Chapter 2 - The Case in the SafeThe black case sat in the center of Nathan Cole’s private office like a bomb.
Governor Nathan Cole’s residence outside Richmond, Virginia, was never truly quiet. Security radios crackled behind closed doors. Phones rang before sunrise. Assistants hurried through marble hallways carrying folders stamped CONFIDENTIAL.
But at exactly 8:17 a.m., Elena stood beside the breakfast table holding a pitcher of orange juice and felt something was terribly wrong.
Nathan sat at the head of the table in a navy suit, reviewing notes for a transportation bill he was supposed to sign that afternoon.
His wife, Rebecca Cole, stood beside the windows in a crimson dress, staring at Elena.
Not casually.
Not impatiently.
At her wrist.
“Elena,” Rebecca said.
Elena stopped.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Where did you get that watch?”
Elena’s fingers instinctively covered the black smartwatch beneath her sleeve.
Nathan glanced up.
Rebecca crossed the room.
“I asked you a question.”
“My daughter gave it to me.”
“Your daughter.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca laughed softly.
Then her expression hardened.
“Interesting, because that watch has a recording application.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
Three nights earlier, while cleaning the second-floor hallway, she had heard voices inside Nathan’s private office.
Rebecca’s voice.
And Senator Marcus Hale’s.
Nathan’s biggest political rival.
Elena had not meant to listen.
She had certainly not meant to record them.
But her sleeve had pressed against her watch while she carried folded towels, activating the voice-and-video recording shortcut her daughter had installed.
At first Elena heard only political gossip.
Then Rebecca said something that had frozen her outside the door.
“Once the documents appear in Nathan’s safe, the investigation begins.”
Marcus chuckled.
“And the transfers?”
“Already arranged. Two shell accounts. One foreign donor. By the time anyone discovers they’re fabricated, Nathan will have resigned.”
Elena had almost dropped the towels.
Then she heard kissing.
She hurried away before they opened the door.
She had spent three sleepless nights deciding what to do with the recording.
Now Rebecca knew.
“Give it to me,” Rebecca said.
Elena stepped backward.
Nathan frowned.
“Rebecca, what exactly is happening?”
“Stay out of this.”
“I live here.”
Rebecca ignored him.
She grabbed Elena’s wrist.
“Unlock it.”
“Ma’am, please.”
“Unlock the watch.”
“No.”
The word slipped out quietly.
Rebecca froze.
Elena had worked in the residence for four years.
She had endured Rebecca’s insults, impossible demands, accusations, and deliberate humiliation.
She had never once refused her.
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you say?”
Elena swallowed.
“No.”
Rebecca slapped her.
The crack echoed through the dining room.
Elena stumbled against the table.
The pitcher shattered on the floor.
Nathan shot to his feet.
“Rebecca!”
Rebecca lunged for the watch.
“Give me that!”
Elena jerked away.
Nathan caught Rebecca’s arm.
“That’s enough!”
“She has been spying on me!”
“She’s bleeding.”
Elena touched her lip.
A smear of red appeared on her finger.
Two security agents entered immediately.
Rebecca pointed at Elena.
“Take that watch.”
The agents hesitated.
Nathan’s voice became cold.
“No one touches her.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“You’re taking the maid’s side?”
“I’m taking the side of the person you just assaulted.”
Rebecca laughed, but Elena saw fear behind it.
Raw fear.
Nathan looked at Elena.
“What’s on the watch?”
Elena’s heartbeat thundered.
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Elena, think very carefully before you answer.”
Nathan turned toward his wife.
“Why?”
Rebecca said nothing.
Nathan looked back at Elena.
“Show me.”
For a moment Elena could not move.
Then she lifted her wrist.
Her fingers shook as she opened the recording folder.
Rebecca’s face drained of color.
“Elena…”
The governor reached toward the watch.
“Play it.”
Elena pressed the screen.
Static filled the room.
Then Rebecca’s recorded voice emerged.
“Once the documents appear in Nathan’s safe, the investigation begins.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
Marcus Hale answered through the tiny speaker.
“And the transfers?”
“Already arranged.”
Nathan slowly turned toward his wife.
Rebecca backed away.
The recording continued.
“He’ll lose the governorship first,” Rebecca said. “Then the party will abandon him. Once he’s indicted, Marcus can run on cleaning up Nathan’s corruption.”
Marcus laughed.
“And afterward?”
Rebecca’s voice softened.
“Afterward, we stop hiding.”
A kissing sound came through the speaker.
Nobody moved.
Nathan’s face became strangely blank.
Then Marcus spoke again.
“You’re sure your husband suspects nothing?”
Rebecca laughed.
“Nathan still believes I love him.”
The recording ended.
Silence returned.
Nathan stared at Rebecca.
Twenty-two years of marriage seemed to collapse in his eyes.
Rebecca whispered, “It isn’t what you think.”
Nathan looked almost amazed.
“You’re discussing framing me for a federal crime while kissing another man.”
“It was political strategy.”
“Political strategy?”
“I was protecting myself.”
“From what?”
“From becoming irrelevant beside you!”
The security chief appeared at the doorway.
Nathan did not take his eyes off Rebecca.
“Lock down the residence.”
Rebecca stiffened.
“Nathan.”
“Secure every computer, phone, tablet, and external drive in this house.”
“Nathan, don’t do this.”
“And contact federal investigators.”
Rebecca lunged toward Elena.
“You stupid little servant!”
One security agent blocked her.
Nathan’s voice cracked like a gunshot.
“Enough!”
Rebecca stared at her husband.
Then at Elena.
Something changed in her expression.
Fear disappeared.
In its place came something colder.
“You think that recording saves you?” she whispered.
Nathan frowned.
Rebecca smiled.
“You have no idea what Marcus and I already put in motion.”
Nathan took one step toward her.
“What did you do?”
Rebecca’s smile widened.
“Check your office safe.”
The entire room went still.
Nathan looked toward the security chief.
“Now.”
The chief hurried upstairs.
Three minutes later, his voice came over the radio.
“Governor…”
Nathan grabbed the radio.
“What?”
A pause.
Then:
“There’s a locked case in your safe, sir.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t put one there.”
“We opened it.”
Another pause.
This one longer.
“There’s approximately two hundred thousand dollars in cash inside.”
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Rebecca smiled.
“And that,” she whispered, “is only the beginning.”
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