Merciless rap of knuckles against the thin wood of our door made John jump in his seat. My heart skipped too, but I said, "Stay here, sweetie," I murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Getting up off the edge of the mattress was a slow, agonizing process. My legs burned with a dull, throbbing ache as I forced my feet onto the cold linoleum floor. Months of grueling, soul-crushing physical therapy had finally brought me back to my feet, but walking was still a daily battle. I leaned heavily against the wall for support, taking small, cautious steps toward the entryway.
Our cramped, rented room smelled of damp plaster and cheap instant soup. Every meal we ate was a harsh, daily reminder of how far we had fallen since Gerald threw us away. The money he had dumped into my account was swallowed whole by hospital bills, therapy sessions, and a security deposit on this tiny box of an apartment.
The heavy knocking slammed against the door again, rattling the rusted brass lock.
"I am coming," I said, my breath catching in my throat as I finally unlocked the door and pulled it open.
A tall man in a cheap leather jacket stood in the dimly lit hallway. He had a thick neck, a faint scar running down his jaw line, and eyes that held zero warmth. Two hulking men stood right behind him, blocking the narrow corridor.
"Isabel?" the man asked, his voice low and raspy.
I gripped the edge of the door frame to keep my knees from buckling. "Yes. Who are you?"
He did not bother introducing himself. Instead, he reached into his jacket, pulled out a thick stack of folded papers, and slapped them flat against my chest.
"Your old man left behind a gift," he said with a cruel grin. "Three hundred thousand dollars. He took out the loan six months ago and used your name, your signature, and your ID as the guarantor."
My blood ran cold. The air left my lungs all at once. "What? No, that is impossible. My father died years ago, and I never signed anything for him!"
"Take a look at the second page, sweetheart," the man sneered, leaning in close enough for me to smell the stale tobacco on his breath. "Your name is right there on the line. And since the old bastard is six feet under, the debt falls straight onto your shoulders."
My hands trembled violently as I looked at the signature. It was my name, forged in a rough imitation of my handwriting. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
"I do not have this kind of money," I whispered, panic rising in my chest like a dark tide. "Look at this place! I just got out of a wheelchair. I am barely paying rent!"
"That is not my problem," he said flatly, his grin disappearing. "The boss wants his money. You have forty-eight hours to pay the full amount, or we take these papers to the police. Fraud, unpaid debts, breach of contract. You will be in a orange jumpsuit by the end of the week, and your little boy over there will go straight to a state foster home."
I looked back over my shoulder. John was peeking around the corner of the small kitchen wall, his large eyes wide with fear, clutching his little hands together. The thought of being dragged away from him, of leaving him at the mercy of the system, made my stomach turn completely upside down.
"Please," I begged, lowering my voice so John would not hear. "There has to be another way. I will work. I will pay you back in installments, whatever I can make!"
The man stared at me for a long, agonizing moment. Then, a dark, calculated look settled into his eyes. He reached into his pocket once more, but this time, he pulled out a folded gray fabric and a laminated blue badge.
"Actually, my boss is feeling generous today," he said, stepping closer and dropping the items into my hands. "There is one way to wipe the entire three hundred thousand dollar debt clean. No police, no jail, no taking your kid."
I looked down at the heavy gray shirt in my hands. Stitched in white thread across the chest pocket was the logo of a massive, multi-million dollar corporate empire.
VANE ENTERPRISES. Gerald's company. My hands went completely numb. "What is this?"
"You start on Monday," the collector whispered, leaning down until his lips were inches from my ear. "A night-shift cleaner on the main executive floor. You keep your head down, you scrub the floors, and you gather every document, drive, and financial record you can find from Gerald Vane's private office. You feed us the information, and your debt disappears."
My jaw tightened, horror washing over me. "You want me to spy on my ex-husband?"
"You either walk back into that building as a cleaner and spy for us," the man said, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp threat, "or you ride in the back of a police cruiser by Wednesday morning. Choice is yours, Isabel."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and walked down the dark hallway, his heavy boots echoing off the concrete walls until the building went dead quiet again.
I stood in the doorway, my fingers clutching the rough cotton of the cleaning uniform. My legs shook, but deep inside my chest, the fear began to burn away, replaced by a cold, deadly fire.
I looked down at the blue badge bearing my name and the company logo. I was going back into Gerald's world, not as the wife he discarded, but as the ghost that would burn his entire empire to the ground.
