Chapter 2 - The Woman on the Ticket
At 8:04 the next morning, I called a divorce attorney.
Not because I had decided with absolute certainty to end my marriage.
I hadn't.
That was the humiliating truth.
Part of me still loved Colton.
Part of me wanted him to arrive at Priya's house, tell me there had been some impossible misunderstanding, and restore the world I had lived in two days earlier.
But another part of me had begun to understand something important.
Love was not protection.
Money was not protection.
A powerful husband's promises were certainly not protection.
Information was.
So was having someone in the room who understood the law.
Priya gave me the number of Naomi Turner, a family attorney whose clients included professional athletes, surgeons, business owners, and people wealthy enough to make ordinary divorces look inexpensive.
When Naomi heard my surname, there was a three-second silence.
Then she said, “I can see you at ten.”
Her office overlooked downtown Atlanta.
I arrived wearing leggings, one of Priya's oversized cardigans, and no makeup.
Ren slept in her carrier beside me.
Naomi Turner was in her early fifties with silver beginning at her temples and the calm expression of a woman who had watched rich people ruin their own lives for twenty-five years.
She didn't seem impressed by Colton's name.
That immediately made me trust her.
“Are you in immediate physical danger?” she asked.
“No.”
“Has your husband ever hit you?”
“No.”
“Threatened you?”
“Not directly.”
“Controlled your access to money?”
“No. I have my own accounts.”
“Prevented you from seeing family or friends?”
“No.”
“Has he ever used his criminal associates to intimidate you?”
I swallowed.
“He has never needed to.”
Naomi understood.
She folded her hands.
“Tell me why you left.”
I gave her the entire story.
Jade.
The messages.
The ticket.
Lisbon.
The confession.
Seven weeks.
The supposed information theft.
Naomi took notes without reacting.
When I finished, she looked at me for a long moment.
“You have two separate problems.”
“My marriage and my husband being a criminal?”
A faint smile touched her mouth.
“That is one way of putting it.”
She turned her legal pad toward herself.
“First, you are deciding whether this marriage can continue. That is emotional and personal. I can advise you, but I cannot make that decision.”
“And the second?”
“Your daughter.”
My arms tightened around Ren.
Naomi continued carefully.
“Mr. Beckett's criminal reputation complicates custody. However, reputation is not evidence that he is an unfit parent. If he has never endangered the child directly, you cannot simply disappear with Ren indefinitely.”
“I wasn't planning to disappear.”
“Good.”
“I just needed to get out.”
“That was reasonable.”
She glanced toward the carrier.
“You are nursing?”
“Trying to.”
“And Ren is seventeen days old?”
“Eighteen now.”
“Then any immediate visitation arrangement needs to recognize that she is a newborn primarily dependent on you.”
Relief moved through me.
“What do I do?”
“First, we establish boundaries formally. Second, we request complete financial disclosure. Third, we document every contact.”
My phone vibrated on the table.
COLTON.
Naomi raised an eyebrow.
“That him?”
“Yes.”
“Has he threatened you since last night?”
“No.”
“Then you are not required to answer immediately.”
I turned the phone over.
Naomi slid a document toward me.
“I also recommend a temporary written parenting agreement. Not because you are giving him anything. Because clarity protects you.”
“What would visitation look like?”
“At first? Short visits. A neutral location or one you approve. You present if feeding requires it.”
The idea of handing Ren to Colton made something painful move through me.
He loved her.
Whatever else was true, that was true.
The question was whether I could stand to look at him.
Naomi watched me.
“You are allowed to be furious and still recognize that your daughter loves her father.”
“She doesn't even know what a father is.”
“She will.”
That sentence stayed with me.
At 10:47, Naomi's assistant knocked and entered.
“There is a delivery for Mrs. Beckett.”
Naomi's expression sharpened.
“From whom?”
“No return name.”
My pulse changed.
The assistant placed a small white box on the desk.
No ribbon.
No card outside.
Naomi stopped me before I touched it.
“Wait.”
She put on gloves from a drawer and opened the lid.
Inside was a photograph.
Colton and Jade.
My stomach dropped.
They were standing outside a restaurant.
Jade wore a black dress.
Colton's hand rested at the small of her back.
The timestamp was six weeks earlier.
I remembered that night.
