Chapter 6 - The Interrogation Room
The precinct lobby went dead silent. Dozens of officers stopped what they were doing, staring at the disheveled woman who had just slammed a flash drive onto the sergeant's desk.
Detective Reynolds looked from the flash drive to my face, her expression hardening into professional skepticism.
"Mrs. Vance, you are making a very serious accusation," Reynolds said smoothly, placing a hand protectively near her holstered weapon. "And you are currently a person of interest in this investigation. I suggest you calm down before I arrest you for obstruction."
Nicole quickly recovered her composure, stepping behind Reynolds with a look of practiced, innocent terror.
"Detective, please," Nicole pleaded, her voice trembling perfectly. "She’s unstable. James told me she’s been having paranoid delusions for months. She’s trying to protect him by blaming me."
I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I looked at the twenty-two-year-old girl who had systematically dismantled my life, poisoned my husband, and tried to steal his empire, and I smiled.
It was a cold, terrifying smile that I had learned from watching James negotiate with monsters.
"I’m not protecting him, Nicole," I said, my voice echoing clearly in the quiet room. "I’m executing you."
I turned my attention back to Detective Reynolds.
"That flash drive contains the unencrypted, time-stamped emails between Nicole Davis and Marcus Vance," I stated loudly, ensuring every officer in the room heard me. "It details the exact dates she altered James’s anxiety medication to induce paranoia, and the exact routing numbers she used to siphon thirty million dollars into Vance’s shell corporations."
Reynolds frowned, glancing down at the silver drive. "If this is true, how did you get it?"
"Because James knew," I lied flawlessly, projecting an unshakable confidence. "He knew she was a mole for Vance. He let her think she was succeeding so he could gather enough digital evidence to take down the entire Vance syndicate in one federal sweep. He hid the drive in my coat before he was arrested to ensure it didn't disappear into a corrupted evidence locker."
I took a step closer to Reynolds, lowering my voice so only she and Nicole could hear.
"And if you don't take this drive to the FBI Director right now, Reynolds, I will have Arthur Sterling’s lawyers file a motion accusing you of being on Marcus Vance’s payroll to suppress evidence."
Reynolds flinched. The mention of Arthur Sterling, a billionaire with enough power to ruin her career with a single phone call, hit its mark. She wasn't corrupt; she was just ambitious, and I had just handed her a career-making case.
Reynolds snatched the flash drive off the desk. She turned to two uniformed officers.
"Take Ms. Davis into Interrogation Room 3," Reynolds barked. "Do not let her make a phone call."
"What?!" Nicole shrieked, her innocent facade shattering completely. "You can't do this! I’m a witness! I demand my lawyer!"
"You can call your lawyer after we verify these files," Reynolds shot back, signaling the officers.
They grabbed Nicole by the arms, dragging her kicking and screaming across the precinct lobby. She locked eyes with me as she was pulled away, pure, unadulterated venom burning in her gaze.
"You think you won?!" Nicole screamed over her shoulder. "Vance will kill you both! You’re dead, Rachel!"
I watched her disappear down the hallway, the heavy steel door slamming shut behind her.
I let out a long, shuddering breath, the adrenaline finally beginning to crash. I leaned heavily against the front desk, my knees shaking. Amanda rushed to my side, wrapping a supportive arm around my waist.
"You did it," Amanda whispered in awe. "You actually did it."
"It’s not over yet," I murmured, staring down the hallway. "I need to see him."
Thirty minutes later, after Arthur Sterling’s lawyers arrived and threatened the precinct with a mountain of injunctions, I was finally granted five minutes with James in a secure holding cell before his scheduled transfer.
The heavy metal door clicked open, and I stepped into the small, windowless room.
James was sitting on a metal bench, his hands cuffed to a chain around his waist. He looked exhausted, broken, the shadows under his eyes darker than I had ever seen them. The confident billionaire was entirely gone, leaving only the terrified man I used to comfort in the middle of the night.
When he looked up and saw me, a mixture of profound relief and agonizing guilt washed over his face.
"Rachel," James breathed, struggling to stand up against the heavy chains. "You found it. The drive."
"I found it," I confirmed, standing a few feet away, making no move to comfort him.
"Thank God," he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. "I thought... I thought they would get to you before you realized. I’m so sorry I couldn't tell you. I thought if you knew the danger, you would panic. I thought I could handle Vance and Nicole on my own."
I stared at the man I had loved for five years. The man who had promised to protect me, but who had ultimately decided I was too fragile to handle the truth of our own lives.
"You didn't trust me, James," I said softly, the sorrow in my voice far heavier than anger. "You trusted a twenty-two-year-old spy who was actively poisoning you over the wife who held your hand through your darkest panics."
James flinched as if I had struck him. "Rachel, please. I was confused. The medication... she was messing with my head. I didn't know what was real anymore."
"You knew enough to hide the flash drive in my coat," I pointed out coldly. "You knew enough to use me as your insurance policy when everything fell apart. You didn't push me away to protect me, James. You pushed me away because you were ashamed that you couldn't control the monsters you invited into our house."
Tears spilled freely down his bruised face. He didn't try to defend himself. He knew I was right.
"I love you, Rachel," James choked out, dropping his head, unable to meet my eyes. "I never stopped loving you."
I looked at him, the heavy, suffocating weight of the last six months finally lifting off my chest.
"I know you do," I said quietly. "But love isn't enough when you don't respect the person you’re giving it to."
I turned toward the heavy steel door and knocked twice for the guard to open it.
"Rachel, wait!" James panicked, straining against the chains, genuine terror in his voice. "Where are you going? The lawyers said the charges will be dropped! We can go home! We can fix this!"
I stopped in the doorway and looked back at him one last time.
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"You’re going to be free, James," I said, a sad, final smile touching my lips. "And so am I. But we aren't going to be free together."
I walked out of the holding cell, the heavy metal door slamming shut with a resounding, permanent clang.
