Chapter 12 - The FloorboardsVance fled.
But he had made one mistake.
He had told them exactly what he was searching for.
Sophie remembered Mark's obsession with the cabin.
Nine months in the spare room.
Three days alone at Fox Lake.
A man like Mark never trusted anyone.
Especially not a partner who knew his secrets.
They searched the cabin.
Nothing.
Then Sophie noticed something strange in the utility room.
One section of baseboard was newer than the rest.
Claire brought a crowbar.
The wood came loose.
Behind it was a heavy metal lockbox.
They carried it to the dining table.
The keypad required a code.
Sophie tried their wedding date.
Wrong.
Mark's birthday.
Wrong.
Then she entered the date of Claire's supposed death.
The lock clicked open.
Inside were flash drives.
Ten of them.
Each labeled.
Claire — Bridge Audio.
Vance — Offshore Transfers.
Sarah — Life Insurance.
The room went silent.
This wasn't one crime.
It was a system.
Mark had targeted women with assets.
Vance had helped create the legal machinery around them.
They had isolated women, manipulated them, and profited from their deaths.
The lockbox was Mark's insurance policy.
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His final weapon against his partner.
And now it belonged to Sophie.
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