Chapter 10 - THE WIFE WHO HAD TWO HUSBANDS|
Vivian Castellano had been married before.
Hazel discovered it because Detective Brooks received a record request from Connecticut.
The first marriage had lasted eleven months.
The husband was a financial consultant named Richard Bellamy.
He disappeared after a boating accident.
His body was never recovered.
And six months after he vanished, Vivian received nearly two million dollars through a life insurance policy.
Hazel sat in Detective Brooks's office while the information was explained.
“Was she investigated?” Hazel asked.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Insufficient evidence to pursue charges.”
Hazel looked toward the window.
“So she kept the money.”
“Yes.”
“And then married Raymond.”
“Four years later.”
Hazel rubbed her forehead.
The pattern frightened her.
A wealthy husband.
A sudden disaster.
A missing body.
A substantial insurance payment.
Now another husband had nearly burned to death.
And Vivian had fled carrying financial documents.
“Was Richard Bellamy involved with the shipping business?”
Detective Brooks nodded.
“He had several clients connected to waterfront companies.”
Hazel leaned forward.
“Including Charles Rourke?”
“We're examining that possibility.”
Hazel thought about the man Vivian had married first.
Perhaps he was another victim.
Perhaps he'd known too much.
Or perhaps his disappearance was connected to the same criminal network.
“What about Vivian's family?”
Brooks consulted a folder.
“She grew up in New Jersey.”
“Her father owned a small import business.”
“Her mother died when she was seventeen.”
Hazel waited.
“Anything unusual?”
“The import business closed after a federal investigation.”
“Her father was convicted of fraud.”
Hazel felt cold.
“So she's been around this kind of operation her whole life.”
“Possibly.”
Brooks closed the folder.
“But family history doesn't establish criminal responsibility.”
Hazel nodded.
“I know.”
She was learning to separate evidence from suspicion.
It mattered.
Especially now.
Because every time she discovered another secret, the temptation to blame Vivian for everything became stronger.
And the truth might be more complicated than one cruel woman.
That afternoon, Hazel visited Raymond at the hospital.
He was sitting beside the window when she arrived.
His injured leg remained in a brace.
A dark bruise marked his jaw.
And the tattoos on his forearms were visible beneath the rolled sleeves of his shirt.
He looked up.
“Hazel.”
She paused near the door.
“You look better.”
“I feel like I lost an argument with a truck.”
Despite herself, she smiled.
“Maybe two trucks.”
He laughed softly.
Then his expression changed.
“Gabriel told me about my father's signature.”
Hazel sat opposite him.
“Yes.”
Raymond looked at his hands.
“I spent years telling myself my father's business was simply the world I inherited.”
“That I could separate the legitimate parts from the rest whenever I wanted.”
He shook his head.
“But I kept accepting the money.”
“I kept accepting the power.”
“And I kept telling myself the damage belonged to someone else.”
Hazel studied him.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because your father died working for a company my family controlled.”
His voice grew rough.
“And I benefited from that company.”
Hazel looked down.
She didn't know what to say.
Raymond continued.
“I can't claim responsibility for every decision my father made.”
“But I can stop pretending I had no responsibility for what happened after I took control.”
Hazel looked up.
“What are you going to do?”
“Cooperate fully with investigators.”
“Open the company records.”
“Remove anyone connected to the unlawful operations.”
“And accept whatever consequences come from my own choices.”
Hazel watched him.
“That won't be easy.”
“No.”
“And people may turn against you.”
“They already have.”
He glanced toward his bandaged hand.
“My wife tried to kill me.”
Hazel felt a sharp ache in her chest.
It was the first time he'd spoken those words without anger.
Only disbelief.
She studied his face.
“Did you love her?”
Raymond looked toward the window.
“I thought I did.”
Hazel waited.
He exhaled.
“I loved the idea of having someone beside me.”
“Someone who understood the family.”
“Someone who knew how to live in my world.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Turns out she understood it better than I did.”
Hazel looked down at her hands.
“I'm sorry.”
Raymond shook his head.
“Don't apologize for what she did.”
They sat quietly.
Then Raymond asked, “How's Marisol?”
Hazel's expression softened.
“Angry.”
“Exhausted.”
“Trying to plan a funeral when she should be studying for her exams.”
Raymond closed his eyes.
“Has she accepted the support?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“She says she doesn't want to owe anyone.”
Raymond nodded.
“I understand.”
Hazel looked at him.
“She's afraid the money comes with conditions.”
“There are none.”
“Then tell her that in writing.”
He nodded.
“I will.”
Hazel watched him for a moment.
