Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN THE PARKING GARAGE
Three days later, I was discharged.
My legs were still weak.
I needed a walker.
But I refused a wheelchair.
I wasn't ready to surrender more than my body had already been forced to surrender.
Detective Harris drove me to a temporary apartment.
"You can't go home yet," he said.
"I know."
"Your husband has been trying to contact you."
"I know."
"Don't meet him alone."
"I won't."
That evening, someone knocked on my door.
I froze.
Detective Harris had said nobody should know where I was.
I checked the peephole.
A woman stood outside.
Late thirties.
Dark hair.
Nervous expression.
"I need to speak with Elena."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Rachel."
"What do you want?"
She looked behind herself.
"I used to work for Victor."
I opened the door only a few inches.
"Why are you here?"
"Because I know what he did."
My pulse raced.
"Come in."
She entered.
She kept looking toward the window.
"What do you know?"
"Victor created a network of shell companies."
"For what?"
"Moving money."
"Whose money?"
"People's money."
She swallowed.
"Your money was only one part."
I stared at her.
"How many people?"
"At least seven."
"Why?"
"Victor would convince wealthy clients to place investments through private entities."
"And then?"
"He moved the money."
"Where?"
"Offshore accounts."
My stomach turned.
"How do you know?"
"I processed the transfers."
"Why didn't you go to the police?"
She looked down.
"Because he threatened my daughter."
Silence.
Then she pulled out a flash drive.
"This contains copies."
I stared at it.
"What exactly?"
"Emails. Contracts. Transfers. Everything."
"Why give it to me?"
"Because you were the first person who fought back."
"I haven't fought back."
Rachel looked at my legs.
"You're still here."
That sentence stayed with me.
She stood.
Before leaving, she said:
"There's one file you need to see."
"What file?"
"Project Second Lieutenant."
My blood went cold.
"That's the name?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
"Then why are you telling me?"
"Because Victor created the file months before your ceremony."
She left.
I immediately called Harris.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
We opened the drive.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Bank records.
Emails.
Scanned signatures.
Then we found it.
A folder labeled:
ELENA — CONTINGENCY
Inside were photographs of me.
Leaving work.
Driving.
At the gym.
Walking into the military base.
My hands trembled.
"Why was he tracking me?"
Harris didn't answer.
There was another file.
A document dated seven months earlier.
The title:
POST-COMMISSION ASSET PLAN
I read the first paragraph.
Then my stomach dropped.
Victor had calculated how much money I would receive if I became an officer.
Salary.
Benefits.
Retirement contributions.
Housing allowance.
Everything.
He had planned to use my income to cover debts from his companies.
If I received the commission, I would become his financial lifeline.
If I left him, he would lose access.
Then I found the final page.
A handwritten note.
If Elena becomes independent, eliminate the option.
I stared at those words.
Harris quietly took the paper.
"Elena."
"What?"
"This is no longer just a domestic violence investigation."
"What is it?"
"Financial crime."
He looked at the note.
"And potentially attempted coercion involving your military career."
I closed my eyes.
Victor hadn't attacked me because he was angry.
He attacked me because his plan was collapsing.
May you like
And my future was the thing standing between him and everything he wanted.
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