Chapter 3

I fought to keep the tears from falling and turned my head away, unable to meet Denise's eyes.

I was afraid—afraid of seeing the scar on her forehead and that she'd confirm the truth I'd been refusing to accept.

Denise let out a quiet sigh, and the familiar warmth returned to her eyes. "Graham, I'm August's wife now. No matter how much you fight it, I have responsibilities now—as a wife and as a mother."

I lowered my head with a bitter laugh, my voice shaking with anger. "But you're my wife! What about your responsibility to me?"

The crushing weight in my chest made it hard to breathe. I forced myself upright and grabbed her arm. "You promised we'd spend our lives together. Denise, why? Just tell me why."

"Graham! Stop making a scene!" My mother shoved me away, tears in her eyes.

The last of my strength gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor.

"Denise is your sister-in-law now. No amount of throwing a fit is going to change that."

I opened my mouth to argue, but my phone rang. It was the ringtone I'd assigned to calls from the police department.

I answered immediately.

Captain Owen Barrett said, "Graham, the state police just concluded their investigation. You can return to Major Crimes.

"August's reported death had nothing to do with you. He spent the last three years undercover after faking his death.

"Based on the evidence he submitted, we dismantled a transnational organ trafficking ring. He's being awarded the department's highest commendation..."

My mind went completely blank. I couldn't hear another word.

The organ trafficking case… That was the case I'd been secretly investigating all along.

I shoved past everyone and sprinted home. I threw open my safe.

Every piece of evidence I'd risked my life collecting over the past three years was gone. I collapsed onto the floor, pounding my fist against the hardwood in despair.

Suddenly, someone wrapped both arms around me from behind.

"Graham, don't hurt yourself."

I froze before slowly turning around.

It was Denise.

In that instant, it hit me. My safe's combination was Denise's birthday. She was the only other person who could open it. She'd stolen my evidence and given it to August.

Tears streamed down my face as I grabbed the front of her shirt, barely able to get the words out.

"You stole my evidence for August? Do you have any idea what I went through to collect it? I nearly died over and over again! That evidence was my only chance to get back to Major Crimes!"

The organ trafficking case had been the last investigation assigned to me before I was transferred out.

To photograph a crucial meeting between the suspects, I was thrown from the third floor of an underground clinic. My lower back was shattered, and my left shoulder was crushed.

To infiltrate the organization, I posed as a buyer at one of their underground auctions. When they found the recorder I was wearing, they locked me in a flooded holding cell for three days.

I barely escaped alive with the evidence.

How could she hand over the evidence I'd nearly died to collect?

I gripped Denise's shoulders so tightly my hands trembled. She winced in pain but didn't pull away.

Instead, she looked me straight in the eye. "Graham, you owed this to August. If it weren't for you, he never would've had to fake his death. He never would've lost his career.

"You owe him. Consider it your way of making it up to him."

I opened my mouth, furious, ready to argue.

Before I could speak, I looked up and saw my mother standing in the bedroom doorway with another evidence file in her hands.

"Graham, I know these past few years haven't been easy for you. But August has had it even harder. He's always hated coming up short. Can't you help him just this once?

"You're brothers. What difference does it make which one of you gets the credit? Don't be so selfish."

As I laughed, my whole body shook, and the tears wouldn't stop.

Brothers?

When August stole my wife, did he remember we were brothers?

When he disappeared with Denise and Lily, faked their deaths, destroyed my career, and left the whole world believing I was responsible, did he remember we were brothers then?

I lunged forward, snatched the folder from my mother's hands, and tore every page to shreds.

"If you let him get the rest of my evidence, I'll make sure neither of us walks away alive."

My mother froze. Her face darkened as she pointed a trembling finger at me. "So this is how it is. Graham, you're the one who abandoned this family first. Don't blame me for what happens next."

Denise looked at me for a long moment before helping my mother out of the room.

I closed my eyes. Every ounce of strength drained from my body as I curled into the corner without moving.

Outside, daylight slowly faded into night.

No matter how late I used to work, Denise would always make me dinner before I got home. Before she left today, she'd done the same thing.

I slowly got to my feet, picked up the cold food, and dumped it into the trash.

Then I turned on my computer. I still had one complete chain of evidence they hadn't found.

I uploaded the entire evidence file. Then I recorded one final video.

"Stolen evidence always leaves a trail."