Chapter 3: The Photograph
The photograph was only three inches wide, but the moment I saw it, the room seemed to tilt.
I was sitting at my kitchen table at 1:14 in the morning, staring at the image on my laptop while rain tapped against the window.
It showed Adrian standing beside his car.
Alive.
Smiling.
And standing next to him was a man I had never seen before.
On the back, someone had written a date.
*Six days before the crash.*
I zoomed in until the photograph became grainy.
Adrian was wearing the same dark coat he'd worn when he'd come over to my apartment that week.
His hair was messy from the wind.
One hand rested on the roof of his car.
The other was around the shoulder of the stranger.
I had spent three years memorizing Adrian's face.
I knew his smile.
His posture.
The tiny crease that appeared between his eyebrows when he was worried.
He wasn't worried in the photograph.
He looked angry.
I leaned closer.
"Who are you?"" I whispered.
My phone rang.
I jumped so hard I nearly knocked the laptop onto the floor.
Julian.
I stared at his name.
He had called twice earlier.
I hadn't answered.
Now I picked up.
"Hello?""
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then Julian said, "Did you find the photograph?""
My fingers went cold.
I looked at the laptop.
"How do you know about it?""
"Because I put it there.""
I sat perfectly still.
"What?""
"I knew you'd look.""
"Look where?""
"Your old email account.""
My stomach dropped.
The photograph hadn't come from my computer.
It had been in an archived folder Julian told me to check after the wedding.
I had assumed it was some forgotten attachment.
Apparently not.
"Why would you put something like that in my account?""
"Because I couldn't give it to you in person.""
"You were at your wedding.""
"I know.""
"You told me Adrian's death wasn't an accident.""
Julian went silent.
I stood from the table.
"Tell me the truth.""
"I am trying.""
"No. You're controlling what I know.""
His breathing changed.
"Meredith, listen carefully. Do not contact the police yet.""
My anger flared.
"You don't get to tell me that.""
"I'm serious.""
"So am I.""
"I need you to understand something first.""
"What?""
"Whoever killed Adrian may know you have the photograph.""
I looked toward the dark window.
The glass reflected my own face.
For a second, I had the strange sensation that someone was watching me from outside.
I pulled the curtain shut.
"Why would they care about me?""
"Because Adrian left something behind.""
"What?""
"I don't know.""
I almost laughed.
"You called me in the middle of the night to tell me someone killed my fiancé, and now you're saying you don't know why?""
"I know what he was investigating.""
That stopped me.
"Investigating what?""
Julian hesitated.
"Money.""
I frowned.
"Adrian wasn't investigating money.""
"You think you knew everything he did.""
"I was marrying him.""
"That doesn't mean he told you everything.""
The sentence cut deeper than it should have.
I sat down again.
"Then tell me.""
"I can't.""
"Why?""
"Because I don't know who I can trust.""
I looked again at the photograph.
"Clearly not your mother.""
Julian said nothing.
"She gave me a note.""
"What note?""
"It said not to trust you.""
He exhaled.
"That sounds like Mom.""
"What does that mean?""
"It means she knows something.""
"Then why is she protecting you?""
"She's not.""
"She literally warned me about you.""
"No," he said quietly.
"She warned you about something you might hear from me.""
I frowned.
"What's the difference?""
"Everything.""
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
I looked toward the ceiling.
I lived alone.
"Julian.""
"Yes?""
"Was Adrian afraid before he died?""
Another silence.
"Yes.""
The answer came so softly I almost missed it.
"How do you know?""
"I found him two days before the crash.""
"At his apartment?""
"No.""
"Where?""
Julian lowered his voice.
"In a parking garage.""
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"Why were you there?""
"He asked me to meet him.""
"What did he say?""
"He said he'd made a mistake.""
I closed my eyes.
"What kind of mistake?""
"I don't know.""
"You're lying.""
"I'm not.""
"You always do that. Every time something gets too close to the truth, you say you don't know.""
"I was scared.""
"Of what?""
"Of him.""
My eyes opened.
"Adrian?""
"Not Adrian himself.""
Julian swallowed.
"Of what he'd discovered.""
A car passed outside, headlights briefly flashing beneath the curtains.
I waited.
"What did he discover?""
Julian whispered, "That someone had been using his name.""
My pulse quickened.
"What do you mean?""
"Bank accounts. Insurance paperwork. Documents.""
"I don't understand.""
"I didn't either.""
"Then explain it.""
"He found transactions attached to an account he'd never opened.""
