“I know how this looks. I know what you think happened. But my feelings for you were always real.”
That was the most insulting lie of all. Love wasn’t a game you played while planning someone’s murder. Love wasn’t studying someone for 2 years so you could steal their life more efficiently.
“Get out,” I said quietly.
“Edwin, please listen to me.”
“Get out, or I’ll call security.”
For a moment, her composure cracked completely. The concerned wife act fell away, and I saw the cold professional underneath. Her green eyes went flat and emotionless. Her mouth set in a thin line of frustration.
“You’re making a mistake,” she said.
And this time there was no fake emotion in her voice.
“A very dangerous mistake.”
“The only mistake I made was trusting you.”
She stared at me for a long moment, then picked up her purse and walked toward the exit. At the door, she turned back.
“Goodbye, Edwin. I hope you survive what’s coming.”
Then she was gone, disappearing into the parking lot where I was sure Marcus was waiting for her.
I went back to my office and called Detective Chen immediately.
“She was here,” I said. “Jolene came to my office.”
“We know. We followed her from your house. She’s in a blue Honda with Marcus right now, heading south on Highway 61. We’ve got units tracking them.”
“She threatened me. Not directly, but she made it clear that bad things would happen if I didn’t drop the investigation.”
“That confirms what we suspected. They’re getting desperate, which means they’ll make their move soon, probably tonight.”
I sat down heavily in my office chair, the reality of the situation hitting me again.
Tonight.
After 5 years of marriage, after 2 years of being systematically robbed, after discovering that the woman I loved had been planning my murder, it would all end tonight.
“What do I do?”
“Go home. Follow your normal routine. We’ll be watching, and the moment they make their move, we’ll take them down.”
“And if something goes wrong?”
Detective Chen was quiet for a moment.
“Nothing will go wrong, Mr. Hartwell. We’ve got this under control.”
But as I drove home that evening, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Jolene and Marcus had one more card to play. They’d been doing this for years, had killed at least three men, and had evaded capture every time.
They weren’t going to go quietly.
The house felt different when I walked through the front door. Emptier, more dangerous. Every shadow could be hiding a threat. Every sound could be them coming for me.
I made dinner and tried to eat, but the food tasted like cardboard. I turned on the television and tried to watch the news, but I couldn’t focus on anything except the windows, the doors, the ways someone could get into my house.
At 9:00, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
“Hello, Edwin.”
Marcus’s voice, but deeper than I remembered. More threatening.
“Did you enjoy your conversation with my sister today?”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to understand something. We’ve been very patient with you. Very understanding. But that patience has limits.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
He laughed, and there was no humor in it.
“You should be. Do you know what happened to Robert Mansfield, David Park, Michael Torres?”
The names of the dead men hit me like physical blows.
“You killed them.”
“We did what was necessary. And if you don’t stop interfering with our business, we’ll do what’s necessary with you, too.”
“The police are listening to this call.”
“No, they’re not. We’re using equipment that makes tracking impossible. But Edwin, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to walk out of your house in exactly 10 minutes. You’re going to get in your car and drive to the address we’re about to text you. You’re going to come alone, and you’re going to bring every piece of evidence you think you have against us.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then we’ll come to you. And when we do, it won’t be quick.”
The line went dead.
A few seconds later, my phone chimed with a text message containing an address I didn’t recognize.
I stared at the phone, my hands shaking. They wanted to meet face to face to end this once and for all.
But they didn’t know about the federal agents watching my house. Didn’t know that every move they made was being monitored.
I pressed the panic button and waited for my phone to ring.
“Mr. Hartwell,” Detective Chen’s voice. “They want to meet tonight.”
“They’re going to text me an address.”
“We heard. We’ve been monitoring all cell traffic in your area. Don’t go to that address, Mr. Hartwell. It’s a trap.”
“But what if they come here instead?”
“Then we’ll be ready for them. Trust me, this is almost over.”
I hung up and sat in my living room waiting. The house was completely quiet except for the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
At 9:47, exactly 10 minutes after Marcus’s call, I heard a sound that made my blood freeze.
Someone was picking the lock on my front door.
The soft scratching sound at my front door was almost inaudible. But in the silence of my house, it might as well have been a fire alarm.
I pressed the panic button three times in rapid succession, the signal Detective Chen had told me to use if they were actually inside my house.
I crept toward the kitchen, staying low and avoiding the windows. The agents watching my house would be moving into position, but I had no way of knowing how long it would take them to get here or if they’d arrive before Marcus and Jolene finished picking the lock.