Colton had told me he was attending a port authority dinner.
I'd spent the evening swollen and miserable on our couch while Ren kicked against my ribs.
Another photograph lay beneath it.
Jade entering a hotel.
Colton followed twelve minutes later.
I couldn't breathe.
There was a handwritten note.
ASK YOUR HUSBAND WHO PAID FOR THE SUITE.
Naomi immediately photographed everything.
“Do you recognize the handwriting?”
“No.”
“Could Jade have sent it?”
“I don't know.”
My phone vibrated again.
This time it wasn't Colton.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
He lied when you asked him about me.
He will lie again.
A second message appeared.
Lisbon was supposed to be our beginning.
Then a third.
If you want to know what your husband really promised me, meet me without him.
My hands shook.
Naomi saw the messages.
“Do not meet anyone.”
“It's her.”
“Probably.”
“I want to hear what she says.”
“You want information. That is not the same as needing to sit across a table from your husband's mistress.”
“She knows what happened.”
“So does your husband.”
“He lied.”
“And you believe she won't?”
I hated that Naomi was right.
My phone rang.
Not Colton.
Tom.
I almost ignored it.
Then I remembered Tom had called the previous night.
I answered.
“What?”
His voice was cautious.
“Lauren.”
“If you're calling to convince me to go home—”
“I'm not.”
That stopped me.
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because Colton told me what happened.”
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
“Did you know?”
Silence.
My heart hardened.
“Tom.”
“I knew about Jade.”
I closed my eyes.
Naomi watched me.
“How long?”
“I found out three weeks ago.”
“You knew your brother was cheating on his pregnant wife?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“Lauren—”
“Did everyone know?”
“No.”
“But you did.”
“I confronted him.”
“That must have been very difficult for you.”
“Don't.”
“Don't what? Make you feel bad?”
Tom exhaled.
“He told me it was over.”
“When?”
“The night Ren was born.”
A strange laugh escaped me.
“The night Ren was born.”
“He said he'd made the worst mistake of his life.”
“Apparently his response was booking Portugal.”
“That's what I'm trying to explain.”
“I am done with explanations.”
“Lauren, somebody inside the organization has been moving against Colton for months.”
Naomi leaned slightly closer.
I turned on speaker.
Tom continued.
“Jade was part of it.”
“Colton said she was stealing information.”
“She was.”
“So what? He accidentally slept with a spy?”
“No.”
Tom's voice hardened.
“He cheated. He was wrong. There isn't a version where he wasn't wrong.”
At least somebody understood.
“But after Ren was born, Colton tried to end it. That's when Jade made it clear she had access to information she should never have had.”
“What information?”
“Warehouse routes. Company acquisitions. Security schedules.”
I looked at Naomi.
Her face had become serious.
“Why Lisbon?”
“Because Jade was communicating with someone there.”
“And Colton decided to play secret agent with his mistress while his wife recovered from childbirth.”
“Yes.”
Tom sounded disgusted.
“He thought he could fix the entire situation without Lauren ever finding out.”
“That sounds exactly like your brother.”
“It was arrogant.”
“That's also exactly like your brother.”
Tom went quiet.
Then he said, “There's something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“Jade isn't working alone.”
I stared at the photographs.
“Who is she working with?”
“We don't know.”
“You expect me to believe Colton Beckett can't figure that out?”
“That should tell you how serious it is.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
Tom continued.
“Whoever it is knows details only six people inside the organization should know.”
“Then investigate your six criminals.”
“Lauren.”
“I don't care about his empire.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
His voice softened.
“But his empire may care about you.”
The room felt suddenly smaller.
Naomi took the phone.
“This is Naomi Turner, counsel for Mrs. Beckett.”
Tom fell silent.
“Any specific threat toward my client or her daughter should be communicated clearly and immediately.”
“Nothing specific.”
“Then do not frighten a postpartum woman with vague warnings.”
“I'm not trying to frighten her.”
“You're doing an excellent imitation.”
Naomi ended the call.
I looked at her.
“Should I be worried?”
“Yes.”
The honesty frightened me more than Tom had.
“But not panicked,” she added. “If Mr. Beckett genuinely believes someone inside his organization is targeting him, then we need to consider security without allowing him to use that threat to control your movements.”
My phone buzzed again.
A message from Colton.
