“I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
“It’s in the vanity drawer in the bridal dressing room,” I said.
“He checked it while he was on the phone.”
An officer left through the same side entrance.
Luke watched him go, and for the first time, genuine fear broke through his performance.
He looked at me again, lowering his voice.
“You called them?”
I said nothing.
His eyes narrowed.
“You don’t understand what you heard.”
“Then explain the last three.”
A murmur moved through the room.
Luke’s face went still.
I continued before fear could close my throat.
“You told the woman on the phone it was the same script as the last three.”
“There was no woman.”
“You had her on speaker.”
“I wasn’t in the dressing room.”
“You just said I misunderstood what I heard.”
The contradiction hung between us.
The lead officer stepped closer.
“Mr.
Hayes, do not speak to her.”
Luke gave him a wounded look.
“She’s my fiancée.
She is obviously having some kind of panic episode.”
That was the Luke I knew—or thought I knew.
When charm failed, he made the other person seem unstable.
He turned toward my parents.
“Please,” he said.
“You know me.
I love Emily.
She’s been under enormous pressure all week.”
My mother’s eyes filled with tears, but she did not move toward him.
My father looked at me.
“Did you hear him clearly?”
“Yes.”
“Every word?”
“Yes.”
He faced Luke.
“Then I know enough.”
Luke’s expression hardened for half a second before he softened it again.
The officer who had left returned carrying the slim black folder in gloved hands.
He passed it to the lead officer, who opened it just far enough to inspect the contents without displaying them to the guests.
Luke began speaking faster.
“Those are private financial documents.
She signed them voluntarily.
You cannot seize them without cause.”
The lead officer removed several pages and studied the first one.
“What name did you use when you opened these accounts?”
“My legal name.”
“Luke Hayes?”
“Yes.”
The officer looked at him for a long moment.
“That is not the name associated with the identification used to create at least one of these accounts.”
Luke’s mouth opened, but no answer came.
