Chapter 3 - The Web Of Blackmail
The room seemed to shrink around Lauren as the color drained completely from her face.
She reached for the table behind her, knocking over a plate of petits fours that scattered across the tablecloth.
"That's impossible," Lauren stammered, her voice losing every ounce of its venomous confidence. "That card was... it was authorized."
"My father never authorized an expense account for Julian Hayes," I said, my voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling.
"My father had terminal cancer five years ago. He was in a hospice facility in Evanston on June 14th. The only person who had access to his business files during that month was his lead estate planning paralegal."
I paused, turning to face Mark, whose face had gone from red to an awful, sickening gray.
"Mark," I asked, "where did Lauren work before you two got married?"
Mark blinked, his hands trembling as he stared at his wife.
"She... she was a junior legal assistant at Sterling & Vance. The firm that handled your father's estate."
A collective murmur rolled through the ballroom like thunder.
Maya stood on the stage, her mouth open, shaking her head as the pieces came together in her mind.
"You set me up," Maya whispered, her voice cracking with raw anguish. "Five years ago... you told me Julian was suicidal. You told me he was locked in that hotel room and only I could convince him to check into the clinic."
"Maya, shut up!" Lauren shrieked, her voice turning high and desperate.
"You booked the flight for me," Maya continued, stepping down the stairs toward her former friend. "You gave me the room key! And when I got there, Julian wasn't in crisis at all—he was throwing a party with six other people! I left within twenty minutes and stayed at an airport motel until morning!"
"You have no proof of that!" Lauren shouted, backing into her husband’s chest.
"I don't need proof of where Maya slept," I said, stepping between them. "Because the bank transfer record from yesterday is all the proof the state attorney will need."
I held up the second document Maya had brought to the podium.
"When you convinced Maya to co-sign that emergency operating credit four months ago, you didn't just pledge our savings. You linked this fraudulent St. Regis receipt as a liability clause, telling Maya that if she didn't sign, you would release the hotel photos to my family."
Maya dropped her head, a quiet sob escaping her throat.
"I was so terrified you would think I betrayed you, Daniel," she wept. "She told me she had surveillance footage from the hallway. She told me she would ruin our lives before we even had a chance to start our family."
"Look at me, Maya," I said, turning away from Lauren completely.
Maya lifted her eyes, her gaze swimming with tears and terror.
"Did you ever touch Julian Hayes?" I asked.
"Never," Maya cried, placing her trembling hand over her heart. "On my life, Daniel. On my mother's grave. I never touched him. I was a fool, and I was terrified of losing you, but I never betrayed you."
I took a deep breath, letting the cold fury settle into a sharp, crystalline focus.
"I believe you," I said.
Then I turned back to the room.
"This party is over," I announced to the remaining guests. "The police have already been dispatched to Julian Hayes’s apartment on Michigan Avenue."
Lauren’s phone began vibrating violently on the table.
The screen flashed with incoming calls: Julian Hayes (12 Missed Calls).
Lauren lunged for the device, but Mark snatched it off the linen before her fingers could touch the glass.
"Mark, give that to me!" Lauren screamed.
Mark looked at the screen, then looked at his wife with eyes completely hollowed out of affection, respect, or pity.
He pressed the speaker button and held the phone up in the air.
May you like
Julian’s frantic, drug-addled voice boomed through the ballroom:
"Lauren! Where are you? The feds are knocking on my front door! They have an asset seizure warrant for the penthouse! What did you do with the transfer papers?"
