Chapter 10 - The Private Investigator
The investigator's name was Martin Cole.
He wasn't difficult to find.
Getting him to talk was another matter.
Ryan's attorney contacted him first.
Martin refused.
Then the attorney mentioned subpoenas.
His attitude changed.
We met him the next day in a conference room.
He placed a thick envelope on the table.
“I was hired to document evidence of infidelity.”
I almost laughed.
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
Ryan leaned forward.
“My wife has never cheated on me.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised all of us.
Martin continued.
“I followed Mrs. Carter for eleven weeks.”
He looked apologetically at me.
“Doctor appointments, grocery stores, coffee shops, visits with friends.”
“And?”
“Nothing.”
Ryan asked, “What did my mother do when you told her?”
“She told me I wasn't looking hard enough.”
Martin opened the envelope.
“She then asked whether photographs could be edited.”
Ryan's expression darkened.
“You agreed?”
“No.”
Martin pushed several emails toward us.
“I terminated the contract.”
One message from Diane stood out.
If there is no evidence, create enough doubt that Ryan believes there could be.
Ryan read the sentence twice.
Then a third time.
Martin continued.
“She became aggressive after I refused.”
“How?”
“She threatened to sue me.”
He gave us another document.
“So I kept everything.”
That included text messages.
Invoices.
Voice recordings.
One recording made my blood run cold.
Diane's voice filled the room.
The baby changes everything.
Once that child arrives, Ryan will stop listening to me.
I need her gone before then.
Ryan paused the recording.
No one spoke.
He resumed it.
Martin asked, Gone how?
Diane answered.
Divorced.
Discredited.
I don't care.
Just gone.
Ryan shut off the recording.
His hands were shaking.
I rested mine over them.
He looked at me.
“I brought you into this family.”
“No.”
“Claire—”
“She did this.”
“But I kept telling you she would warm up.”
He looked sick.
“I made you keep trying.”
I squeezed his fingers.
“You didn't hit me.”
“You didn't forge anything.”
“You came home.”
Ryan nodded slowly.
Martin gathered his files.
Before leaving, he stopped.
“There is one more thing.”
Ryan looked up.
“Your mother contacted me again yesterday.”
“What did she want?”
Martin's face tightened.
“She wanted to know whether I still had the photographs.”
“Why?”
“She said she needed something believable before court.”
My pulse quickened.
“Court for what?”
Martin slid one final screenshot across the table.
It was a text from Diane.
May you like
By the time the baby is born, Claire won't be allowed anywhere near my son.
---
