Chapter 9: The Night Gina Disappeared

Gina's disappearance changed the case from ugly to dangerous.

The police questioned Bastian first.

He had been released pending a hearing on the unauthorized transfer, but his movements were restricted.

According to his lawyer, he had not seen Gina since the night she vanished.

According to his phone records, that was a lie.

They had exchanged twelve calls.

The final one lasted twenty-three minutes.

Bastian arrived at my parents' house the next morning with an officer behind him.

He looked exhausted.

"They think I hurt her," he said.

"Did you?"

His face twisted.

"You seriously believe I could?"

"I believed you would protect me once."

That silenced him.

Thayer stood beside the window, watching without interrupting.

Bastian noticed him and immediately bristled.

"Does he need to be here?"

"Yes."

"This is between us."

"There is no us."

He looked away.

"Gina called me because she was scared," he said. "She said the money was not where she expected it to be."

"What does that mean?"

"Her cousin controlled the shell company. He transferred part of it before the bank froze the account."

"How much?" Thayer asked.

"Three hundred thousand."

"And then?"

"He disappeared."

Bastian sat heavily.

"Gina thought he was going to blame everything on her."

"So she went to the airport?" I asked.

"She said she had a ticket. Then she called me again and said someone was following her."

"Who?"

"She didn't know."

"Why didn't you report it?"

"Because she told me not to."

The same answer.

Always.

Gina asked, and Bastian obeyed.

"What did she say in the last call?"

He hesitated.

"Bastian."

"She said she had proof against someone powerful."

"Who?"

"She wouldn't tell me."

Thayer's expression sharpened.

"Did she mention Senator Cross?"

Bastian looked confused.

"Why would she?"

Thayer exchanged a glance with me.

Vivienne's warning returned to my mind.

Her father wanted access to Sinclair influence.

A public scandal around our engagement could give him leverage.

"Did Gina know anyone connected to Senator Cross?" I asked.

"One of our friends works for his campaign."

"Name."

"Derek Sloan."

I remembered him from the bachelor party.

He had been one of the loudest men in the room.

Thayer called security before Bastian finished speaking.

Derek's apartment was empty.

His work phone had been disconnected.

His private phone last pinged near the same airport parking garage where Gina's car was found.

By afternoon, investigators had security footage.

Gina entered the garage alone.

Derek arrived twelve minutes later.

They argued beside her car.

Then a black sedan pulled into the camera's blind spot.

Neither of them appeared again.

The sedan was registered to a political consulting firm linked to Senator Cross.

Vivienne came to Thayer's office as soon as she heard.

"My father has people who clean up problems," she said. "Not murder. At least, I never believed murder."

"What proof could Gina have had against him?" I asked.

Vivienne looked ashamed.

"My father paid several online publishers to attack you. He wanted Thayer distracted and publicly compromised."

"Gina knew?"

"Derek arranged the leaks. Gina supplied the photos and recordings."

The pieces clicked together.

Gina had not simply humiliated me for attention.

She had sold the humiliation.

"Why would she turn against them?"

"Because Derek kept the money," Vivienne said. "She believed she was owed more."

Thayer's jaw tightened.

"Your father used her until she became inconvenient."

"Yes."

Vivienne lowered her eyes.

"I have already agreed to testify."

The room went silent.

"Against him?" I asked.

"Against everyone involved."

For the first time, I saw what the decision cost her.

She was not protecting a former fiancé.

She was destroying the power structure that had controlled her life.

I understood that kind of choice.

That night, police located Derek at a motel outside the city.

He was alone.

Terrified.

And willing to talk.

The black sedan had taken Gina to a private house owned by one of Senator Cross's donors.

Derek claimed she was alive when he left.

A tactical team raided the property before dawn.

They found Gina locked in an upstairs bedroom.

She was frightened, dehydrated, and furious.

She was also holding a flash drive containing payment records, messages, and instructions linking Senator Cross's staff to the media campaign.

When the police brought her out, cameras were waiting.

Gina covered her face.

For once, she knew what it felt like to have strangers claim ownership of her worst moment.

I watched the footage from Thayer's office.

I expected satisfaction.

I felt none.

"She tried to destroy you," Thayer said.

"I know."

"You are allowed to be angry."

"I am."

I turned off the screen.

"But I do not want her pain to become entertainment either."

Thayer studied me.

"That is why you were always too good for Bastian."

"Do not romanticize basic decency."

"I am not."

He stepped closer.

"I am recognizing the woman I love."

The word changed the room.

Love.

Not interest.

Not patience.

Not an old proposal waiting to be accepted.

I looked at him.

"You said thirty days."

"I did."

"It has been eight."

"I know."

"Then why say that now?"

"Because honesty should not have a schedule."

My heart pounded.

Before I could answer, the office door opened.

A security officer entered.

"Mr. Sinclair, Bastian Wilson is downstairs."

Thayer's expression cooled.

"What does he want?"

The officer looked at me.

"He says Gina has asked to see Meredith."