Then she asked the question she'd been avoiding.
“Raymond, did Vivian know your brother was investigating her before he died?”
His expression tightened.
“Yes.”
Hazel stared.
“You knew?”
“Daniel told me he suspected her.”
“Why didn't you stop her?”
“I didn't believe him.”
The admission hung between them.
Raymond looked away.
“He told me Vivian was moving money.”
“I thought he was angry because she controlled some of the family's investments.”
“He said Marcus couldn't be trusted.”
“I told him he was imagining enemies.”
Hazel's chest tightened.
“What happened afterward?”
“Daniel stopped talking to me about it.”
Raymond swallowed.
“Three weeks later, he was dead.”
Hazel looked at his face.
There was no defense left in him.
Only regret.
“I should have listened,” he whispered.
Hazel thought of Rosa.
The complaints management ignored.
The repeated warnings.
The door nobody repaired.
“How many people have to die before someone listens?” she asked.
Raymond looked at her.
“I don't know.”
She wiped a tear from her cheek.
“That's what scares me.”
Raymond reached toward her hand.
Then stopped.
Hazel noticed.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then she placed her hand in his.
His fingers closed gently around hers.
No promises.
No dramatic declaration.
Just the warmth of another person who understood the cost of silence.
A knock interrupted them.
Gabriel entered carrying a folder.
His expression was grim.
“Raymond.”
Raymond released Hazel's hand.
“What?”
“We received an update on Richard Bellamy.”
Hazel stood.
“Vivian's first husband?”
Gabriel nodded.
“He's alive.”
The room went silent.
Raymond stared at him.
“What?”
Gabriel placed a photograph on the bedside table.
It showed a middle-aged man standing outside a small hardware store in Maine.
He had a beard.
His hair was graying.
But the resemblance to Richard Bellamy's older photographs was unmistakable.
Hazel leaned closer.
“Where did they find him?”
“Using the name Robert Ellis.”
Raymond frowned.
“Why would he fake his death?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“According to his attorney, he didn't.”
Hazel felt a chill.
“What does that mean?”
“He claims Vivian arranged the accident.”
“He survived.”
“But he went into hiding after receiving threats.”
Raymond stared at the photograph.
“Why didn't he go to the police?”
“He says he tried.”
Gabriel paused.
“And he says one of the officers he contacted was working for Vivian's father.”
Hazel looked toward Raymond.
For the first time, she saw real fear in his eyes.
Not fear for himself.
Fear that the woman he'd married had spent years turning powerful institutions into weapons.
Gabriel continued.
“Richard says Vivian stole company records before the boating accident.”
“Records connected to import businesses.”
“Dock contracts.”
“And a consulting arrangement with Charles Rourke.”
Hazel's heart pounded.
“My father's name?”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“He recognized it.”
Hazel gripped the chair.
“What did he say?”
Gabriel opened the folder.
“He says Michael Keen came to him shortly before the accident.”
“Michael wanted an independent financial expert to examine suspicious payments.”
Hazel felt her throat tighten.
“What happened?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Richard agreed to help.”
“Then he disappeared.”
The sequence was unbearable.
Her father had tried to uncover the truth.
Richard Bellamy had tried to help him.
Both men had nearly been erased.
And Vivian had continued building wealth and influence while the families left behind struggled to survive.
Raymond leaned forward.
“Where is Richard now?”
“In protective custody.”
“Will he testify?”
“Yes.”
Hazel closed her eyes.
For the first time, the investigation had reached beyond Vivian's version of events.
Someone from her past was alive.
Someone who could tell investigators what she'd done before marrying Raymond.
Then Gabriel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
He listened.
“Are you certain?”
Raymond looked at him.
“What happened?”
Gabriel lowered the phone.
“Marcus Dane has been captured.”
Hazel's pulse quickened.
“Where?”
“Near the Connecticut state line.”
Raymond sat straighter.
“And Vivian?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“She's still missing.”
Raymond's expression hardened.
“Did Marcus say where she went?”
Gabriel looked directly at Hazel.
“He said Vivian is going back to the place where everything began.”
Hazel felt cold.
“Pier Nine?”
Gabriel nodded.
“And he says she's taking someone with her.”
Raymond's voice turned sharp.
“Who?”
Gabriel swallowed.
“Marisol Delgado.”
Hazel stopped breathing.
The girl whose mother had died in the fire.
The girl who had finally begun trusting the people trying to help her.
The girl Hazel had promised she wouldn't abandon.
May you like
Vivian had taken her.
And somewhere near the dark waterfront, the woman responsible for the fire was preparing to destroy the last witness she could still reach.
