Page 113 of The Voice We Find

“Officially, seventeen months ago,” Agent Terrell answers. “Unofficially, who knows. Your brother has been brokering questionable deals with a loyal partner he’s known for some time—a friend he met in college with art connections both here and overseas. It started slow at first, with the two of them moving fraudulent pieces for a cut of the profits, but your brother—”

“Wants to be the one in control,” I finish for him, only to realize there’s another revelation that’s risen to the surface. My eyes blink wide as I recall all the strange reactions the day after the storm last fall. “The van. Was that involved somehow?”

Agent Terrell nods. “Yes. Which is why we thought you might have been more involved than we originally thought. But like I said, we ruled you out after reviewing surveillance and conversing with you under false pretenses. It wasn’t long after that the two men began curating their own orders and clientele and building a cover.”

Lights are flickering on in my brain one by one. “The private art and wine events in the tasting room?”

“It was an almost perfect cover,” Agent Terrell says before his gaze cuts to my sister-in-law. “With one minor flaw.”

I twist in my seat, my knee bouncing of its own volition. “What?”

“Me,” Natalie says. “And him.” She pats the tiny baby bump hidden under the layers of her carefully selected gown.

“I don’t understand. Why were you the flaw?”

“Who do you think Jasper put in charge of all the paperwork and the bills of sale at the end of those events?” Though the questionis rhetorical, the answer is obvious: Natalie. “It was my signature on all those fraudulent documents. I had no idea that Jasper had acquired the art illegally, of course, but he was more than willing to pin me with the evidence that would have made me complicit to his crimes.” Her eyes harden. “A favorite pastime of his.”

“So after more than an entire year of stalemates in our investigation, we took a big but calculated risk,” Agent Terrell continues.

“Agent Trujillo followed me into Target. It was the day after I took my third positive pregnancy test in early September,” Natalie says. “And she watched me linger a bit too long in the baby department and buy the one and only baby item I have hidden away in my closet—a tiny lovey.”

“A lovey?” I question.

“Like a miniature security blanket,” Natalie clarifies. “Agent Trujillo met me at my car and asked me if I pictured raising my baby myself or letting the system raise him while I sat in jail.”

I cover my gasp with my hand.

“Yeah.” Natalie nods. “She gave me her card and told me to call when I was ready to discuss a few matters in a private location. But I handed it back and told her I could be ready right then. I didn’t need an ultimatum to choose my baby.” She lifts her head. “I followed her to a safe place, and there she told me of my husband’s dealings, and in turn I gave her every passcode I knew to every account we shared, including my written permission for any and all law enforcement to access the security cameras around our property and on our vehicles. Once she knew she could trust me, she introduced me to Agent Terrell ... or Clinton, as I’d known him up till then.”

Shocked, I glance between them again. “You’ve been feeding him information since September?”

“Yes, which is partly how they knew about you.” She gives me a meek shrug. “They also tapped the Escalades and the utility van.”

I’m nodding, though my body doesn’t quite feel attached to my head.

“I haven’t known a life outside of Jasper’s control since I was fifteen years old. He was my hero back then, a sanctuary outsidemy abusive home life. But then he became the abuser. Mentally, emotionally, and sometimes ... physically.” She swallows. “I’ve been a passive girlfriend and wife, but I refuse to be a passive mother.”

I want to hate my brother for what he almost cost my sister-in-law and nephew, but instead of hate, I’m flooded with relief and love for the woman in front of me.

“I’m so proud of you, Natalie. You did the right thing.”

“Your parents won’t think so. They’ll blame me for this.”

I pull back. “My parents have refused to see the truth about their son for my entire life, but they can’t deny these facts. This isn’t about you—it’s about him. He doesn’t get to evade the consequences for his actions any longer.”

Natalie’s face crumples, and the atmosphere grows charged and uncomfortable once again. Agent Terrell must feel it, too, because he excuses himself a few seconds later. “I’ll give you two ladies a moment.”

As soon as he’s gone, Natalie’s voice begins to shake. “I’ve done a lot of things for Jasper I’m not proud of.”

“Natalie, if anybody understands what it’s like to live in his shadow, it’s—”

“I lied to the cops about Jasper’s whereabouts the night you were locked in that cellar. He needed an alibi, and I was too weak and brainwashed to stand up to him.”

She must see from my expression that I’m struggling to make the connection. “What are you telling me, exactly?”

She blows out a weighty breath. “Your brother was a terrible student. He cheated his way through college, paying for essays and purchasing the answer sheets for every test and exam, all while continuing to party and mess around with girls behind my back. But then one day, he got caught. His business professor held him after class and told him he had less than twenty-four hours to tell your parents before the dean would expel him.” She drops her eyes to her lap. “But instead, he concocted a plan with his new friend, Andre. Since the professor was a known wine connoisseur, Jasper offered him a deal: your dad’s rarest wine for an A and a clean record.The professor agreed, and your brother learned how to cheat the system on a whole new level.” She takes my cold hands in hers. “It was Andre’s voice you heard that night, and it was Jasper who left his only sister in that cellar without a second thought. But it was me who kept their secret for a decade and couldn’t look you in the eye for almost as long.” She studies our joined hands. “Out of all my sins, I know that one is the most undeserving of forgiveness. But I truly am so, so sorry.”

I’m too numb to name the multiple emotions coursing through me at her confession or to feel the gravity of all my brother’s grievances against me and my family, but I do know one thing: The same grace that set me free was given to Natalie, as well.

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