I signed whatever Naomi sends regarding temporary visitation. I will not fight you over Ren.
A second message followed.
I deserve whatever you decide about me. But please let me put security near Priya's street. They will stay outside and answer to instructions you approve.
Then:
Jade contacted you, didn't she?
I stared at the screen.
How did he know?
I typed before I could stop myself.
How do you know?
His response came instantly.
Because she contacted me first.
He sent a screenshot.
A message from Jade.
Your wife looks tired.
Everything inside me went cold.
Another screenshot.
Beautiful baby.
My breath stopped.
The photograph attached to Jade's message had been taken outside Priya's house.
It showed me carrying Ren's carrier from my car that morning.
Somebody had been watching us.
I stood so quickly my chair struck the wall.
Naomi immediately locked her office door.
“What?”
I showed her.
She read the message.
Then looked up.
“We move you today.”
My phone rang.
Colton.
For once, I answered.
“Where are you?”
His voice sounded unlike anything I'd heard before.
Not angry.
Not commanding.
Terrified.
“Naomi's office.”
“Stay there.”
“You don't order me—”
“This is not about us.”
His breathing was hard.
“Jade sent me a photograph of you and Ren.”
“I know.”
“She wasn't supposed to know where you were.”
“I stayed with my best friend, Colton. Anyone could guess.”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
“Priya owns that house through a trust. Her address isn't publicly connected to her.”
I looked at Naomi.
Colton continued.
“Lauren, listen carefully. Someone inside my security network gave Jade your location.”
My skin went cold.
“And I don't know who.”
For the first time since leaving home, my anger had to make room for something else.
Fear.
Not fear that Colton would force me back.
Fear that the people he had trusted to protect us might be the very people watching my daughter.
“I want Priya moved too,” I said.
“I already have a secure property.”
“No.”
“Lauren—”
“Not one of yours.”
A pause.
Then, instead of arguing, Colton said, “All right.”
Naomi spoke.
“I can arrange a short-term corporate residence through one of my firm's clients. Private security vetted independently.”
“Do it,” Colton said.
“You don't get to authorize anything,” I snapped.
“Then you authorize it.”
His voice softened.
“Please.”
I closed my eyes.
I hated how exhausted I was.
I hated Jade.
I hated Colton.
Most of all, I hated that even after what he'd done, a part of me still trusted him when he sounded afraid for Ren.
“We're leaving this office through the garage,” Naomi said.
Colton immediately responded.
“Don't use the garage.”
Naomi froze.
“Why?”
“Because if the photograph came from someone with access to Lauren's movements, assume vehicles are being tracked.”
Silence.
Then Naomi said, “I'll arrange another car.”
“I'll send no one unless Lauren asks.”
I looked at the window overlooking Atlanta.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the worst thing in my life had been discovering my husband was cheating.
Now his mistress had a photograph of my newborn daughter.
“Colton.”
“Yes?”
“Did Jade ever come into our house?”
He did not answer.
My heart began pounding.
“Colton.”
“Twice.”
Something inside me shattered again.
“When?”
“Before Ren was born.”
“You brought her into our home?”
“It was for meetings.”
“Did she enter the nursery?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because—”
He stopped.
Too late.
Because cameras.
Because guards.
Because there was always a system.
Always control.
Except there wasn't.
Jade had gotten inside anyway.
Into his company.
Into his bed.
Into my marriage.
Maybe even into the network protecting my baby.
I looked at Ren sleeping peacefully beside me.
Then I said the words that changed everything.
“Find out who is helping her.”
“I will.”
“But understand something.”
“What?”
“I am not coming home when this is over.”
Colton went completely silent.
“You keep talking as if Jade is the problem between us.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“She isn't.”
“Lauren—”
“You are.”
I ended the call.
That afternoon, Naomi moved Priya, Ren, and me into a privately owned condo under another client's name.
Only four people knew the address.
Priya.
Naomi.
Me.
And the security firm Naomi hired.
Colton did not know.
At least that was what I believed.
Until 11:37 that night.
My phone lit up.
A message from Jade.
New address?
How careful of you.
Below the message was another photograph.
Not of me.
Not of Ren.
Of Colton.
Standing outside our empty nursery.
May you like
And beneath it were six words.
Ask him who he trusts most.
