She pointed at Julian.
“He edited it.”
Julian did not deny it.
That silence changed the whole room.
“You edited the recording?” I asked.
“I shortened it.”
“Why?”
“Because the rest is worse.”
Ava’s laugh came out brittle.
“How convenient.”
Julian removed the drive.
“The full file isn’t with me.”
“Where is it?” Brooke demanded.
“With the person who recorded it.”
We all stared at him.
“You didn’t record it?” I asked.
“No.”
Ava’s lips parted.
For the first time since Julian stepped inside, she looked truly surprised.
He watched her carefully.
“You never knew there was a recorder in that room.”
“Whose recorder?”
Julian looked toward the rain-streaked window.
“The man whose money you were moving.”
A vehicle passed along the cul-de-sac, its headlights sliding briefly across the ceiling.
Brooke lowered her voice.
“You said the funds belonged to your company.”
“They did,” Julian said.
“Not all of them.”
The rain grew heavier.
I looked toward the black sedan idling outside.
“Who’s in the car?”
Julian glanced back.
“No one.”
“Then why is it running?”
“I left it running.”
Ava walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside.
“No, you didn’t.”
Julian moved closer, then stopped.
The sedan’s headlights were still on.
A figure sat behind the wheel.
Julian’s expression changed.
“That isn’t my car.”
Nobody spoke.
The figure inside the sedan did not move.
Julian reached slowly for his phone, but before he could unlock it, the sedan rolled away from the curb. It did not speed off. It moved without urgency, disappearing around the bend at the end of the street.
Brooke whispered, “Who was that?”
Julian looked at Ava.
“Someone checking whether I came here.”
“You led them to our house?” I asked.
“I didn’t know I was followed.”
Ava let the curtain fall.
“We need to leave.”
I stared at her.
“Now you want to leave?”
“This is bigger than what you think.”
“What do I think, Ava?”
Julian answered.
“You think your wife was having an affair and setting you up for fraud.”
He slid the flash drive back into his pocket.
“She was.”
Ava glared at him.
“But that was only the part Ryan was supposed to find.”
My thoughts slowed.
“What does that mean?”
Julian looked toward the suitcase still near the hallway.
The same suitcase Ava had carried when she left for the girls’ weekend.
It was damp along one side.
Mud streaked the wheels.
“The bottle,” Julian said. “The lingerie. The messages you were meant to see.”
Ava’s face hardened.
“Stop.”
He ignored her.
“They were never hidden very well, were they?”
I remembered the suitcase zipper.
Not closed.
Just open enough.
The black lace near the top.
The bottle beneath it, visible if I lifted one layer.
It had felt like discovery.
Maybe it had only been bait.
“You wanted me to find them?” I asked.
Ava’s eyes met mine.