The Stranger
Page 69
“So, what, you wanted revenge? Is that what this is about?”
“No,” Adam said. “But I know what you do now.”
“Oh?”
“You learn something compromising about a person. Then you blackmail them.”
“You’re wrong,” Chris said.
“You blackmailed Suzanne Hope about her faking a pregnancy. When she didn’t pay up, you told her husband, just like you told me.”
“How did you know about Suzanne Hope?”
Merton, who was the most frightened and thus the most dangerous of all of them, shouted, “He’s been spying on all of us!”
“She was friends with my wife,” Adam said.
“Ah, I should have seen that,” Chris said with a nod. “So Suzanne Hope was the one who referred Corinne to the site?”
“Yes.”
“What Suzanne did—what your wife did—it’s a horrible thing, don’t you think? You see, the Internet makes it easy to be deceptive. The Internet makes it easy to be anonymous and to lie and to keep terrible, destructive secrets from your loved ones. We”—he opened his hand, indicated his group—“are just evening the playing field a little bit.”
Adam almost smiled. “Is that what you tell yourself?”
“It’s the truth. Take your wife, for example. The Fake-A-Pregnancy site, like all those sites, promises to be discreet, and she thought because it’s online and makes that silly promise that no one would ever know. But do you really believe anything is truly anonymous? And I’m not talking about some kind of spooky governmental NSA thing. I’m talking about human beings. Do you really think that everything is that automated, that there aren’t employees who can access your credit card information or your browsing history?” He smiled at Adam. “Do you really think anything is truly a secret?”
“Chris? That’s your name, right?”
“Right.”
“I don’t care about any of that,” Adam said. “I care about my wife.”
“And I told you the truth about her. I opened your eyes. You should be grateful to me. Instead, you hunted us down. And when you found Ingrid—”
“I told you. I didn’t find her. I searched for you, that’s all.”
“Why? Did you check the link that I gave you?”
“Yes.”
“And then you checked your Visa bill. You knew that what I told you was the truth, right?”
“Right.”
“So—”
“She’s missing.”
“Who?” Chris frowned. “Your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Wait, when you say she’s missing, did you confront her with what I told you?”
Adam said nothing.
“And then, what, she ran off or something?”
“Corinne didn’t just run off.”
Merton said, “We’re wasting time. He’s stalling.”
Chris looked at him. “You moved his car out of sight, right?”
Merton nodded.
“And we took the battery out of his phone. Relax. There’s time.” He turned back toward Adam. “Don’t you see, Adam? Your wife had deceived you. You had a right to know.”
“Maybe,” Adam said. “But not from you.” He felt his right wrist start slipping through the chain. “Your friend Ingrid is dead because of you.”
“You did that,” Merton shouted.
“No. Someone killed her. And not just her.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The same person who killed your friend also murdered Heidi Dann.”
That made them all stop. Gabrielle said, “Oh my God.”
Chris’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”
“You didn’t know about that, did you? Ingrid isn’t the only murder victim. Heidi Dann was shot and killed too.”
Gabrielle said, “Chris?”
“Let me think.”
“Heidi was murdered first,” Adam continued. “Then Ingrid. And on top of that, my wife is missing. That’s what your revealing of secrets got you.”
“Just shut up,” Chris said. “We need to figure this out.”
“I think he’s telling the truth,” the long-haired guy added.
“He’s not,” Merton shouted, hoisting the gun up and pointing it back at Adam. “But even if he is, he’s a threat to us. We have no choice here. He’s been asking questions and searching for us.”
Adam kept his voice as steady as he could. “I’ve been searching for my wife.”
“We don’t know where she is,” Gabrielle said.
“So what happened, then?”
Chris stood there, still stunned. “Heidi Dann is dead?”
“Yes. And maybe my wife is next. You need to tell me what you did to her.”
“We didn’t do anything,” Chris said.
The wrist was almost free. “Like you said before, start at the beginning,” Adam said. “When you blackmailed my wife, how did she react? Did she refuse to pay?”
Chris turned and looked at the long-haired man behind him. Then he turned back to Adam and knelt down next to him. Adam was still working his wrist free. He was close. Of course, what would he do then? Merton had taken a step back. If he grabbed Chris, Merton would have plenty of time to aim the gun.
“Adam?”
“What?”
“We never blackmailed your wife. We never even spoke to her.”
Adam didn’t understand. “You blackmailed Suzanne.”
“Yes.”
“And Heidi.”
“Yes. But your case was different.”
“Different how?”
“We were hired to do it.”
For a moment, the pain in his head was gone, pushed out by pure confusion. “Someone hired you to tell me that?”
“They hired us to find lies and secrets about your wife and then reveal them.”
“Who hired you?”
“I don’t know the name of the client,” Chris said, “but we were hired by an investigation firm named CBW.”
Adam felt something inside of him plummet.
“What is it?” Chris asked.
“Untie me.”
Merton stepped forward. “No way. You ain’t going—”
Then a gunfire blast shattered the room. And Merton’s head exploded in blood.
Chapter 52
Kuntz had gotten the address of Eduardo’s garage from Ingrid.