"How much money?""
"Enough to make people dangerous.""
I gripped the edge of the table.
"Did the police know?""
"No.""
"Why not?""
"Because Adrian wanted proof first.""
"Did he get it?""
"Yes.""
"What happened to it?""
Julian didn't answer.
"Julian?""
"I thought you had it.""
My chest tightened.
"I don't.""
"Then someone else does.""
The line went silent.
I heard him inhale sharply.
"What?"" I asked.
"Meredith, lock your doors.""
I stood.
"Why?""
"Now.""
I looked toward the front door.
The deadbolt was locked.
The chain was in place.
"Why?""
"I can hear your breathing changing.""
"That's because you're scaring me.""
"I'm not trying to scare you.""
"Then tell me what's happening.""
He paused.
Then said, "Did anyone come by your house tonight?""
"No.""
"Did anyone call?""
"You did.""
"Before me.""
I thought.
"No.""
"Check.""
I walked to the hallway.
"Check what?""
"The front door.""
"It's locked.""
"Look through the peephole.""
I stared at the door.
"Why?""
"Because when I left your house yesterday, there was a black SUV across the street.""
My blood ran cold.
"You never mentioned that.""
"I wasn't sure.""
"And now?""
"Now I'm sure.""
I approached the door slowly.
Each step sounded unnaturally loud.
I stood on my toes and looked through the peephole.
The porch was empty.
Rain shimmered under the streetlamp.
"No one is here.""
Julian didn't respond.
"Julian?""
"Go back to the table.""
I turned.
"What?""
"Don't touch the laptop.""
I froze.
"What are you talking about?""
"Just go back.""
I walked into the kitchen.
The laptop screen had gone black.
I hadn't touched it.
Then it lit up.
One notification appeared in the corner.
*External device connected.*
I stared at it.
"Julian.""
"What?""
"My computer just said an external device connected.""
He swore under his breath.
"Unplug it.""
"I don't know what it is.""
"Then shut the laptop.""
I reached for the screen.
A new folder appeared on the desktop.
It hadn't been there before.
The name was simply:
*ADRIAN*
My hand hovered over the mouse.
"Julian...""
"Don't open it.""
I looked at him through the phone like he could somehow see me.
"You knew this might happen.""
"Yes.""
"How?""
"Because it happened to me.""
I clicked the folder.
Inside were four files.
Three were photographs.
The fourth was a video.
My heart pounded.
"There's a video.""
"Meredith, stop.""
I clicked it.
The screen went black.
Then Adrian appeared.
My breath caught so sharply it hurt.
He was sitting somewhere unfamiliar, facing the camera.
His face was pale.
His eyes were exhausted.
There was a bruise near his temple.
For three seconds, he said nothing.
Then he looked directly into the camera.
"If Meredith is watching this, I'm already dead.""
I covered my mouth.
Julian said nothing.
Adrian continued.
"Meredith, I'm sorry.""
The image shook slightly.
"I didn't tell you the truth because I thought I could fix this before it touched you.""
My eyes filled with tears.
"Adrian...""
On the screen, he leaned closer.
"If they tell you my death was an accident, don't believe them.""
My breath stopped.
"There are people inside the company helping them.""
He glanced toward something off-camera.
"I don't know how many.""
Then came a sound.
A door opening.
Adrian's head snapped toward it.
Someone said something from outside the frame.
The video distorted for a second.
Adrian whispered, "They're here.""
The image broke into static.
Then one final frame appeared.
It lasted less than a second.
But it was enough.
A handwritten list.
Four names.
Three of them were blacked out.
The last one wasn't.
I stared at it.
I knew that name.
Everyone in Adrian's family knew it.
Because beneath the final line, written clearly in Adrian's handwriting, were the words:
*COLLEEN PARKER — ASK HER WHY SHE LIED ABOUT THE CRASH.*
The video ended.
I couldn't move.
Julian's voice came through the phone, barely audible.
"Now you know why my mother tried to hide from you.""
I looked at the dark screen.
"Julian...""
"Yes?""
"There's something you didn't tell me.""
He went silent.
"Adrian's note has your mother's name on it.""
Another pause.
Then Julian whispered, "I know.""
My skin prickled.
"How?""
"Because I saw the original.""
I stared at the screen.
"What did the original say?""
Julian's voice broke.
"It didn't say to ask her why she lied.""
He took a breath.
May you like
"It said to ask her who paid her.""
Then, from somewhere inside my house, I heard a door quietly click open.
