Chapter 5 - The Accomplice in the Shadows
Morgan froze behind the computer monitor. Her breath hitched in her throat. She had three seconds before Julian reached the spare room.
With lightning speed, she pulled her flash drive from the USB port, shoved it into her bra, minimized the screen to a blank desktop, and grabbed a stack of dusty tax receipts sitting on the printer.
The door swung open.
Julian stood in the doorway, his leather jacket half-unzipped. His eyes instantly narrowed, landing on Morgan sitting at his desk. A dark, predatory tension rippled across his jaw.
“What are you doing in my office, Morgan?” His voice was dangerously low, stripped entirely of the sweet, affectionate husband facade.
Morgan looked up, blinking innocently, holding up the dusty receipts. “Julian, thank God you’re home. The IRS sent an automated audit warning to my firm’s email regarding our joint 2022 filing. I couldn't find your deduction paperwork in the living room, so I came in here to look for the receipt box.”
She let her lower lip tremble slightly, mimicking the anxious, overwhelmed accountant he always took her for.
“You locked the door,” Julian stated coldly, stepping into the room. He didn't look at the receipts; his gaze bored straight into the computer monitor.
“You left the key on the top molding, Julian. We share this apartment, remember? I’m the one who handles the taxes so we don't end up in federal prison.” She sighed heavily, dropping the receipts onto the desk, rubbing her temples in apparent exhaustion. “Why are you back so early anyway? I thought your meeting was in River North.”
Julian remained still for a long, suffocating moment. He walked over to the desk, his hand brushing against her neck as he reached down to move the mouse. The screen woke up, showing only a standard Excel spreadsheet she had quickly maximized.
The tension in his shoulders eased by an inch.
“The meeting got moved,” he said, his tone softening back into that practiced, manipulative warmth. “My partner Victoria wanted to go over the Wisconsin logistics in person. She’s waiting in the car downstairs.”
*Victoria.*
*V-Logistics.*
The name hit Morgan like an electric shock. The accomplice wasn't some shadowy dark-web broker across the globe; it was someone right here in Chicago.
“A logistics partner?” Morgan asked, standing up from the chair and picking up her purse. “I’d love to meet her. Why don't you invite her up for coffee?”
Julian’s smile tightened. “No. She’s on a conference call. We just stopped by so I could grab the vehicle registration for the truck. Actually, Morgan... I was thinking about our plans.”
He stepped closer, backing her against the bookshelf. He reached out, his fingers gently tracing the collar of her blouse. “About dinner tonight. Let’s not wait until Friday. Let’s celebrate tonight. I made reservations at that French bistro in Lincoln Park you’ve always wanted to try.”
He was pushing up the timeline. He didn't want to wait until Friday.
“Tonight?” Morgan managed an apologetic pout. “Oh, honey... I can’t. My boss called while I was on the train. A whole batch of quarterly reconciliations failed. I have to stay late at the office until at least nine.”
A flash of genuine fury rippled across Julian’s eyes before he masked it with a sigh. “Morgan, you work too hard for that penny-ante firm. Wear the necklace to work, at least. Let the girls in the office see how much your husband cherishes you.”
“I’m not wearing a two-thousand-dollar gold chain to dig through dusty storage archives, Julian,” she teased, tapping his chest playfully, though her fingers felt numb with disgust. “Tonight, when I get home, we’ll open a bottle of wine. And this weekend... let’s go to the cottage in Door County. Just the two of us. We can discuss selling it, like you wanted.”
Julian’s eyes flared with sudden, triumphant light. The bait was irresistible. The cottage had been his holy grail for months.
“Really?” Julian asked, barely able to conceal the greed in his voice. “You’re ready to let it go?”
“If we’re going to invest in your new logistics business, we need the capital,” she lied seamlessly, looking directly into the eyes of the man who wanted her dead. “Let’s spend the weekend up there, do a walkthrough, and sign the preliminary broker agreements.”
“You’re incredible, Morgan,” Julian said, pulling her into a tight embrace.
Over his shoulder, Morgan stared at the blank wall, her expression turned to stone.
May you like
She had set the trap. Now she had to ensure she wasn't the one caught in it.
***
