Chương 3
Elena knew because she watched Julian’s eyes find her while he placed the briefcase in the overhead compartment.
He sat beside Elena and loosened his tie.
“You should change,” he said. “That dress can’t be comfortable.”
“My clothes are checked.”
“There’s a sweater in my bag.”
“I’m fine.”
A flight attendant offered water. Elena accepted. Julian asked for another bourbon for her without consulting her.
She handed it back.
“No, thank you.”
Julian waited until the attendant moved away.
“What is going on?”
“My stomach hurts.”
“You said you weren’t sick.”
“It started after security.”
“Do you need to get off?”
The question sounded concerned. His knee turned toward hers. His forehead creased in the exact place that had once reassured her during medical appointments.
Elena studied him.
If she said yes, he might stay with her. If she stayed, he would continue believing she knew nothing. Somewhere inside the briefcase above them were papers connected to the transfer and the house. Mara had warned Elena not to confront him until they knew what authority he had already gained.
The cabin door remained open.
She could leave.
She could stand, step past him, and call Tess before reaching the terminal.
Instead, Elena fastened her seat belt.
“I’ll be all right.”
Julian touched her hand.
She let him.
When the plane began moving, the phone in her purse vibrated. Elena waited until Julian turned toward the window.
Mara’s response contained no panic.
Do not discuss this with him. The bank has placed a temporary review on the pending changes. This is not a permanent solution. We need to know what is in the briefcase and what he plans to present in Vancouver. Call when you can safely speak.
Elena read the message twice.
Below it, Mara had written:
Do not assume the recording can be used. Treat it as a lead, not a weapon.
The plane lifted over Denver. The city fell away in orange grids, then darkness.
Julian closed his eyes before they reached cruising altitude.
Elena had always envied his ability to sleep anywhere. He once slept through turbulence severe enough to make a flight attendant sit in the aisle. Elena had gripped his wrist until her nails left pale crescents in his skin. When he woke, he said he liked knowing she reached for him without thinking.
Now his hand lay open on the armrest between them.
She could see the faint marks left by the watch he had removed.
His wedding ring reflected the reading light.
Elena turned toward the window and pressed her thumbnail into the folded edge of her boarding pass until it split.
Vancouver was cold and damp when they landed. A driver from the Fairmont held a tablet bearing Julian’s name. Vanessa passed behind them in the baggage area and continued toward the taxi line.
Julian did not acknowledge her.
Elena’s gown drew curious looks from other travelers. She wrapped Julian’s spare overcoat around her shoulders and followed him to the car.
During the drive, he talked about the next morning’s meetings. The Mercer Pike board would gather at nine. Lenders at eleven. An investor presentation after lunch. Dinner with the Ashby Group at seven.
“We need everyone calm,” he said.
“What are they nervous about?”
“Interest rates. Occupancy softness. The usual.”
“Douglas called me this week.”
Julian turned his head.
The driver adjusted the radio volume, filling the pause with low jazz.
“What did Douglas want?” Julian asked.
“He asked whether I’d approved a change.”
“To which accounts?”
“He didn’t say.”
Julian looked toward the road again. “Douglas likes to dramatize routine compliance.”
“Does he?”
“He’s been trying to protect himself since the Brighton audit.”
Elena knew nothing about a Brighton audit.
She watched rain gather on the window.
“What change did you request?”
Julian’s jaw shifted once. “Treasury management. Dual-signature rules were slowing payments.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it was operational.”
“Changes to my approval authority are operational?”
“Our approval authority.”
“That isn’t what Douglas said.”
Julian rubbed his thumb over the edge of his phone.
“You said he didn’t explain.”
“He explained enough to tell me to ask you.”
The driver glanced at them in the mirror, then away.
Julian lowered his voice. “Not in the car.”
He did not say she had misunderstood.
He did not say there was no transfer.
Elena looked down at her hands.
The gown had wrinkled across her lap. A faint coffee stain marked the hem where the cup had brushed it behind the pillar. She had paid too much for the dress and chosen it because the color made her look softer in photographs.
Julian reached across and covered the stain with his palm.
“We’re both tired,” he said. “Let’s not invent a crisis.”
Elena moved the fabric out from beneath his hand.
“I’m not inventing anything.”
The hotel had given them a corner suite overlooking the harbor. Julian tipped the bellman, ordered tea for Elena, and placed the briefcase on the desk.
He locked it before going into the bathroom.
Elena stood in the center of the room listening to the shower begin.
She had never seen him lock the briefcase inside a hotel room.
Her suitcase arrived five minutes later. The bellman wheeled it past the desk without touching the case. Elena thanked him and closed the door.
The lock on the briefcase was a three-number combination. Julian used the same numbers for luggage, gym lockers, and the safe in their basement office.
Elena entered their anniversary.
The clasp did not move.
She tried his birthday.
Nothing.
The shower stopped.
Elena returned to the suitcase and opened it as Julian emerged wearing a hotel robe.
“You should sleep,” he said.
“I need to get out of this dress.”
He crossed behind her and unfastened the top clasp. His fingers brushed the back of her neck.
Elena held still.
“You’ve always looked beautiful in pink,” he said.
May you like
The compliment landed with such cruelty that she closed her eyes.
Julian misread the movement. He kissed her shoulder.
