Chapter 2

The divorce went through fast.

Coming out of the county records office, Eleanor climbed into Michael's black Mercedes without a backward glance.

The window rolled down. Michael leaned out and gave Grayson the smile of a man who'd won.

Grayson didn't bother with him. He just turned and walked away.

The first thing he did wasn't go home. It was head to a real estate agency.

That school-district house, the one he'd scrimped and saved half his life to buy, he'd decided to sell.

The young agent was surprised. "Sir, this place has a great location, a great layout. You really want to sell?"

"Sell." That was all Grayson said.

He didn't want to stay in this city anymore, a city full of memories and arguments.

He wanted a different way to live.

Because it was a quick sale, the price came in a little under market, but a buyer turned up fast all the same.

Cash. One point six eight million.

The day he got the money, Grayson felt the heavy chain around him, the one called "marriage," finally snap loose with a clang.

He went to the bank and split the money into two parts.

Six hundred thousand went into a fixed-term account, set aside for his son Derek Finch's future.

Of the remaining one point zero eight million, he pulled out two hundred thousand in cash and moved the rest into another card.

He bought himself a used, American-made off-road vehicle for under a hundred thousand.

Then he spent a few thousand more reworking the inside, adding a bed, a simple kitchen, and solar panels, turning it into a little home on wheels.

He was headed for the high country.

The place he'd wanted to see since he was young, and had never once managed to reach, always held back by family and work.

The day every last piece of paperwork was settled, he stopped by the bank to check his final balance.

Right outside the doors, he happened to run into Michael.

Michael was hiding behind a big tree, phone in hand, sneaking shots of Eleanor as she came out of the bank.

In Eleanor's hand was a medical report, freshly printed.

Grayson thought it was strange, but he didn't dwell on it. Just some couple's game, he figured.

He didn't expect Eleanor to show up at his door the next day.

She didn't come alone. There was a lawyer at her side, sharp suit and all.

She took out a document and set it in front of Grayson.

"Sign this."

It was a debt-waiver release.

The terms were simple. It declared that during their marriage Grayson and Eleanor had held no shared debts, and that after the divorce neither party's debts had anything to do with the other.

Grayson couldn't make sense of it.

"We never had any debts to begin with."

"Just sign it, don't give me all this backtalk!" Eleanor said, impatient. "This is Michael's idea. He says businesspeople like things clean and done, so there won't be any disputes down the line."

Grayson looked at her, and the last small hope in him died out.

He picked up the pen and signed, quick strokes across the page.

The day after the divorce, Eleanor and Michael threw a loud, showy wedding.

Three floors of the hotel booked out, the wedding cars all luxury models, the whole thing over the top.

His former mother-in-law, Gabriella Lawrence, went into full bragging mode in the family group chat.

"Our Eleanor's finally through the hard times and into the good!"

"Look at how good Michael is to her. The bride price alone was eight hundred eighty-eight thousand!"

"See this red car? Over seven hundred thousand, Michael's wedding gift to our Eleanor!"

The day Grayson set out for the high country was the very day of their wedding.

He didn't go. He felt nothing about it either.

He just blocked every last contact for his ex-wife's family, drove up onto the highway, and ran flat out toward the snow mountains in the distance.

That night he pulled into a rest stop to sleep.

He wired his son Derek ten thousand for living expenses.

Derek's call came through soon after.

"Dad, why'd you send me this much? I've got enough for expenses."

"Just take it. Your dad has money now." Grayson leaned back in the seat, looking out at the stars, more relaxed than he could ever remember being.

"Dad, you... out there on your own, be careful." Something was off in Derek's tone, like there was more he wanted to say and wouldn't.

"I know. Your old man's healthy as a horse."

"No, I mean..." Derek paused, then dropped his voice. "If anyone comes looking for you, no matter who it is, keep your guard up."

Grayson didn't think much of it at the time.

He figured his son was just uneasy about him being out alone.

He said with a laugh, "Don't worry. Your dad's been all over this country for years. There's no kind of person I haven't seen."

He hung up, started the engine, and drove on toward the unknown stretch ahead.

He didn't know that a carefully woven net had already opened, quietly, behind him.