Chapter 6: The First Husband
I stared at the marriage certificate.
Rachel Mercer.
Twenty-one years old.
Thomas Vale.
Forty-six.
I read the names three times.
The date was eleven years before Rachel married me.
"Who's Thomas Vale?""
Linda stepped inside slowly.
My mother closed the door behind her.
Linda looked at Evelyn.
For one second, neither woman spoke.
Then Linda said, "I'm sorry.""
Mom nodded.
"So am I.""
I put the certificate on the table.
"Someone needs to explain this from the beginning.""
Linda sat across from me.
"Thomas Vale helped your father build Carter Industrial Supply.""
I remembered the name now.
Not the man.
Just the name.
My father had mentioned a Tom occasionally when I was young.
Then, suddenly, he'd stopped.
"What happened to him?""
"He stole from the company.""
Mom answered this time.
"Your father discovered money missing.""
"How much?""
"Nearly nine hundred thousand dollars.""
I stared at her.
"Why have I never heard this?""
"Because your father handled it privately.""
Linda shook her head.
"Not entirely.""
She opened the folder.
"Thomas was arrested.""
She slid a newspaper clipping toward me.
The article was more than a decade old.
A photograph showed a heavyset man being escorted from a courthouse.
"Rachel married him before the investigation became public," Linda said.
"Why?""
"She said she loved him.""
"You didn't believe her?""
Linda gave me a broken smile.
"Rachel was twenty-one. Thomas was older than I was.""
I leaned back.
"So they divorced.""
"Eventually.""
"Then what does this have to do with me?""
Linda looked at my mother.
Mom looked away.
That exchange made my stomach twist.
"Stop doing that.""
"Doing what?"" Linda asked.
"Looking at each other before answering me.""
I pushed the papers away.
"I've spent one night discovering that my wife lied about her mother being dead, lied about a previous marriage, knew about my family's money, and was trying to push my mother into assisted living. So whatever comes next, just say it.""
Linda nodded.
"Thomas introduced Rachel to you.""
"No, he didn't.""
"You just didn't know he did.""
I froze.
"What?""
"Do you remember a charity fundraiser at the Riverside Hotel?""
Of course I did.
It was where Rachel and I first met.
She'd bumped into me near the bar and spilled champagne on my jacket.
We laughed.
I bought her another drink.
We talked until midnight.
For years, Rachel called it fate.
"That wasn't accidental?"" I asked.
Linda's silence answered me.
I stood.
"You're lying.""
"I wish I were.""
"Rachel didn't even know who I was.""
"She knew exactly who you were.""
"No.""
"Thomas told her.""
"Why?""
Linda looked down.
"Revenge.""
I laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
"So this entire marriage was some eleven-year revenge plot?""
"I don't know.""
"That's convenient.""
"I know what Rachel was like then. I don't know what she became with you.""
"That's not an answer.""
"Because I don't have one!""
Linda's voice cracked.
For the first time, anger replaced her fear.
"I spent years trying to get my daughter away from that man. She stopped speaking to me because I reported him. When Thomas went to prison, Rachel blamed your father. She blamed everyone except Thomas.""
Mom sat beside me.
"Your father believed Thomas would eventually use Rachel to get close to you.""
"And he didn't tell me?""
"He tried.""
I thought about those conversations before my wedding.
Dad sitting on the porch.
His body thin from chemotherapy.
"Marriage isn't something you rush into, son.""
I'd been annoyed.
I remembered saying, "You don't know her like I do.""
Now the memory made me sick.
"He should have told me directly.""
"Yes," Mom whispered.
I looked at her.
"So should you.""
Tears filled her eyes.
"Yes.""
That was the first time all night she didn't defend herself.
It made my anger harder to hold.
I walked into the kitchen and gripped the counter.
The dishes were still there.
Grease floating on the water.
My mother's red hands flashed through my mind.
Then another thought came.
"If Rachel married me for money, why stay?""
Linda looked confused.
"What?""
"She thought I had millions. But I didn't live like I had millions. I worked sixty-hour weeks.
We had a mortgage. We budgeted vacations.""
Mom said quietly, "Because she couldn't access the trust.""
I turned.
"Exactly.""
That was the piece that didn't fit.
Rachel had been my wife for six years.
If she'd married me expecting money, she would have realized quickly that I didn't control it.
Why stay six years?
Unless...
"Mom, when did Rachel learn you controlled the trust?""
"About six months ago.""
The same time Linda said Rachel contacted her.
"And when did Rachel start treating you differently?""
Mom thought about it.
"Maybe five months ago.""
There it was.
Not proof.
But enough to make me cold.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Rachel.
We need to talk. Alone.
Another arrived.
Do not believe Linda.
Then a third.
Ask her what Thomas did after prison.
I showed Linda.
Her face drained of color.
"What?""
I read Rachel's message aloud.
Linda stood abruptly.
"Lock the door.""
I stared at her.
"What are you talking about?""
"Lock it.""
Mom rose.
"Linda?""
Linda moved toward the front window and pulled the curtain aside.
Her breathing changed.
"Thomas was released eight months ago.""
My pulse accelerated.
"You said Rachel contacted you six months ago.""
"She did.""
"Did she contact him too?""
Linda didn't answer.
"Linda.""
"I don't know.""
My phone rang.
Rachel.
I answered immediately.
"Where are you?""
Her voice came fast.
"Daniel, listen to me. Is my mother there?""
"Yes.""
"Get her out.""
Linda shook her head violently.
"Don't listen to her.""
Rachel heard.
"She's lying to you.""
"About what?""
"Everything.""
"Were you married to Thomas Vale?""
Silence.
"Rachel.""
"Yes.""
"Did you know who I was before we met?""
Another silence.
That one hurt worse.
"Answer me.""
"Yes.""
I closed my eyes.
Mom began crying.
"But Daniel, it wasn't what you think.""
"What am I supposed to think?""
"I was twenty-four when we met. Thomas had been manipulating me for years.""
"Why tell me your mother was dead?""
"Because she helped destroy my life.""
Linda shouted, "I tried to save you!""
Rachel's breathing sharpened.
"She's there, isn't she?""
"Yes.""
"Then ask her.""
"Ask her what?""
A sound came through Rachel's side of the call.
A car door.
Then footsteps.
"Rachel, where are you?""
"Ask Linda who gave the police the evidence that sent Thomas to prison.""
I looked at Linda.
She went completely still.
"Linda?""
She whispered, "Rachel, don't.""
But Rachel kept going.
"Ask her whose signature was on the bank transfers.""
I stared at Linda.
Her hands were shaking.
Then headlights appeared outside again.
This time I recognized the car.
Rachel's.
She pulled into the driveway and stopped.
But she wasn't alone.
A man stepped out of the passenger side.
Late fifties.
Heavy shoulders.
Gray hair.
A familiar face.
The same face from the old newspaper clipping.
Linda backed away from the window.
"No.""
I looked from the clipping to the man walking toward my house.
Thomas Vale.
My father's former business partner.
Rachel's first husband.
And he was carrying a briefcase.
May you like
Rachel's voice came through my phone one final time.
"Daniel, don't sign anything he gives you.""
