Chapter 3 - The Woman at the Cafe)
Jenna Walsh arrived at the gas station twenty minutes later.
She took one look at Claire's face and stopped asking casual questions.
They left Claire's car with the mechanic and drove to a quiet diner across town.
Claire told Jenna everything.
The appointments.
The bank transfer.
The missing keys.
The insurance papers.
The question about mental capacity.
The tire.
Jenna listened without interrupting.
When Claire finished, Jenna leaned back.
"You need to leave."
Claire looked down at her hands.
"I know."
"No, Claire. I mean today."
"I can't just disappear."
"Why not?"
"My things are there. My medical records. The nursery."
Jenna stared at her.
"The nursery is furniture."
Claire flinched.
Jenna softened.
"Your baby needs you. Not a painted room."
Claire knew she was right.
But leaving a marriage was not a single action.
It was a thousand consequences arriving at once.
"What if I'm overreacting?"
Jenna's expression became almost angry.
"Someone may have sabotaged your tire."
"We don't know that."
"Your husband asked whether pregnancy made you legally incompetent."
Claire said nothing.
Jenna reached across the table.
"You don't need permission to be scared."
A waitress brought their drinks.
While Jenna stirred her coffee, Claire noticed a woman two booths away.
Dark hair.
Navy coat.
She seemed familiar.
Claire searched her memory.
Then she remembered.
Two weeks earlier, Margaret had introduced the woman briefly at the house.
Evelyn Price.
Insurance consultant.
Claire's stomach tightened.
The woman looked up.
Their eyes met.
Evelyn immediately looked away.
Jenna noticed.
"You know her?"
"Maybe."
Claire stood.
The woman rose at the same time.
"Mrs. Bennett."
Jenna turned.
Claire said, "You're Evelyn."
The woman hesitated.
"Yes."
"What are you doing here?"
"I was meeting someone."
"Who?"
Evelyn glanced at Jenna.
Claire stepped closer.
"Did Margaret send you?"
"No."
"Derek?"
"No."
"Then why are you following me?"
The woman's face changed.
Not guilt.
Concern.
"I'm not following you."
Claire laughed bitterly.
"You're at a diner forty minutes from my house after I told no one where I was going."
Evelyn lowered her voice.
"You shouldn't go home tonight."
Jenna immediately stood.
"Who are you?"
Evelyn looked toward the windows.
Then back to Claire.
"Someone who knows what the Bennetts do when they realize they're losing control."
Claire's heart began pounding.
"What does that mean?"
Evelyn reached into her handbag.
Jenna moved closer.
"Slowly."
Evelyn removed a business card.
She placed it on the table.
There was no company name.
Only a phone number.
"Call me from a phone Derek can't access."
Claire stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because he knows more about your finances, your medical information, and your routine than you think."
"How?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with something Claire did not understand.
Memory.
Fear.
Maybe guilt.
"Because this isn't the first time."
Claire's throat tightened.
"The first time what?"
Evelyn stepped back.
"I can't tell you here."
"You approached me."
"I made a mistake."
"No. You don't get to say something like that and leave."
Claire caught her wrist.
Evelyn froze.
For one second, Claire expected anger.
Instead Evelyn whispered, "He told you his first wife died, didn't he?"
Claire released her.
The room tilted.
Derek had mentioned a serious relationship in his twenties.
Not a wife.
He had said a woman named Eve had died after a car accident.
Claire stared at Evelyn.
"Eve."
The woman went completely still.
Jenna looked between them.
Claire whispered, "He called her Eve."
Evelyn's face drained.
"What exactly did he tell you?"
"That someone he loved died before he met me."
Evelyn swallowed.
Then she said, "Claire, go with your friend."
"Who are you?"
"Not here."
"Who are you?"
Evelyn's eyes briefly shone with tears.
Then the hardness returned.
"Go somewhere he doesn't know."
She walked away.
Claire started after her.
Jenna caught her arm.
"Don't."
"But she knows something."
"Exactly."
They watched Evelyn leave.
Claire picked up the business card.
Jenna said, "You're staying with me."
Claire nodded.
For the first time, leaving felt possible.
Then Claire's phone buzzed.
A message from Derek.
Hope you enjoyed the diner.
Claire's skin went cold.
Below the sentence was a photograph.
Claire and Jenna sitting at the table.
Taken through the window less than ten minutes earlier.
Jenna stared at the screen.
"Claire."
Another message arrived.
Come home.
Claire looked toward the diner door through which Evelyn had disappeared.
May you like
Then a third message appeared.
And don't talk to that woman again.
