Chapter Seven.

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She was drinking her morning coffee while her kids slept, she had the news on more for noise than for watching. The news reporter went through the general things in the area and she tuned most of it out until they started talking about a dead body found in the seedy side of the city.

The body of a man was discovered early this morning by fishermen down on the docks, the body appears to be that of a Hispanic male. Authorities tell us they are still trying to identify the body and homicide is suspected

She turned it up as the female anchor rattled on this information as if it was commonplace and she was only speaking of the weather. Was that the rat? Had Rhys finally got him?

She tried to forget it and go on about her day but it kept repeating in her mind and the longer the day went on and she didn't hear from Rhys the most it began to eat at her.

Finally, after putting Alex and Mya down for their naps she broke and tried to contact him, instead of texting this time she called.

She wasn't surprised when he didn't answer, they weren't exactly best friend looking to gossip. He was a dangerous and busy man, she was just a side project.

She set the phone aside with a heavy sigh and turned her attention to the laundry.

She was folding a set of sheets when the phone buzzed signaling someone was calling her, she flipped it open knowing it had to be Rhys.

"Hello?"

"What do you want?" He asked, sounding bored

"I...I saw a body on the news and I thought maybe that was your rat."

"What? you think every single body they find in town I must be a part of?"

"No, of course not."

She felt stupid for even calling now, of course, the body might have absolutely nothing to do with him.

"It's safer for you if you don't know all the ins and outs of this business," He said after a short pause.

"Right, of course."

"I'll have a job for you in a few days, I'll text you the details."

"Okay."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" He asked, his voice taking on a fake cheerfulness.

"I...I found the paperwork. I can prove that Jordan was stealing your money."

"Yeah?"

"I can give it to you and you can go to the police, I won't stop you."

"Yeah? Do you think? You think I can just walk into the police department and tell them a banker stole my illegal money?" He laughed.

"Fine...I'll take it to the police for you."

"Yeah, sweetheart I take it you didn't look too closely at the papers. You spent a majority of it...you knew how much was in your accounts...your husband has everything in place to make you an accomplice."

She fell silent, her stomach dropping. An accomplice? if her husband was caught she could lose custody of her children.

"Why would he do that?" She asked nobody in particular.

"It's probably not on purpose, he's just not as smart as he thinks he is." Rhys offered.

That excuse didn't make her feel any better but she didn't point that out, she didn't think she needed too. Either way, it meant she was trapped in this lie even longer, trying to get back this mans money and she couldn't go to the police for help.

"How much do we owe you?" She asked.

"Does it matter?"

"No...I guess it doesn't." She said softly.

"Listen, I ain't dumb. I know you don't got anything to do with it, that man has kept you in the dark a long time."

"What else is he hiding from me?" She asked.

"I think you better figure that out on your own."

"But..."

"Goodbye, Elizabeth."

A second later the phone went dead, she closed her own phone and set it aside on the counter.

"Mommy!" Alex came thundering down the stairs.

She had to push aside the doubts about her husband aside, the fear of what Rhys was going to make her do, none of that mattered right now.

"What's up?" She asked as he climbed onto one of the stools at the island.

"Can we go to the park today?" He asked.

"I don't know buddy, I...Mommy has some things going on right now."

"With that man?" He guessed.

"That man is...a friend of mommy's and daddy's."

"He has drawings on his skin."

"Yes, he does."

"He scares me a little," Alexander admitted softly.

"Hey, you don't have to be scared of him, I would never let him hurt you. I won't let anyone ever hurt you." She promised.

Her son gave a small node and leaned forward to rest his chin on top of his folded arms on the counter.

Her mind went to her husband, away on a business trip as far as she knew but she began to wonder just how true that was.

"You know what? Okay, let's go to the park."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but first I need to stop at Daddy's office."

"Why?" He asked, gazing up at her.

"Just...to look at some things. Go change your clothes, put on some older things so they don't get ruined."

He hopped off the stool and hurried to change into his play clothes.

****************************************************************

Elizabeth parked in front of the building and glanced back at her children, Mya was awake and looking around with wide brown eyes, Alex was patiently waiting to go to the park.

"We just have to go inside for a minute," She promised.

"Okay." Alex agreed.

She climbed from the car, lifting Mya's car seat from its base and grabbing Alex's hand.

She hurried inside and through the lobby of people, they stared the same as always but today she ignored them. She knew she didn't fit in, her dark blue capris, blue converse sneakers, and burgundy hood may not be her most elegant clothes but they were comfortable.

They got on the elevator with a man in a suit, he had white hair and glasses and Elizabeth recognized him as a partner in the bank but couldn't place his name. She let Alex push the button for his father's floor.

