“She was his colleague,” I said. “And when she got into the accident, he stole her digital certificates.”

I watched the realization begin to sink into her face.

It was like watching a building collapse in slow motion.

The color left her cheeks, leaving her skin looking yellow under the fluorescent lights.

“He told me we were going to start over,” she whispered. “In Palm Springs. He bought the house.”

“He leased the house,” I corrected her. “Under Melanie’s name.”

“But the keys,” she said. “He gave me the keys.”

She reached into her purse and pulled out a small brass key ring.

She held it out as if it were proof of his devotion.

“He has the master keys,” I said. “And the moment the final transfer goes through, he is boarding a flight to Zurich.”

“Zurich?” she repeated.

“I found his flight confirmation,” I said. “One ticket. One-way.”

I swiped to the next image on my phone.

It was a screenshot of a Swiss Air booking confirmation.

Passenger: Lucas Vance.

Departure date: this coming Friday.

Chloe stared at the ticket details, her mouth slightly open.