Chapter 6 - THE POLICY
The police came twenty minutes later.
Melissa had called before I could stop her.
For once, I was grateful she ignored me.
Simon and Patricia were still outside when the first patrol car arrived.
Simon immediately became calm.
Polite.
Professional.
It was fascinating.
Minutes earlier, he had been pounding on the door.
Now he stood with his hands visible, explaining that his emotional former girlfriend was misunderstanding a business arrangement.
Former girlfriend.
Nine years reduced to two words.
The officer asked me to come outside.
I refused.
I spoke through the door until another officer arrived.
Eventually, Simon and Patricia left.
No arrests.
No dramatic confrontation.
Just a report number and an instruction for Simon not to return that night.
Daniel called me afterward.
When I told him about the insurance policy, he became quiet.
“Do you know whether it’s active?”
“No.”
“We find out tomorrow.”
“Can someone buy insurance on me without permission?”
“Usually not without consent, depending on the policy and circumstances.”
“My signature could be forged.”
“I know.”
That sentence terrified me more than anything else.
The next morning, Daniel contacted the insurance company listed in one of the Hart-Voss files.
By afternoon, we had confirmation.
The policy existed.
It was active.
My name was the insured.
Hart-Voss Development Group was the beneficiary.
One million dollars.
The policy had been opened twenty months earlier.
My signature appeared on the consent form.
Fake.
Again.
I stared at the scanned document.
My birth date.
My employer.
My medical history.
Someone had answered health questions.
Some were accurate.
Some were not.
“How did they get this information?”
Daniel asked.
I almost laughed.
“I lived with him.”
He knew my medications.
My doctor.
My annual physical schedule.
The surgery I had when I was twenty-six.
Everything.
I felt suddenly exposed.
Like Simon had not merely watched my life.
He had cataloged it.
Daniel advised me to stay somewhere Simon wouldn’t expect.
Melissa objected.
“You think he would actually hurt her?”
Daniel chose his words carefully.
“I’m saying there is now a financial instrument that benefits a company associated with Simon if Rachel dies.”
My stomach turned.
“That is not the same as evidence he intends harm.”
He looked directly at me.
“But we do not ignore it.”
I moved into a hotel that evening.
Melissa and I told no one which one.
Not my parents.
Not mutual friends.
Not even Emily.
Especially not Emily.
I no longer knew who was telling whom anything.
At 9:11 p.m., I received a message from Simon.
The police were unnecessary.
I didn’t answer.
At 9:18.
You’re scaring my mother.
Nothing.
At 9:31.
That insurance policy was required by the lender.
Nothing.
At 9:47.
I would never hurt you.
I stared at that one for a long time.
Then a final message arrived.
You know that.
The worst thing was that, once, I did.
I knew Simon wouldn’t hurt me.
I knew Simon wouldn’t cheat.
I knew Simon wanted a future with me.
I knew his mother loved me.
I knew our finances were mostly separate.
I knew we trusted each other.
Everything I knew had turned out to be something I had merely believed.
At midnight, Emily called.
I almost didn’t answer.
Then I remembered she might know something.
“Where are you?”
Her voice was low.
“I’m safe.”
“Did Simon come to you?”
“Yes.”
“He came here too.”
My heart jumped.
“When?”
“About an hour ago.”
“Is he still there?”
“No.”
“What did he want?”
“The ring.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The engagement ring.”
“Why?”
“He said it was a family heirloom.”
“Is it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Did you give it back?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Emily was silent.
Then she said something strange.
“Because I found something inside the box.”
I sat upright.
“What?”
“When I took the ring out yesterday, I noticed the velvet insert was loose.”
I waited.
“There was a key taped under it.”
“A key to what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Simon know you found it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Describe it.”
“Small.”
She paused.
“Metal.”
Another pause.
“And there’s a number stamped on it.”
“What number?”
“814.”
I immediately called Daniel.
The next morning, he met Emily and me at his office.
Emily brought the ring box in a plastic bag.
She looked exhausted.
I probably did too.
Daniel examined the key.
“Could be a safe-deposit key.”
My pulse jumped.
“Can we find which bank?”
“Not from the number alone.”
Emily looked at me.
“There’s something else.”
She opened her phone.
A photograph showed Simon’s desk at Unit 304.
A business card lay beside his laptop.
NATIONAL UNION BANK.
SAFE CUSTODY SERVICES.
Daniel looked up.
“Where is the nearest branch?”
Fifteen minutes away.
We drove there.
The branch manager initially refused to discuss anything.
Then Emily gave Simon’s name.
Then mine.
Then Daniel explained the identity theft investigation.
The manager disappeared.
When she returned, two other bank employees were with her.
One was from security.
The box was registered to Hart-Voss Development Group.
Authorized access belonged to Leonard Voss.
Simon Hart.
And one other person.
Rachel Carter.
Me.
Again.
I had never been there.
The bank contacted Leonard.
He arrived ninety minutes later.
He looked furious.
Not at me.
At Simon.
“I should have known.”
“Known what?”
Leonard looked at the box key.
“Simon told me you kept the second key.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
Emily spoke softly.
“He hid it in my ring box.”
Leonard stared at her.
Then he laughed once.
“He was planning to move it.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Move what?”
Leonard’s expression changed.
“The records.”
My stomach tightened.
“What records?”
“Original loan files.”
“Why keep originals in a safe-deposit box?”
“Because some of our financing came from private investors.”
Daniel became very still.
“Who?”
Leonard looked at me.
“You need to understand something before we open that box.”
“What?”
“Hart-Voss didn’t fail.”
I frowned.
“The company is still operating?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is Simon terrified?”
Leonard looked toward the vault.
“Because approximately eight months ago, nine hundred thousand dollars disappeared.”
I stared at him.
“From where?”
“An investment pool.”
“Who had access?”
Leonard’s answer came quietly.
“Simon.”
May you like
Then he looked at me.
“And according to the paperwork, you.”