“No,” Adam said. “But I know what you do now.”
“Oh?”
“You learn something compromising about a person. Then you blackmail them.”
“You’re wrong,” Chris said.
“You blackmailed Suzanne Hope about her faking a pregnancy. When she didn’t pay up, you told her husband, just like you told me.”
“How did you know about Suzanne Hope?”
Merton, who was the most frightened and thus the most dangerous of all of them, shouted, “He’s been spying on all of us!”
“She was friends with my wife,” Adam said.
“Ah, I should have seen that,” Chris said with a nod. “So Suzanne Hope was the one who referred Corinne to the site?”
“Yes.”
“What Suzanne did—what your wife did—it’s a horrible thing, don’t you think? You see, the Internet makes it easy to be deceptive. The Internet makes it easy to be anonymous and to lie and to keep terrible, destructive secrets from your loved ones. We”—he opened his hand, indicated his group—“are just evening the playing field a little bit.”
Adam almost smiled. “Is that what you tell yourself?”
“It’s the truth. Take your wife, for example. The Fake-A-Pregnancy site, like all those sites, promises to be discreet, and she thought because it’s online and makes that silly promise that no one would ever know. But do you really believe anything is truly anonymous? And I’m not talking about some kind of spooky governmental NSA thing. I’m talking about human beings. Do you really think that everything is that automated, that there aren’t employees who can access your credit card information or your browsing history?” He smiled at Adam. “Do you really think anything is truly a secret?”
“Chris? That’s your name, right?”
“Right.”
“I don’t care about any of that,” Adam said. “I care about my wife.”
“And I told you the truth about her. I opened your eyes. You should be grateful to me. Instead, you hunted us down. And when you found Ingrid—”
“I told you. I didn’t find her. I searched for you, that’s all.”
“Why? Did you check the link that I gave you?”
“Yes.”
“And then you checked your Visa bill. You knew that what I told you was the truth, right?”
“Right.”
“So—”
“She’s missing.”
“Who?” Chris frowned. “Your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Wait, when you say she’s missing, did you confront her with what I told you?”
Adam said nothing.
“And then, what, she ran off or something?”
“Corinne didn’t just run off.”
Merton said, “We’re wasting time. He’s stalling.”
Chris looked at him. “You moved his car out of sight, right?”
Merton nodded.
“And we took the battery out of his phone. Relax. There’s time.” He turned back toward Adam. “Don’t you see, Adam? Your wife had deceived you. You had a right to know.”
“Maybe,” Adam said. “But not from you.” He felt his right wrist start slipping through the chain. “Your friend Ingrid is dead because of you.”
“You did that,” Merton shouted.
“No. Someone killed her. And not just her.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The same person who killed your friend also murdered Heidi Dann.”
That made them all stop. Gabrielle said, “Oh my God.”
Chris’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”
“You didn’t know about that, did you? Ingrid isn’t the only murder victim. Heidi Dann was shot and killed too.”
Gabrielle said, “Chris?”
“Let me think.”
“Heidi was murdered first,” Adam continued. “Then Ingrid. And on top of that, my wife is missing. That’s what your revealing of secrets got you.”
“Just shut up,” Chris said. “We need to figure this out.”
“I think he’s telling the truth,” the long-haired guy added.
“He’s not,” Merton shouted, hoisting the gun up and pointing it back at Adam. “But even if he is, he’s a threat to us. We have no choice here. He’s been asking questions and searching for us.”
Adam kept his voice as steady as he could. “I’ve been searching for my wife.”
“We don’t know where she is,” Gabrielle said.
“So what happened, then?”
Chris stood there, still stunned. “Heidi Dann is dead?”
“Yes. And maybe my wife is next. You need to tell me what you did to her.”
“We didn’t do anything,” Chris said.
The wrist was almost free. “Like you said before, start at the beginning,” Adam said. “When you blackmailed my wife, how did she react? Did she refuse to pay?”
Chris turned and looked at the long-haired man behind him. Then he turned back to Adam and knelt down next to him. Adam was still working his wrist free. He was close. Of course, what would he do then? Merton had taken a step back. If he grabbed Chris, Merton would have plenty of time to aim the gun.
“Adam?”
“What?”
“We never blackmailed your wife. We never even spoke to her.”
Adam didn’t understand. “You blackmailed Suzanne.”
“Yes.”
“And Heidi.”
“Yes. But your case was different.”
“Different how?”
“We were hired to do it.”
For a moment, the pain in his head was gone, pushed out by pure confusion. “Someone hired you to tell me that?”
“They hired us to find lies and secrets about your wife and then reveal them.”
“Who hired you?”
“I don’t know the name of the client,” Chris said, “but we were hired by an investigation firm named CBW.”
Adam felt something inside of him plummet.
“What is it?” Chris asked.
“Untie me.”
Merton stepped forward. “No way. You ain’t going—”
Then a gunfire blast shattered the room. And Merton’s head exploded in blood.
Chapter 52
Kuntz had gotten the address of Eduardo’s garage from Ingrid.
