Chapter 6 - The Poisoned Pen
My hands shook violently as I held the life insurance policy under the red emergency lights.
The policy was worth fifty million dollars, payable entirely to Arthur and Victoria upon my accidental death.
Garrett’s signature sat at the bottom of the page, perfectly matching the letter he had sent me.
A sickening realization washed over me.
Garrett hadn't married me to protect me from his children.
He had married me so his children could use my death to quietly replace the millions they had lost to the cartel.
The letter the lawyer delivered was just a carefully orchestrated prop.
It was designed to make me run, to make me look like a crazy fugitive fleeing the police.
They wanted me to resist arrest so the corrupt deputies could justify shooting me on the highway.
I was never supposed to make it to this bank.
I shoved the documents back into the leather folder and hurried out the back door of the bank.
I had to rethink everything I knew about my high school sweetheart.
He hadn't been an innocent victim poisoned by his greedy children.
He was the mastermind of the entire fraudulent operation, and his death was likely a complete sham to avoid federal prison.
I walked to a nearby diner, slipped into a corner booth, and ordered a black coffee.
I needed to review the rest of the documents hidden inside the folder.
Beneath the insurance policy was a thick ledger filled with offshore account numbers.
There was also a small, black USB drive taped to a piece of cardboard.
I didn't have a computer to access the drive, but I noticed a handwritten address on the cardboard.
It was the address of the old high school where Garrett and I had first kissed fifty-three years ago.
It wasn't a sentimental gesture.
It was the location of the cartel’s physical drop site.
Suddenly, the diner’s front door chimed open.
I looked up from my coffee and my heart completely stopped.
Walking into the diner, wearing a perfectly pressed suit and holding a briefcase, was Mr. Vance.
The lawyer who had supposedly sold me out to Arthur on the highway was walking directly toward my table.
He slid into the booth across from me and calmly ordered a slice of pie.
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“You stole a police car, Eleanor,” he said quietly.
“I am very impressed, but you really shouldn't have run from me.”
