Chapter 9 - The Copy Ethan Could Not Destroy)
Ethan turned toward Michael.
"What does that mean?"
Michael slid a second memory card from the camera.
"My camera writes to two cards."
Ethan stared.
Michael continued.
"Everything is duplicated automatically."
Rachel almost laughed.
For six weeks Ethan had behaved as if every piece of evidence existed only where he could reach it.
A phone he could unlock.
An account he could control.
A document he could remove.
A handbag he could fill.
But Michael's camera had made two copies.
And Ethan had not known.
Hannah closed the dressing room door.
"No one touches anything."
Ethan looked at her.
"You don't own this house."
"No."
Hannah raised her phone.
"But I'm calling someone who knows exactly what to preserve."
Rachel shook her head.
"Wait."
Everyone looked at her.
Rachel's mind was moving quickly.
She remembered the prepaid phone.
The photographs of the folder.
The forged guarantee.
The fundraising statements.
Until that moment, each piece had felt weak alone.
Now Michael's photographs changed their meaning.
"They have more," Rachel said.
Vanessa flinched.
Rachel noticed.
"What else is in that folder?"
Vanessa said nothing.
Ethan stepped closer.
"Rachel, think very carefully."
Hannah moved beside her.
"No. You're done telling her to think carefully."
Ethan ignored Hannah.
"You tell these people everything, and you tell them you approved the fundraiser."
"I already did."
"You benefited from it."
"I'll return whatever can be returned."
"With what money?"
Rachel's stomach tightened.
That was still the problem.
Ethan had spent much of the money.
The fundraiser account might contain only a fraction.
People had been deceived.
Even if Rachel exposed him, the victims did not magically get their money back.
Mrs. Callahan spoke from the doorway.
"How much is left?"
Ethan looked at her.
"That's private."
The older woman laughed bitterly.
"My money isn't private."
Another guest stepped forward.
"I gave eight hundred."
Another.
"Five hundred."
A young couple near the doorway had donated after canceling a weekend trip.
Rachel knew because they had told her.
Shame pressed against her chest.
"I will repay you."
Ethan scoffed.
"How?"
Rachel looked toward him.
"Even if I have to sell this house."
His expression changed.
There.
The house mattered to him.
More than reputation.
More than Rachel.
Maybe more than avoiding criminal exposure.
"The house is jointly owned," he said.
"Then my share goes to restitution."
"You don't get to decide that."
"I just did."
Vanessa suddenly moved toward the vanity.
Michael blocked her.
"What are you doing?"
"My phone."
It lay beside the makeup.
Rachel picked it up first.
Vanessa's panic sharpened.
"Give me that."
Rachel stared at the device.
"What's on it?"
"Nothing."
"Then why do you care?"
Vanessa lunged.
Hannah caught her arm.
"No."
Vanessa pulled away.
"You people are insane."
Rachel placed the phone on the vanity without touching the screen.
"No one opens it."
Ethan laughed.
"Now Rachel wants to preserve evidence? Convenient."
Michael looked at him.
"You're trying too hard."
Ethan's face hardened.
Michael continued.
"People who think they're innocent usually want the evidence examined."
The guests murmured.
Rachel realized Michael was right.
Ethan's instincts were betraying him.
He could not stop controlling the room.
Every attempt made him look guiltier.
Rachel took out her prepaid phone.
Ethan stared.
"What is that?"
Rachel opened the photographs.
The folder.
The forged documents.
The signature samples.
The fake statements.
The planted evidence list.
She handed the phone to Hannah.
Ethan's face became unreadable.
Vanessa whispered, "You photographed it?"
Rachel looked at her.
"Thirty seven pages."
Vanessa turned toward Ethan.
"You told me she never got into the box."
Rachel's eyes widened.
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
"Shut up."
Too late.
The room heard.
Hannah almost smiled.
Rachel's heart pounded.
Vanessa had just confirmed the box existed.
Ethan moved toward his sister.
"Stop talking."
Vanessa's fear shifted into anger.
"Don't blame me."
"I said stop."
"You said the documents were secure."
Rachel watched the alliance fracture.
Michael quietly took another photograph.
Then another.
Evidence of their reaction.
Ethan heard the shutter.
He spun around.
"Put that camera down."
Michael kept photographing.
Ethan stepped toward him.
Rachel spoke.
"If you touch him, thirty people watch you do it."
Ethan stopped.
Rachel's voice grew steadier.
"You can't edit this room anymore."
For the first time that day, Ethan looked around.
Really looked.
Neighbors.
Friends.
Relatives.
Phones.
Witnesses.
A photographer.
Rachel.
The invisible walls he had built around his wife no longer existed.
Hannah called an attorney she knew who specialized in financial misconduct.
The attorney gave one instruction.
Do not alter, move or delete anything.
Then Hannah made another call.
Rachel did not listen.
She was looking at Ethan.
He looked strangely calm again.
Too calm.
He slipped one hand into his pocket.
Rachel's stomach tightened.
"What are you doing?"
Ethan smiled.
"Nothing."
He removed his phone.
Then pressed the screen.
Across the room, Rachel heard a faint electronic chime from the office.
Her blood went cold.
May you like
Ethan had triggered something remotely.
Rachel ran.
