THE BLACK FOLDER
I couldn’t take my eyes off the photograph.
“Roman…”
“Yes?”
“That folder.”
“I know.”
“He never let me touch it.”
Roman sat beside my bed.
“Do you know what was inside?”
“No.”
“Did he ever tell you?”
“He said it contained business documents.”
Roman’s expression hardened.
“Julian lied.”
I looked down at my daughter.
“What does he have?”
“Evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
Roman was silent for a moment.
Then he said:
“Your husband has been moving money through accounts connected to your name.”
I stared at him.
“What money?”
“Millions.”
My mouth went dry.
“That isn’t possible.”
“It is.”
“Julian doesn’t have access to millions.”
Roman looked directly at me.
“He didn’t need his own name.”
I felt sick.
“My name?”
He nodded.
“Your inheritance.”
I suddenly remembered the documents Julian had asked me to sign after my father’s death.
He had told me they were simply financial arrangements.
“You said those accounts were connected to my inheritance.”
“They were.”
“And Julian used them?”
“He used your identity.”
I felt something inside me break.
“How long?”
“Almost a year.”
I looked away.
Almost a year.
The same amount of time he had been seeing Celeste.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
The expensive gifts.
The secret meetings.
The unexplained money.
The business trips.
He hadn’t simply been cheating on me.
He had been using me.
Roman continued.
“The folder contains original transfer documents.”
“Why would he take them?”
“Because without those documents, proving what he did becomes much harder.”
I stared at him.
“So he’s running because he’s afraid.”
“Yes.”
“Then why Vancouver?”
“Because someone there is waiting for him.”
“Who?”
Roman’s expression darkened.
“A man named Victor Kane.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But Roman clearly knew him.
“Who is he?”
“Someone far more dangerous than Julian.”
I swallowed.
“Is he the man who attacked us?”
“Possibly.”
“Why would he want the folder?”
Roman leaned back.
“Because your husband’s theft wasn’t his only crime.”
My heart began pounding.
“What did Julian do?”
Roman looked at my daughter.
Then at me.
“He stole something that doesn’t belong to either of us.”
“What?”
Roman’s voice dropped.
“Something that could expose an entire criminal network.”
