Chapter 8 - The Bait
The text from Ethan contained only two words: "I'm coming."
I drove the Subaru to the Edmonds ferry terminal, arriving just as the thick morning fog began to roll in off the water.
The dock was completely deserted, the cold wind whipping across the empty pavement exactly as it had on New Year’s Eve.
I parked the car out of sight and stood near the edge of the freezing water, the black leather ledger in my hands.
Ten minutes later, the familiar gray BMW slowly rolled into the empty parking lot.
Ethan stepped out of the car, looking wildly different from the grieving husband on television.
His face was twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage, and his right hand was buried deep in his coat pocket.
He walked toward me, his expensive leather shoes clicking menacingly against the wet pavement.
He demanded I hand over the ledger immediately, promising he would let me walk away quietly.
I laughed in his face, holding the heavy book tightly against my chest.
I told him the toxicology report was already locked in a secure medical file, proving he had poisoned me.
Ethan’s arrogant expression finally cracked, completely replaced by desperate panic.
He pulled a small, silver revolver from his coat pocket and aimed it directly at my chest.
He admitted he never actually loved me, and that my inherited wealth was the only reason he had proposed.
He arrogantly explained how easy it would be to shoot me now and throw my body into the freezing Puget Sound.
He cocked the hammer of the gun, stepping entirely into my personal space.
He whispered that no one would ever miss a pathetic, work-obsessed woman like me.
I smiled calmly, looking over his shoulder toward the thick bank of fog behind him.
May you like
"I think you underestimate how many people actually care about me, Ethan."
The loud, unmistakable sound of a pump-action shotgun racking a shell echoed sharply through the morning mist.
