep saying things that sound exactly like blame.”
She stared at the table.
“I started small.”
“How small?”
“Twenty dollars. Fifty. Then I won four thousand one weekend.”
I already knew where the story went.
“And then?”
“I thought I was good.”
“You thought gambling made you good?”
“I thought I understood it.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know.”
“I really don’t.”
“How much are you in debt?”
She stared at me.
Then whispered, “Maybe ninety.”
“Ninety thousand?”
Her silence answered me.
I sat down.
The room went blurry for a second.
“You took one hundred and forty thousand dollars from our account, and you still owe ninety?”
“I was trying to win it back.”
My stomach turned.
“That’s two hundred and thirty thousand dollars.”
“It didn’t happen all at once.”
“Does that make it better?”
“No.”
“Who do you owe?”
She looked afraid again.
“Some of it is credit cards.”
“Some?”
“Some personal loans.”
“And J. Mercer Holdings?”
She hesitated.
“That’s the part I’m scared about.”
A chill ran through me.
“Who are they?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I found a private lender through someone online.”
I stared at her.
“You borrowed money from strangers online?”
“They had contracts.”
“Sarah.”
“I was desperate!”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“How much do they say you owe now?”
She looked at me.
“One hundred and twelve.”
My mouth went dry.
“That’s impossible.”
“Fees. Interest.”
“That’s criminal.”
“I know.”
Emma began humming with the television.
I lowered my voice even further.
“Have they threatened you?”
Sarah started crying again.
That was enough.
“What did they say?”
“They know where we live.”
I looked toward my daughter.
“What?”
“They sent a picture.”
My body went cold.
“What picture?”
Sarah reached for her phone.
She opened something and slid it across the table.
It was a photograph of our house.
Taken from across the street.
Timestamped three days earlier.
Under it was one message.
PAY FRIDAY OR WE TALK TO YOUR HUSBAND.
I stared at the screen.
“Friday was yesterday.”
Sarah nodded.
“Did you pay?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t have enough.”
My pulse started pounding.
“Did they contact you last night?”
She looked at the phone.
Then she opened another message.
It had arrived at 11:36 p.m.
This one was a picture of Emma.
My daughter.
Outside with Maria at the neighborhood playground.
I stopped breathing.
Under the picture were six words.
BEAUTIFUL GIRL. DON’T MAKE THIS UGLY.
I looked at Sarah.
Her face was white.
“You knew they were watching Emma?”
“I got that while I was with Jason.”
I stared at her.
“Then why didn’t you come home?”
“I did!”
“You arrived after midnight.”
“I panicked.”
“You stayed with him after someone threatened our daughter?”
“I had been drinking. Jason took my keys. I was trying to figure out what to do.”
“You call me.”
“I was afraid!”
I stood so fast the chair fell backward.
Emma jumped.
I forced myself to breathe.
Then I walked over and kissed the top of her head.
“You’re okay, sweetheart.”
She smiled at me.
I picked up my phone.
Sarah stood.
“Who are you calling?”
“The police.”
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
I stopped.
“No?”
“They said not to.”
I stared at her.
“Someone sent you a picture of our daughter as a threat.”
“If we call the police—”
“We are calling the police.”
“They might hurt her.”
“And your solution was what? Pay them forever?”
Sarah began shaking.
I called 911.
Before the operator even answered, the doorbell rang.
Sarah screamed.
I grabbed Emma.
The bell rang again.
Then someone knocked hard.
Three times.
I moved to the front window.
A black envelope sat on the porch.
No person.
No car.
Nothing.
I opened the door only after the dispatcher told me officers were on the way.
Inside the envelope was one photograph.
It was taken through our living room window.
It showed Sarah and me arguing less than twenty minutes earlier.
May you like
On the back, someone had written one sentence in red ink.
YOU SHOULD HAVE PAID BEFORE DANIEL FOUND OUT.
