Chapter 9: The Husband I Was Never Supposed to Marry
The smoke burned my eyes.
I could barely breathe.
Jack grabbed the suitcase and threw it aside.
"Don't look at those.""
I stared at him.
"Why?""
"Because they're not what you think.""
"Then tell me what they are.""
He didn't answer.
That was enough.
I stepped away.
"You knew.""
"No.""
"You knew someone was watching me.""
"I suspected.""
"You knew about the photographs.""
"I didn't.""
I held up the picture from the bookstore.
"You were there.""
Jack stared at it.
"I wasn't.""
"You are standing across the street.""
He took the photograph.
His face changed.
"That's not me.""
I looked closer.
The man in the photograph had Jack's height.
His gray coat.
His build.
But the face was turned away.
Daniel grabbed the picture.
"He's right.""
He pointed to the man's hand.
"Jack wears his wedding ring on his left hand.""
The man in the picture wore none.
I exhaled.
"So someone was pretending to be him.""
Jack nodded.
"But why?""
Daniel looked at the letters.
"To make it appear Jack had been stalking Pamela.""
I stared.
"Why would anyone want that?""
Pearl whispered,
"To destroy the one person who could expose Victor.""
Jack looked at her.
"Me?""
Pearl nodded.
"Your father.""
I frowned.
"My father?""
Pearl looked at Jack.
"Jack's father was the man who investigated yours.""
I turned toward my husband.
"What?""
Jack swallowed.
"My father was a federal investigator.""
Daniel nodded.
"He was assigned to your father's financial crimes.""
Jack looked at me.
"He disappeared when I was twelve.""
Pearl said quietly, "Victor killed him.""
I stared at Jack.
"You knew about my family.""
"Yes.""
"You knew about the trust.""
"Yes.""
"You knew about Pearl.""
"Not everything.""
"Then why did you marry me?""
Jack stepped closer.
"Because I loved you.""
I shook my head.
"That's not an answer.""
"It is the only answer I have.""
The smoke thickened.
Clara found a small basement window.
"It's jammed!""
Jack grabbed a metal pipe.
"Move.""
He struck the window.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The glass shattered.
Cold air rushed in.
Jack helped Clara through.
Then Daniel.
Then me.
Before climbing out, I turned back.
Pearl was still inside.
"Come on!""
She shook her head.
"Go.""
"No.""
"Pamela, go!""
I grabbed her hand.
She looked at me.
"I'm not losing another daughter.""
Together, we climbed through the window.
We crawled onto the lawn as smoke poured from the house.
Sirens screamed in the distance.
Real ones this time.
Police cars flooded the street.
Victor was gone.
But Pearl immediately raised her hands.
"I did it.""
Jack stared at her.
"What?""
Pearl walked toward the officers.
"I chained Pamela.""
The police moved toward her.
She didn't resist.
"I assaulted her.""
She looked at me.
"I lied.""
Her voice broke.
"But I never tried to kill her.""
An officer placed handcuffs on her.
I watched Pearl being led away.
Then Jack came toward me.
I stepped back.
He stopped.
"Pam.""
I held up the letter.
"My mother said not to trust you.""
Jack's eyes filled.
"I know.""
I froze.
"You know?""
He nodded.
"Your mother told me.""
"When?""
"Before I met you.""
My stomach dropped.
"Explain.""
Jack sat on the curb.
"My father had spent years investigating your family. After he disappeared, I continued looking.""
"Why?""
"Because I believed Victor had killed him.""
Daniel joined us.
"Jack found the first evidence of Victor's involvement when he was twenty-one.""
Jack nodded.
"I found your mother.""
I stopped breathing.
"You met her?""
"Yes.""
"Where?""
"An apartment in Chicago.""
I stared.
"Why didn't she come home?""
"Because she was dying.""
My eyes filled.
"She knew she was dying?""
"Yes.""
"Then why did she leave me?""
"She didn't.""
Jack's voice cracked.
"She asked me to protect you.""
I shook my head.
"You could have told me.""
"I tried.""
"When?""
"After we met.""
I frowned.
"You said you met me at the bookstore.""
"I did.""
"But you already knew me.""
"I knew your name.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because your mother begged me not to.""
I looked at the photographs.
"Why?""
"Because Victor had someone inside the police department.""
Daniel nodded.
"And inside the company.""
Jack continued.
"Your mother believed the only way to protect you was to make everyone think you were living an ordinary life.""
I whispered, "So you married me to protect me.""
Jack looked directly at me.
"At first.""
The words hurt more than anything.
"At first?""
He swallowed.
"Then I fell in love with you.""
Silence.
I looked at him.
"And the pregnancy?""
"I didn't know Victor would use it.""
"Pearl did.""
"Yes.""
"She chained me.""
"I know.""
"Why didn't you see?""
"Because Pearl drugged your tea.""
I stared.
"What?""
"She gave you something that made you sleep heavily. She told me you were exhausted.""
I remembered.
The endless fatigue.
The headaches.
The mornings when I couldn't remember falling asleep.
Jack's face crumpled.
"I thought I was protecting you by trusting her.""
I whispered, "You trusted the wrong person.""
"Yes.""
A police officer approached.
"Mr. Driscoll?""
Jack stood.
"Yes.""
"We found Victor's vehicle abandoned two miles away.""
Jack nodded.
The officer hesitated.
"There's something else.""
He handed Jack a small evidence bag.
Inside was a phone.
Jack's face changed.
"Where did you find this?""
"In your house.""
My heart stopped.
"What's on it?""
The officer looked at me.
"Video.""
He pressed play.
The screen showed Pearl.
She was standing in the dining room four months earlier.
Victor stood behind her.
He handed her the chain.
Then he said:
"Keep Pamela alive until the baby is born.""
Pearl nodded.
Then Victor added,
"And make sure Jack never learns what the child really is.""
The video ended.
I looked at Pearl being taken away.
"What does he mean?""
Jack stared at the screen.
Daniel whispered,
"The child.""
I touched my stomach.
"What about my baby?""
Nobody answered.
Then another police officer came running from the house.
He held a sealed envelope.
"Pamela Quinn?""
I nodded.
He handed it to me.
"This was hidden beneath the floor of the nursery.""
My father's handwriting was on the front.
But beneath it was a second line.
Written in my mother's hand.
*Open only after you learn who the father really is.*
I looked at Jack.
May you like
Then at my stomach.
And for the first time since the nightmare began, Jack looked genuinely terrified.
