out of prison, he has to leave the country.”
Jonas glanced at the clock on the wall, irritated. Every second that passed was another second Barrick was getting away. How could she be so blinded to who Barrick really was?
“Where is he?” Jonas asked.
Bianca’s jaw clenched, but she just stared at the table in front of her.
“So is this how things are going to play out?” Madison asked. “Because here’s the thing. We will find him. And even if he is innocent of murder, which I’m convinced he isn’t, the consequences of using a forged passport are pretty stiff. Up to fifteen years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine. On top of that, there’s a side dish of felony crimes served up. He will go back to prison.”
Bianca shook her head. “He’s smart. Smarter than you think.”
“And you’re willing to go to prison for helping him escape?” Jonas caught her gaze. “Because we can prove what we’re saying.”
“How?”
“For starters, check your bank accounts. See how much money is left.”
Bianca didn’t flinch. “He’s not after my money. It’s a perk. Sure. And it will allow us to do what we want to do, but he loves me—”
“Just check.”
Madison slid Bianca’s phone across the table, then waited.
“There must be a mistake.”
“Why do you say that?” Madison asked.
“Because . . .” Bianca dropped the phone onto the table, her hand shaking. “He wouldn’t just take my money.”
“How much is missing?”
“There was about a hundred thousand in there.” Bianca’s face was pale. “But the rest of my money is safe. He had me move six million into an account offshore so we could have easy access. But without my signature”—she struggled to take a breath—“he can’t touch it.”
“So he still needs you,” Jonas said.
“This is a nightmare.” Bianca pressed her fingers against her temples. “I thought he was planning ahead. I gave him access to that account so he could arrange our passports and tickets and whatever we’d need once we left the country. I trusted him. No, I don’t care what you say, there’s an explanation.”
“I’m sorry,” Madison said. “I know this isn’t easy, but we need your help to find him, Bianca. He’s done this before to other women. And we now believe that at least two of those women are dead.”
“No. You don’t understand.” Bianca’s expression was resolute. “He told me this might happen. He said if I was ever brought in, you would try to confuse me. Get me to say what you want to hear. But you don’t know him like I do. This . . . this doesn’t change anything.” She pushed the phone across the table.
“There’s more,” Madison said. “Remember Detective Randall? He found some interesting things in his investigation about your husband, Jim, who died fourteen months ago.”
“What does he have to do with any of this?”
“There were a few interesting inconsistencies with his death that we found in his case files.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Detective Randall is convinced your husband didn’t die of natural causes, and in fact, we’ve asked to reopen the case.”
“That’s not possible. My husband died of a heart attack. I was always begging him to lose weight. To eat right and stop drinking, but he never listened to me.”
“Did you know he’d filed for divorce?”
Bianca’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
“Two days before he died. But you knew that. Because if he divorced you—especially if it was found out you were having an affair—you would have lost everything, wouldn’t you?”
“I didn’t kill my husband,” Bianca said.
“Of course you didn’t,” Madison said. “We think Damon Barrick did.”
“No. This is nothing more than another one of your tricks. You’re trying to get me to confess something that didn’t happen. I know Damon. He wasn’t even around the weekend my husband died. Jim and I had gone to spend a few days in Aspen.”
“But you were having an affair with Damon while your husband was still alive.”
“No . . . yes . . . it doesn’t matter. Any sparks had died out in our marriage years before, but that didn’t mean I would kill him. There was no reason to. He left everything to me if he died, yes, but I always had access to what we owned.”
“But it was financially advantageous for Damon,” Madison said. “And what else did he tell you? That he loved you. That the two of you would find a way to leave the country together.”
“This was never about money.”
“A hundred thousand gives him enough to get out of the country.”
“No. He wanted