Chapter 6 - Paige’s Other Betrayal
Agent Ortiz treated the photograph as a threat.
I treated it as confirmation.
Richard knew I was moving.
Maybe not how much I knew.
But enough.
Ortiz arranged for additional surveillance around my business and home.
I told my staff it was related to “a commercial dispute.”
That was not technically false.
Two days later, Paige asked me to lunch.
I almost refused.
Then Ortiz said, “Go.”
Melissa said, “Don’t.”
I went.
We met at a restaurant we had loved since college.
Same booth.
Same terrible framed art.
Same waiter, somehow.
Paige ordered iced tea.
I watched her remove the paper wrapper from her straw.
Tiny ritual.
She always twisted it into a ring.
She did it now.
“How are you?”
“Busy.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I keep being busy.”
She smiled.
Then looked down.
“You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”
The question was so extraordinary I needed a moment.
“Would you?”
Her eyes lifted.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Maya.”
“Wedding stress.”
She relaxed slightly.
“I know Ethan can be intense.”
“Can he?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
Paige leaned closer.
“His father controls everything.”
“You don’t like Richard?”
“No.”
Interesting.
“He seems to like you.”
She laughed too fast.
“Richard likes anybody useful.”
“Are you useful to him?”
Her fingers stopped twisting the wrapper.
“What kind of question is that?”
“A strange one.”
“Yes.”
“Forget it.”
She studied me.
“Maya, are you investigating Ethan?”
My breathing stayed slow.
“Why would I investigate my fiancé?”
“I don’t know.”
“You brought it up.”
She looked toward the window.
Then said quietly, “Sometimes Ethan talks too much.”
“About?”
“Business.”
I waited.
She seemed close to saying something.
Then retreated.
“You should make sure Melissa reviews everything before the wedding.”
That almost made me laugh.
“Funny.”
“What?”
“You’ve spent months telling me lawyers kill romance.”
“I was joking.”
“Were you?”
Paige stared at me.
For a second, the mask slipped.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not guilt.
“What did you find?” she whispered.
I leaned back.
“Why do you think I found anything?”
She closed her eyes.
Then said the sentence I had not expected.
“Because your grandmother was smarter than Richard.”
Everything inside me went still.
“You knew her.”
Paige looked at me.
“I met her twice.”
“You witnessed a deed involving my mother.”
Her face drained.
“Oh, God.”
“So you know.”
“No. I know about the document. I didn’t witness it.”
“Your signature is there.”
“I was twenty-five. Richard gave me papers to sign.”
“Why?”
She laughed bitterly.
“Because my father owed him money.”
“Samuel?”
“Dad did more than owe him money.”
I said nothing.
Paige looked exhausted suddenly.
Older.
“My father helped Richard move money out of Harbor Meridian. Later, he tried to expose him. Richard threatened to ruin him.”
“He left a statement.”
Paige’s eyes snapped to mine.
“You found it?”
I should not have said that.
Too late.
“What else did you find?” she asked.
“Enough.”
“The box?”
I stood.
She grabbed my wrist.
Not hard.
“Maya, listen to me.”
“Let go.”
She did.
“I have been trying to build evidence against Richard for three years.”
“By sleeping with Ethan?”
Pain crossed her face.
“That wasn’t part of it.”
“So convenient.”
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“I’m telling you Richard is dangerous.”
“I know.”
“No, you know he steals. You don’t know what he does when cornered.”
“What does he do?”
She looked away.
“My father didn’t die from a heart attack.”
The restaurant noise disappeared.
“What?”
“Officially, cardiac event.”
“Paige.”
“He was taking medication. Someone switched the pills.”
I stared.
“You think Richard killed him?”
“I think Dad discovered the substitution two days before he died. I think he was trying to prove it.”
“Why didn’t you go to police?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“No evidence. Prescription error. Dad had heart disease. Case went nowhere.”
“But you believed Richard.”
“Yes.”
“So you became his paid consultant?”
Her eyes filled.
“I needed access.”
“The monthly payments?”
“Richard thinks I’m loyal.”
“The quarter-million closing bonus?”
“I wasn’t taking it.”
“It’s scheduled to your account.”
“I was going to transfer it directly into an evidence account.”
“That sounds convenient.”
“I know.”
“You also slept with my fiancé.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Five months.”
Every answer still hurt, even known ones.
“Why?”
Silence.
I almost left.
Then she spoke.