They got up and she hurried towards his office, a part of her already had a sinking feeling, she was positive that his secretary wouldn't be there.

While she had always been nice to Elizabeth, in the back of her mind Elizabeth always wondered what her relationship was with Jordan.

She rounded the corner and froze there at her desk sat Trinity, typing on the computer as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Elizabeth watched her a second unsure of what to do next, she was positive that Rhys had been hinting at an affair.

Pushing forward she forced a smile as she approached the desk Trinity was sitting at.

"Miss Parks, how can I help you today?" She asked with a wide smile.

"Hello Trinity, I'm afraid that Mya left her favorite binky somewhere and she just won't sleep without it. I was hoping I could check Jordans office, I thought maybe the last time I was here I may have left it."

Trinity looked into the carrier at Mya with a small pout and then stood to grab a key from her desk.

"Poor thing, my nephew was the same way as a baby," Trinity said walking to the door and unlocking it.

Elizabeth smiled as she stepped into the office pulling Alex along with her.

"I'll be at my desk if you need anything," Trinity said.

"Thank you, I won't be very long."

Trinity closed the door behind her and Elizabeth quickly set Mya aside, rushing around the desk opening the drawers and doors, not sure what she was looking for but knowing there was something.

"Mommy, what are we doing here?" Alex asked.

"Shh, just sit tight a little bit."

She walked to the large bookshelf and began scanning the ledgers and the many books on accounting, one caught her eye. It was a thin ledger, old looking and not as clean as the others.

She tugged it down and opened, recognizing Jordan's handwriting, flipping the pages at first none of it made sense then she realized she was looking at account numbers and amounts. He had been bouncing money from other accounts to cover where it was missing.

To the regular person, their account would look normal and the amount as it should be but to anyone digging deep enough as Rhys probably did there was evidence money had been stolen.

She shoved the book back where it belonged and continued her search finding nothing else out of place.

She walked back out towards Trinity's desk forcing another smile as the secretary glanced up at her.

"Did you find it?" She asked.

"Yeah, right where I set it." Elizabeth lied.

"Great."

"I'm surprised you didn't go with Jordan, I bet he's not getting any work done without you," Elizabeth said.

"Oh, well I really didn't want to leave my fiance' this close to our wedding and Jordan understood."

"Oh, I didn't realize you were engaged," Elizabeth said honestly.

"Yeah, we're getting married in two months."

She flashed Elizabeth a large engagement ring that took up almost her entire finger.

"Well, congratulations." She said.

"Thank you, I bet you miss Jordan like crazy."

"Yeah, it's hard."

"Well if it helps, I'm sure he's desperate to be home. Kim is such a workaholic I'm sure he's going crazy."

Kim was a partner in the bank, one that Elizabeth had met several times. She was quite a bit older than Jordan and always overdressed, she was one of the women who always stared at Elizabeth as if they knew she didn't belong. Elizabeth didn't like her, Jordan couldn't tolerate her and it appeared Trinity wasn't a fan either.

"I'm sure he is too," Elizabeth agreed.

She thanked Trinity for her help and exited the bank taking Alex to the park as planned, while she was haunted by the thought her husband had stolen off more people than Rhys she couldn't shake the feeling something else was lurking just out of reach.

Clearly, he was on a work retreat just as he had said he would be and Elizabeth felt a little guilty for not believing him.

They reached the park and she was still unstrapping Mya as Alex took off across the grass towards the swing set.

"Alex please stay close!" She called, lifting the baby from her carrier.

He reached a swing and wasted no time climbing on and working his best to get it to move, she shook her head with a smile.

Carrying Mya with her she went to a nearby bench and sat down, holding Mya close she watched Alex swing and then play with some other kids, her thoughts far away with Jordan.

Who else had he stolen from? were they as dangerous as Rhys? were they newlyweds trying to make it? were they grandparents who didn't notice their money was gone?

She had married the first man who had shown her any kind of affection and now she realized he may be a stranger.

The life she had built with him was a lie, none of it was real, the money, the lifestyle, the prestigious job.

It made her wonder what else he was capable of, what else he might lie about and just how much she knew about him.

On the edge of all her doubts and questions came a pang of almost crippling guilt that seized at her lungs and turned in her gut.

This was her husband, the man she had promised her life and faithfulness too, the man who fathered her two beautiful children. However it was he provided for them he still did so, she wanted for nothing and was able to stay home with her kids all thanks to him.

Looking back she felt stupid that she never realized his job didn't afford the lifestyle that they lived but stealing had never crossed her simple mind.

She let Alex play for hours at the park, wrestling between fear for her life and her children and their father, guilt for snooping into her husband's private affairs and her stupidity at not realizing her life wasn't all it seemed. 

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