As I take the mysterious box out of its hole in my dining room floor I can feel the remaining trust that I have in my husband evaporate. Even without looking inside of it I know that it will be the final nail in the coffin of our marriage. For months now I've known that Tom has been cheating on me. No school sends one teacher to the sheer number of conferences that he claims to go to. Technically I have no proof but I can't ignore the gut feeling that I have that something isn't right between the two of us. That something is fundamentally flawed. It was so incredibly stupid of me, not to mention selfish, to suggest adoption as a way to bond us again. A way to fix whatever it is that is wrong with our relationship. And now I find this hidden compartment in my house hiding a mystery box.
I stare at it as I pick it up and move it to the table, dumbfounded that a night of cleaning up my husband's blood turned into this. I take a healthy sip of my chardonnay before I open the lid. And there it is, the final nail, the killing blow to my marriage. Inside the box I see what must be close to half a million dollars in cash, forged passports from what seems like every major country, a handgun, and a huge pile of photos. Quickly I decide that I'll get the most information from the photos and soon enough I'm proven right. Among the collection appears to be old pictures of me back when I was still dating Nick, along with pictures of random men and women I couldn't recognize, and, most importantly, a large stack of pictures of Reddington. I try not to dwell on the fact that apparently my husband is the link between Reddington and myself since apparently Tom has been stalking both of us for quite some time. I try not to dwell on the fact that some of these pictures link Reddington and my father together in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable.
My first instinct is to hand the box over to Cooper, but then I don't really want my co-workers examining every facet of my life while I sit on the sidelines. If the gun is any indication it looks like I shouldn't confront Tom about it either, not that I could with him being in a coma. I'm not going to go to my dad with this, I know better than to have a talk about the FBIs fourth most wanted criminal over a civilian landline. This, rather unfortunately, left me with only one option. Only one person who might be able to explain to me what it is that I found today, and why I found it. I need to talk to Reddington about it, the one man who might be able to help me and he's locked up tight in as FBI hole somewhere. I'll just have to tell Cooper that I'm trying to get the name of another blacklister from Reddington and hope that's enough to get me cleared to visit.
Works like a charm. Cooper has me cleared within a day to visit Reddington. As the guard opens the door I steel myself for what I'm sure will be another Reddington stare-down. He looks up to me as I lean against the doorway of his cell.
"You've discovered something curious about your husband, haven't you Lizzie?" he asks. His infernal smirk appearing just as he finishes the question.
"Tell me what you know Reddington," I snap back. I really don't have the patience to deal with whatever guessing game he wants me to play now.
"Why Lizzie, I couldn't possibly tell you anything if you don't share with me what you've found," he says all too cheerfully.
"Well since you apparently know everything I thought it would be no problem for you to share what you know about the box that I found under my floorboards," I say as my patience nears the end of its rope.
"And what exactly would be inside of this box Lizzie? I hope not anything naughty, because really that's a conversation for your husband I would think," he teases having decided to switch from his smirk to a boyish smile.
Since he's having so much fun with this I don't think I'll get any answers today. However now might be the perfect time to use some of the knowledge that the pictures gave me to throw him off of his game.
"I can see that this visit isn't very productive so I'm going to leave. Just one more question before I go. When you sent me that bracelet from Brazil for my sixth birthday how on earth did you know what my favorite colors were?" I ask trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
I know that I've struck a nerve when I see all of the color drain from his face as he gapes at me. A little part of me is proud of myself for making this man who usually has control of any given situation around him lose all control. The rest of me is still pissed that Reddington and Sam were close enough that Sam apparently acted as an in-between for Reddington to give me things. And that there is some sort of bond between Reddington and I that makes him want to give me presents? This opens a whole other slew of issues that frankly I am just too tired to be mad about right now but I'm sure I'll make time for later. For now I watch as he tries to compose himself.
"How on earth did you find that out?" he manages to croak out.