Chapter 13 - The Woman at the Door
Three mornings later, a woman carrying a baby knocked on my door.
For one terrifying second, I thought something had happened to Claire.
Then the stranger spoke.
“Are you Anna Keller?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Rachel Hale.”
I froze.
Hale.
Marcus.
She noticed immediately.
“I’m Marcus’s wife.”
Every instinct in my body sharpened.
Nick was upstairs changing Nora.
“Why are you here?”
Rachel shifted the sleeping infant against her shoulder.
“Because your husband is helping the FBI put mine in prison.”
“That sounds like something you should discuss with your lawyer.”
“I’m not here to threaten you.”
“Then why are you here?”
Her composure cracked.
“Because Marcus emptied our accounts too.”
That stopped me.
I opened the door slightly wider but did not invite her inside.
Rachel looked no older than thirty.
Her coat was inexpensive.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
“I found out the week he disappeared,” she continued. “Our mortgage payment bounced. Our daughter’s college account was gone. He took a loan against my car without telling me.”
The parallels made my stomach turn.
“Did you know what he was doing?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
“He told me his company was building financial software.”
Behind me, footsteps sounded.
Nick appeared.
The moment Rachel saw him, anger flashed across her face.
“You.”
Nick stopped.
“I remember you from the Christmas party.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You people were drinking bourbon and talking about investment returns while I was carrying appetizers around my own house because Marcus told me we couldn’t afford catering.”
Nick looked ashamed.
Rachel pulled a folded envelope from her purse.
“Marcus kept a storage unit under my maiden name.”
Nick and I exchanged a glance.
“I found the rental agreement inside his desk after the FBI searched the house.”
“Have you told Agent Brooks?” I asked.
“Not yet.”
“Why come here first?”
Rachel's eyes filled.
“Because there are documents in that unit about your husband.”
Nick went completely still.
“What documents?”
“I don’t know. But your name is written on one of the boxes.”
The air seemed to disappear.
“Rachel,” I said carefully, “do not open anything. Call the FBI.”
“I will.”
“Now.”
She nodded.
Then she looked at Nick.
“Did you help him?”
“No.”
Her expression hardened.
“Are you sure?”
Nick hesitated.
That hesitation terrified me.
“I invested,” he said. “I tried to recruit one person after withdrawals froze. I didn’t know the full operation.”
Rachel stared at him.
“Marcus said you were smarter than the others.”
Nick looked nauseated.
“What does that mean?”
“He said you understood leverage.”
“I didn’t.”
“He called you ‘the nurse’s husband.’”
My skin prickled.
“What?”
Rachel looked at me.
“He knew you were a nurse. He knew you were pregnant. He knew your husband was using money you earned.”
Nick gripped the banister.
“I never told him Anna was the one saving most of it.”
Rachel gave him a sad look.
“Then he knew more about you than you knew about him.”
She left ten minutes later after calling Agent Brooks from our porch.
By afternoon, federal agents had secured the storage unit.
At six, Agent Brooks called.
“Mrs. Keller, we found financial profiles on several investors.”
“What kind of profiles?”
“Employment, estimated household income, debt, marital stress indicators.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“You’re saying Marcus targeted people based on weakness?”
“That appears likely.”
“And Nick?”
A pause.
“His file is extensive.”
“How extensive?”
“We need you both here tomorrow.”
Nick stood across the kitchen watching my face.
I hung up.
“He studied us.”
Nick whispered, “What?”
“Marcus studied our marriage.”
Nick sank into a chair.
For weeks, I had believed Nick’s recklessness had simply collided with a random con artist.
Now I understood something darker.
Marcus had not found Nick by accident.
He had chosen him.
Not because Nick was wealthy.
Because Nick was insecure.
Proud.
May you like
Desperate to look successful.
And somewhere inside a locked storage unit, a criminal had apparently documented exactly how to turn those weaknesses against us.
