Chapter 5 - The Journal That Could Destroy Colin Hale
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The notebook was blue.
Cheap.
Spiral-bound.
Paige had bought it at a grocery store in Portland for three dollars and ninety-nine cents.
She remembered standing in the stationery aisle, trying to decide whether recording what happened to her was brave or foolish.
Then she'd remembered the night Colin broke two of her ribs.
The hospital.
The doctor who asked whether she felt safe at home.
The way Colin answered before she could.
She fell down the stairs.
Paige had written everything down when she finally escaped.
Dates.
Locations.
Photographs she'd printed from her old phone.
Names of people who saw her injuries.
And the things Colin said afterward.
You made me do this.
Nobody will believe you.
You belong to me.
Now someone had taken it.
And Paige knew exactly why.
“They're going to destroy it,” she whispered.
Evelyn shook her head.
“We don't know that.”
“They'll burn it.”
“It's possible, but you told me earlier that you kept digital copies of some photographs.”
Paige nodded.
“On an old laptop.”
“Where is it?”
Her stomach tightened.
“In storage.”
“Portland?”
“Yes.”
“Was the laptop in your apartment?”
“No.”
Evelyn leaned forward.
“Where?”
Paige hesitated.
Then answered.
“With my friend Naomi.”
Naomi Brooks had worked beside her at the coffee shop.
She was the first person Paige trusted enough to tell the truth about Colin.
When Paige disappeared six months earlier, Naomi had received one message.
I'm okay. Please don't look for me.
Paige hadn't contacted her since.
Not because she didn't care.
Because Colin had threatened everyone she loved.
Evelyn asked permission to contact Naomi.
Paige nodded.
Then quickly added, “Please don't put her in danger.”
“I'll explain the situation and let her decide how she wants to help.”
An hour later, Naomi answered.
Paige heard her voice through the speakerphone.
“Hello?”
“Naomi?”
Silence.
Then a sharp breath.
“Paige?”
Tears filled Paige's eyes.
“Hi.”
“Oh my God.”
Naomi sounded like she was crying.
“Where have you been?”
Paige covered her mouth.
“I'm sorry.”
“Are you safe?”
The question broke her.
For years, people had asked whether Colin was happy.
Whether the wedding was beautiful.
Whether she'd forgiven him.
Nobody asked whether she was safe.
Not until now.
“I think so,” Paige whispered.
Naomi began crying harder.
Then said, “Your laptop is still here.”
Relief rushed through Paige.
“Please don't open it.”
“I won't.”
“And don't give it to anyone except the attorney.”
Naomi agreed to arrange a secure transfer.
Then she said something unexpected.
“Paige, someone came to the coffee shop last week.”
Paige went still.
“Who?”
“A man in a gray suit.”
“What did he want?”
“He asked whether I'd heard from you.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“Did he give a name?”
“No.”
Naomi hesitated.
“But I recognized him.”
Paige frowned.
“From where?”
“He was at the fundraiser Colin hosted in Portland last spring.”
Paige stared.
Colin had visited Portland?
After she escaped?
Naomi continued.
“He was standing beside Colin's father in one of the photographs from the event.”
Paige's blood turned cold.
Richard Hale had been looking for her long before Colin officially found her.
And the man at Naomi's coffee shop may have been part of that search.
After the call, Paige sat alone in the library.
Gabriel entered a few minutes later.
Evelyn had already told him about the stolen journal, with Paige's permission.
He stood near the doorway.
“Naomi is safe for now.”
Paige looked up.
“How do you know?”
“My security team confirmed nobody followed her home.”
She studied him.
“Did you send men to watch her?”
“Yes. At Evelyn's request, and Naomi agreed after she was contacted.”
Paige nodded slowly.
Then looked down.
“Colin used to say he watched people because he loved them.”
Gabriel went still.
Paige continued.
“He checked my phone. Read my messages. Followed me to work.”
Her voice trembled.
“He always said he was keeping me safe.”
Gabriel pulled out a chair.
“Then you should know exactly what arrangements are being made for your protection. You can refuse them.”
Paige looked at him.
“Would you really let me?”
“Yes.”
She studied his face.
Then whispered, “That's going to take some getting used to.”
Gabriel gave a sad smile.
“I imagine it will.”
That evening, the private physician examined Paige.
The appointment lasted nearly an hour.
The doctor documented bruises, tenderness around her ribs, and signs of prolonged physical and emotional stress.
She asked whether Paige wanted the injuries recorded for possible legal proceedings.
Paige said yes.
It was the first time she'd willingly described what Colin did without trying to protect him.
When the examination ended, she felt exhausted.
But lighter.
As though every truthful sentence had loosened another knot around her throat.
At ten that night, Evelyn called.
Naomi had delivered the laptop to an attorney in Portland.
The files were intact.
And there was something nobody expected.
Paige's old computer had automatically backed up photographs from a phone she'd used while living with Colin.
Among them were pictures of documents.
Financial documents.
She'd taken them almost two years earlier without remembering.
One photograph showed a transfer authorization.
Another showed a list of offshore accounts.
And the third showed a document bearing her own signature.
Paige stared at the image Evelyn sent.
Her hands began shaking.
Because beneath her name was a title she'd never seen before.
Managing Director — Aster Holdings International.
Paige looked toward Gabriel.
Then whispered, “Colin didn't just use my name.”
May you like
Her voice broke.
“He made me the owner of one of his offshore companies.”