“Because I stopped knowing where the investigation ended.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I hated Ethan.”
“And then?”
“And then I didn’t.”
I laughed.
Quietly.
Of course.
Reality was less elegant than conspiracy.
Paige had infiltrated Richard’s world because of her father.
Then she crossed a line.
Then another.
Then eventually she became exactly the person she had claimed to be pretending to become.
“Did Ethan know you were investigating his father?”
“No.”
“Does Richard?”
“No.”
“Does Ortiz?”
Paige’s eyes sharpened.
“You met Ortiz.”
“Yes.”
“Then she knows?”
“She knows about you and Ethan now.”
Paige covered her face.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she lowered her hands.
“The envelope wasn’t my idea.”
“Whose?”
“Richard’s.”
“Why?”
“He wants you emotionally unstable after the ceremony. There are statements drafted for the press.”
My stomach turned.
“What statements?”
“That you suffered a breakdown. That you misunderstood legal documents. That Ethan is protecting the company while you receive treatment.”
I stared.
They planned to discredit me before I could challenge the filings.
“Did Ethan agree?”
“Yes.”
That was worse than the affair.
“Show me.”
“I can.”
“When?”
“I have copies.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“No riddles.”
Paige swallowed.
“My apartment.”
“Then we go.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Richard’s driver followed me here.”
I looked toward the window.
Black SUV.
Parked across the street.
“Is he watching you?”
“Always lately.”
“Does he suspect?”
“I don’t know.”
My phone buzzed.
Ortiz.
DO NOT LEAVE WITH PAIGE.
I looked around.
Where was she?
Then I saw a woman two tables behind us.
Reading a menu.
Agent Ortiz had backup inside.
Good.
I looked at Paige.
“Why were you at my mother’s house?”
“The box.”
“You were looking for it.”
“I wanted to warn you.”
“You asked what paperwork I found.”
“Because if you had the storage receipt, Richard would know soon.”
“How?”
“He has access to one of your cloud backups.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Ethan installed remote sync software on your home laptop.”
“My work laptop?”
“No. Personal.”
“What can he see?”
“Files. Maybe browser activity.”
I thought of the encrypted BREAD RECIPES folder.
Strong password.
No cloud sync.
Thank God.
“Why tell me now?”
Paige looked at me.
“Because seeing you in that dress yesterday made me understand what I had become.”
I felt nothing comforting in that.
“You understood while sleeping with him?”
“No.”
“While planning my humiliation?”
“No.”
“While accepting Richard’s money?”
“No.”
She flinched.
“I deserve that.”
“I’m not interested in what you deserve.”
That silenced her.
I continued.
“I’m interested in stopping them.”
Paige nodded.
“Then don’t cancel the wedding.”
“That’s already the plan.”
Her eyes widened.
“You’re still going?”
“I’m not marrying Ethan.”
“But you’ll appear?”
“Yes.”
A strange expression crossed her face.
Almost admiration.
Almost terror.
“Maya, if you walk into that ceremony knowing everything, Richard will—”
“What?”
She stopped.
I leaned closer.
“What will Richard do?”
“He has a contingency.”
“What contingency?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I heard Ethan mention it once. Something called Closing Blue.”
“What is it?”
“I couldn’t find out.”
“When?”
“Wedding day.”
“What happens?”
“I don’t know.”
My phone buzzed again.
This time Ethan.
Dad moved final signing to 4:20 on wedding day. Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.
I showed Paige.
She went pale.
“That’s ten minutes before Closing Blue.”
“You know the time?”
“Four-thirty.”
“Same as the county filing.”
Paige stared.
Then whispered, “No.”
“What?”
“Closing Blue isn’t about your company.”
“What is it about?”
She grabbed her purse.
“We need to leave.”
Ortiz stood in the background.
Paige saw her.
“No. Not here.”
“Paige.”
“The filing is only the first transfer.”
“To what?”
She looked genuinely frightened now.
“A trust.”
“What trust?”
“I saw one reference.”
“What name?”
She opened her mouth.
Then the black SUV outside started moving.
Not away.
Toward the restaurant entrance.
Paige stood abruptly.
“Maya, go through the kitchen.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard’s security chief just got out of that car.”
The restaurant door opened.
A tall man in a gray suit entered.
His eyes found Paige immediately.
Then me.
He smiled.
May you like
And Paige whispered:
“That’s the man who was with my father the night he died.”
