Chapter 13 - The Return of the Mistress
I returned home to find a car I didn't recognize idling at the end of my driveway.
It was a sleek,
black sedan,
the kind that whispered of trouble.
I pulled in,
my pulse quickening,
and waited.
The passenger door opened,
and Chloe stepped out.
She didn't look like the "delicate" girl from the kitchen anymore.
She was wearing dark sunglasses,
a leather jacket,
and an expression of sheer terror.
She walked toward my car,
her eyes darting to the windows of my house.
I rolled down the window just an inch.
"What are you doing here,
Chloe?
The police are still interested in those bags you tried to steal."
"Forget the bags,
Mabel,"
she said,
her voice shaking.
"We’re both in trouble.
They’re coming for us."
I turned off the engine and stepped out of the car,
towering over her in my anger.
"Who is 'they'?
And there is no 'us.'"
Chloe grabbed my arm,
her grip desperate.
"The people Ethan was working for in Chicago.
They think I have the money.
They think you have the recordings."
I froze,
my mind racing back to the woman on the pier.
Elena.
Had she been a warning or a lure?
"Ethan told them you were the mastermind,"
Chloe continued,
the words tumbling out of her.
"He told them you were using the foundation to skim off the top.
He’s trying to trade your life for his safety."
I looked at the girl who had helped destroy my marriage,
and for the first time,
I saw a reflection of my own situation.
She was a fool,
yes.
She was a thief,
certainly.
But she was also a pawn,
just like I had been.
"Why are you telling me this?"
I asked,
my voice softening just a fraction.
"Because he left me,
Mabel!"
she cried,
the tears finally looking real.
"As soon as the audit started,
he cleared out the Chicago apartment and left me with nothing.
The men came to my door this morning.
They said if I didn't find the 'Mabel Files,'
they’d make sure I never found anything again."
I looked at the black sedan at the end of the driveway.
"Is that them?"
"No,"
she whispered.
"That’s my brother.
We’re trying to run.
But you have to listen to me,
Mabel.
Ethan is at the safe house in the city.
He’s planning to leave the country tonight."
She handed me a crumpled piece of paper with an address scribbled on it.
"If you want to save yourself,
you have to get to him before he leaves.
He has the original ledgers.
The ones with his real signature."
I took the paper,
feeling the weight of the choice before me.
I could call the police and hope they moved fast enough.
Or I could go to him myself.
"Go,
Chloe,"
I said,
pushing her toward the car.
"Run as far as you can.
And don't ever let me see your face again."
She didn't say thank you.
She just ran,
May you like
getting into the sedan as it sped away,
leaving a cloud of dust and the scent of fear in the air.
