Chapter 2: The Man in the Black Cadillac
The Cadillac stopped several yards from the pool deck.
Its engine continued running.
Lauren could hear the low vibration through the driveway stones, beneath the alarm that still shrilled from the security system.
Nobody spoke.
The vehicle's windows were tinted dark enough to hide the driver.
Brielle clutched the towel around herself.
Marcus stood halfway up the pool steps, water dripping from his arms and collecting around his bare feet.
Lauren watched them both.
A moment earlier, Marcus had been furious with her. He'd shouted at her to turn off the alarm, demanded that she stop humiliating him, and treated her anger as an inconvenience.
Now he couldn't seem to remember how to speak.
“Brielle,” he said finally, “tell me you're joking.””
She shook her head.
“Marcus, I told you my husband was out of town.””
“You said you were separated.””
“I said we were having problems.””
“You told me you were getting a divorce!””
“I never said that.””
Marcus stared at her.
The alarm continued.
Beyond the fence, several neighbors had gathered near the property line. An older man in a gray polo shirt leaned forward to see past the hedges. A woman in a yellow sundress stood beside him, her hand resting against the fence.
Nobody was filming.
They were simply watching the strange commotion unfolding inside a backyard that had been quiet all afternoon.
Lauren reached toward the wall panel and silenced the alarm.
The sudden quiet was almost worse.
Birds chirped in the trees. Water lapped gently against the pool wall. Inside the fireplace, the damaged garments continued to smolder within the contained flames.
The Cadillac's driver's door remained closed.
Lauren glanced at Brielle.
“What's your husband's name?””
Brielle didn't answer.
“What's his name?”” Lauren repeated.
Brielle's eyes darted toward the SUV.
“Daniel.””
Marcus gave a bitter laugh.
“Daniel what?””
“Marcus, please.””
“No. You said he was traveling. You said he barely came home anymore.””
“He doesn't.””
“Then why is he here?””
“I don't know!””
Brielle's voice cracked on the final word.
Lauren watched the exchange with growing unease.
This wasn't how people usually behaved when a lie had simply been exposed. Marcus seemed genuinely shocked by the possibility that Brielle's husband might be arriving unexpectedly.
But Brielle looked terrified in a way that went beyond embarrassment.
She kept staring at the driver's door.
Lauren stepped away from the control panel.
“I'm going inside.””
Marcus snapped his head toward her.
“You can't just leave us out here!””
Lauren stopped.
For eleven months, Marcus had treated her house as though it belonged to both of them. He left dirty dishes beside the sink, used her office as a storage room, and complained when she scheduled maintenance during his favorite television programs.
He had gradually made himself comfortable in a home he had never helped purchase.
Now he was standing in her pool, having kissed another woman, and still speaking as though she owed him something.
“Watch me,” Lauren said.
She turned toward the patio doors.
“Lauren, wait!”” Marcus called.
She kept walking.
“Please. Just listen to me for one second.””
She stopped beside the overturned grocery bag.
“Do you remember what you told me last night?””
Marcus swallowed.
“What?””
“You said you wanted us to start talking about marriage.””
He looked away.
“You said we were wasting time pretending we weren't ready for the next step.””
“Lauren, that was different.””
“Different from what? The woman you were kissing in my pool?””
“I can explain.””
“Then explain.””
Marcus looked toward Brielle.
She immediately shook her head.
“Don't look at me,” she said.
“You told me you weren't serious about Lauren.””
Marcus's mouth tightened.
“You told me your marriage was over.””
Brielle stared at him.
“My marriage is not over.””
The words hung in the air.
Lauren felt the skin at the back of her neck tighten.
Not because the revelation surprised her. She had already understood that Brielle was married.
It was the way Brielle said it.
She sounded as though she were defending a life she was desperate to protect.
The Cadillac's engine cut off.
All three of them looked toward the driveway.
The driver's door opened.
A man's polished black shoe touched the pavement.
Then the door swung wider, revealing a tall figure in a charcoal suit.
Lauren couldn't see his face clearly from where she stood. The sun reflected off the SUV's windshield, throwing a bright strip of light across the man's shoulders.
He stepped away from the vehicle and closed the door.
Brielle's breathing became visibly faster.
“Oh, God,” she whispered.
Marcus looked at her.
“Do you know why he's here?””
“No.””
“Did you tell him about me?””
“No!””
The man began walking toward the garden entrance.
He wasn't rushing.
That was what made it unsettling.
He moved with the measured confidence of someone who expected the world to make room for him. One hand held a slim leather briefcase. The other carried a phone.
