Chapter 13 - The Babymoon Trap
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I stared at Brooke's message, my blood turning to ice water.
Aspen.
Next month, Ryan and I were supposed to go on our "babymoon." He had been incredibly insistent about it. He booked a remote, luxury cabin an hour outside of the main town. He said we needed total isolation before the baby arrived. No cell service. Just the two of us and the snow.
"Agent Hale," I said, my voice eerily calm. "Brooke is texting me from the precinct. She knows how they were going to do it."
Hale immediately grabbed his radio. "Morales, get back in the interview room with Brooke Bennett. Do not let her stop talking."
Ten minutes later, Morales called Hale's cell phone. He put it on speaker.
"You were right," Morales said, her voice heavy. "Brooke broke down completely. She said she overheard Grant and Ryan arguing in the Aspen house the day after Christmas. Grant was furious. He said the corporate fraud scheme was becoming unstable, and that your company was going to audit Northstar Data Systems within the quarter."
"He was right," I said numbly.
"Grant told Ryan they couldn't wait until after the baby was born. The risk of discovery was too high. He told Ryan to execute the insurance plan during the babymoon."
My stomach rolled violently. I gripped the edge of the desk. "How?"
"Brooke didn't hear the exact mechanics," Morales admitted. "But she heard Ryan say he had been researching the mountain roads near the rental cabin. She heard him say, 'Accidents happen all the time up there. Black ice is unpredictable.'"
I closed my eyes, fighting a wave of severe nausea.
Last week, Ryan had surprised me with a brand new SUV. For the baby's safety, he had smiled, handing me the keys. But he had been very specific. He wanted me to drive us up to the cabin so I could get comfortable with the vehicle in the snow.
He was going to stage a crash. He was going to let me and his unborn daughter go off a mountain cliff to cover up his theft.
"He's a psychopath," Vivian whispered, horrified.
"No," Hale said softly, looking at the evidence board Vivian had created. "Psychopaths are chaotic. This is organized. This is a family business."
Hale looked at me. "Mrs. Bennett, you need to go back to the penthouse. Today."
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"Why?" I asked, shuddering at the thought.
"Because a crew this meticulous doesn't just leave their home base blind. If they were planning a murder, they left a trail. We need to tear that penthouse down to the studs."
