Chapter 52 The Audio Feed
COLLIN’S POV
I sat in my study at midnight with my laptop open and headphones on. The recordings from today were already uploaded to my secure server and I had been listening for three hours straight. Every conversation, every whisper, and every sound Caitlyn made throughout the day.
I started with the morning. She's in the bathroom getting ready. The sound of water running, as she brushes her teeth. It was nothing interesting there, just a normal morning routine.
Then breakfast. I heard myself asking if she was happy and her pause before answering. That pause told me everything, she was lying. People who were actually happy did not need time to think about their answer.
"It is the pregnancy," her voice said through my headphones. "It makes me tired and emotional but I am really happy."
She added that word at the end like she was trying to convince herself as much as me. Like if she said it enough times it would become true.
I skipped ahead to the afternoon. Her talking to herself while cleaning. Mumbling about dusting and organizing, boring domestic stuff that meant nothing.
But then I heard something that made me stop and rewind. It was around 2pm, and Caitlyn was in the bedroom, and she thought she was alone.
"I know you are scared too," she whispered. "We are going to be okay. We have to be."
Who was she talking to? The baby obviously. But the way she said it sounded like she was trying to reassure herself. Like she knew something bad was coming and was trying to stay calm.
I kept listening for more cleaning sounds. Mrs Chen brought her lunch, small talk about the weather, nothing useful.
Then, around 4pm, I heard something that made my blood run cold. Caitlyn was in the bedroom again. Talking to someone on the phone, but I had her regular phone monitored, and there were no calls at that time.
Which meant she had another phone. One I did not know about, one she was using to talk to someone behind my back.
"I cannot keep doing this," her voice said quietly. "He is watching me all the time now, I think he knows."
Silence while the other person talked.
"I do not know how much longer I can hold on," Caitlyn continued. "You need to move faster please."
"Okay," she finally said. "I will wait for the signal, just please hurry."
Wait for the signal. So someone was planning something, it was probably an extraction, probably Rourke coming to rescue her.
I rewound the recording and listened again. I tried to hear any background noise that might tell me who she was talking to but there was nothing. Just her voice and silence.
I pulled up the video footage from that same time. Caitlyn was sitting on her bed with her back to the camera. She had something in her hand, but I could not see what it was, a phone, probably. The secret phone she thought I did not know about.
Except I did know about it. I had found it two days ago, hidden in her closet, and taken it. Had my tech guy pull all the data from it before I put it back.
But now it is gone again. Which meant someone had warned her, probably Mrs Chen. That traitor had been helping Caitlyn this whole time.
I made a mental note to fire Mrs Chen or maybe worse. I could not have staff who betrayed me. That set a bad example for everyone else.
I kept listening to more recordings. The dinner preparation, and her getting ready. Our drive to the restaurant, the entire business dinner.
At the dinner, I heard her laughing at jokes that were not funny. Complimenting wives she did not know, playing her role perfectly. If I had not known better I would have thought she was actually enjoying herself.
But I did know better. I knew she was acting, performing, pretending to be the dutiful wife while secretly planning to betray me.
The car ride home was mostly silent. Just me telling her that her job was to make me look good, her agreeing quietly. The sound of the engine and the radio.
Then we got home and I heard her go to her room. The sound of her changing clothes, washing her face, and getting ready for bed.
And then I heard something that confirmed everything. Caitlyn is standing at the bathroom sink, talking to her reflection.
"Just keep pretending," she whispered. "Rourke will come soon, just hold on a little longer."
She said his name. Detective Marcus Rourke, who had been investigating me for years, the one honest cop in this entire corrupt city, had gotten to my wife.
I rewound it and listened again. "Rourke will come soon." So they had a plan, a timeline. He was going to extract her, and probably soon, based on how desperate she sounded.
I took off my headphones and leaned back in my chair. So Caitlyn was definitely the leak, she had been feeding information to Rourke. She was waiting for him to rescue her and she thought I did not know.
But I knew everything. I had recordings of her confessing, and I had proof she was working against me. Now I just needed to decide what to do about it.
I could confront her directly. Drag her into my study and play the recordings, watch her face as she realizes I have caught her. Make her beg for mercy.
But that was too simple and obvious. Caitlyn was not the only problem here. Rourke was the bigger threat. He had been building a case against me for years and now he had an inside source.
I needed to eliminate both of them but I had to be smart about it. I had to make it look like something else, make sure no one suspects me.
I pulled out my phone and called Dimitri. It was late but he answered on the second ring.
"We have a problem," I said.
"What kind of problem?" Dimitri asked.
"My wife has been working with Detective Rourke," I said. "Feeding him information about our operations, I have proof."
Silence on the other end. Then Dimitri spoke. "Are you certain?"
"I have recordings," I said. "She confessed to working with him. Her waiting for him to extract her."
"Then you need to deal with her," Dimitri said simply.
"I plan to," I said. "But I need to do it carefully. She is pregnant, killing a pregnant woman raises questions."
"Make it look like an accident," Dimitri suggested. "Or blame it on someone else. Jason Cross would be a perfect scapegoat."
Jason Cross. The biker who had been hitting our operations for months. The one who showed up at my wedding and had been sniffing around Caitlyn ever since.
"That could work," I said slowly. "Make it look like Cross kidnapped and killed her. Frame him for it."
"Exactly," Dimitri said. "Two problems solved at once. You eliminate your wife and you get rid of Cross."
"What about Rourke?" I asked.
"Rourke is harder," Dimitri admitted. "He is a cop. Killing a cop brings too much heat. But if his star witness disappears and his case falls apart maybe he will back off."
Maybe, but probably not. Rourke was determined, he would not stop just because Caitlyn was gone. He would dig deeper, find other sources. Keep coming after me.