Lauren noticed that he wasn't looking at Marcus.
He was looking at her.
At the alarm panel.
At the fireplace.
Then at the two people emerging from the pool area.
He took in the scene without appearing surprised by any part of it.
Lauren felt a strange pressure in her chest.
She knew that walk.
She had seen it in the lobby of the downtown office tower where her company leased several floors. She had seen it in photographs attached to business articles. She had heard it described in conversations between executives who lowered their voices whenever his name came up.
But she couldn't immediately place why a man like that would be standing in her driveway.
Marcus climbed the final pool step.
“Hey!”” he called.
“You need to stop right there.””
The man didn't stop.
Marcus stepped onto the patio, dripping water across the stone.
“I'm talking to you!””
Brielle caught his arm.
“Don't.””
He pulled free.
“What are you afraid of?””
She stared at him in disbelief.
“You have no idea what you're doing.””
Marcus let out a short, angry breath.
“You said he was never around. You said you were practically divorced.””
“Marcus, please. Just be quiet.””
The man reached the garden gate.
He stopped just beyond it and looked through the opening at the backyard.
His gaze settled on Brielle.
For a fraction of a second, something flickered across his face.
Pain, perhaps.
Or recognition.
Then his expression became unreadable.
“Brielle,” he said.
His voice was calm, deep, and unmistakably controlled.
Brielle closed her eyes.
Marcus glanced between them.
“Daniel, right?”” he asked, forcing a laugh.
“Look, man, I don't know what she's told you, but—”
“I'm not interested in what you've been told.””
Daniel's eyes shifted to Marcus.
“And I haven't come here to discuss my marriage with you.””
Marcus went still.
Daniel turned back to Lauren.
“I'm sorry you've been dragged into this.””
Lauren folded her arms.
“You don't know the half of it.””
“No,” Daniel said.
“I don't think I do.””
His gaze moved toward the fireplace.
The scorched edge of Marcus's shirt was visible through the glass.
For the first time, Daniel's composure seemed to waver.
“Is that his clothing?””
Lauren followed his gaze.
“Yes.””
Daniel looked at Marcus again.
“You should probably put something on.””
Marcus's cheeks flushed.
“This is between me and Lauren.””
“Is it?””
“She's my girlfriend.””
Daniel gave him a long, quiet look.
“And Brielle is my wife.””
Marcus opened his mouth.
No words came out.
Daniel placed his briefcase on the stone bench beside the gate.
Then he reached into his jacket and removed a folded sheet of paper.
He held it out to Lauren.
“I believe you deserve to know why I'm here.””
Lauren didn't take it immediately.
“What is it?””
“Something I found this morning.””
“About your wife?””
Daniel's expression tightened.
“About your wife?””
Lauren frowned.
“What?””
He looked at her carefully.
“Your name is Lauren Bennett, correct?””
“Yes.””
“And you own this property?””
“Yes. Why?””
Daniel unfolded the paper.
It was a printed document with several lines of text and a signature near the bottom.
He held it out again.
Lauren took it.
Her eyes moved across the page.
At first, the words seemed ordinary. A date. A property address. A reference number.
Then she reached the signature line.
The signature looked like hers.
The shape of the L. The long stroke beneath the surname. Even the small curve she always made at the end of the final letter.
But Lauren had never signed that document.
She looked up.
“Where did you get this?””
Daniel glanced at Marcus.
Then at Brielle.
“From a file connected to a transaction involving your property.””
Lauren's fingers tightened around the paper.
“What transaction?””
Daniel paused.
And in that pause, Marcus made a decision.
He lunged toward the document.
Lauren pulled it against her chest.
“Don't touch me!””
Marcus stopped so abruptly that his wet feet slipped slightly on the patio.
Daniel's expression hardened.
“That's enough.””
Marcus looked at him.
“You don't understand what's going on here.””
“No,” Daniel said quietly.
“I understand exactly what I'm looking at.””
He turned toward Lauren.
“The problem is that the affair may be the least of your worries.””
Lauren stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel glanced toward the open gate, then back at the document in her hands.
“It means someone may have used your identity to do something with this house.””
Before Lauren could ask another question, her phone vibrated on the patio table.
An unknown number had sent her a message.
*STOP TALKING TO DANIEL. HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT YOU SIGNED.*
Lauren read it twice.
Then she looked at Marcus.
He had gone completely pale.
May you like
And for the first time that afternoon, Lauren understood that he wasn't merely afraid of being caught cheating.
He was afraid of what she might discover next.