Chapter 2 - The Woman Adrian Thought Had Run From His Infidelity Was Actually Running From a Murder PlotThree days passed.
Adrian barely slept.
He had his people search hospitals, airports, bus stations, shelters, roadside motels and every known contact Evelyn had maintained before their marriage.
Nothing.
It was as if she had evaporated.
She had taken cash.
A medical bag.
No credit cards.
No phone.
No identification connected to the Moretti name.
Marcus eventually found one piece of information.
“She bought a bus ticket.”
Adrian looked up.
“Where?”
“Columbia, Missouri.”
“Send people.”
“I already did.”
“Anything?”
“Nothing.”
Adrian slammed his hand onto the desk.
“She is eight months pregnant.”
“I know.”
“She could go into labor.”
“I know.”
“Then find her.”
Marcus remained silent.
Adrian looked at him.
“What?”
“You don't want to hear this.”
“Say it.”
“She didn't buy a ticket to Columbia.”
Adrian frowned.
“She bought one to Columbia, Missouri. But she never boarded the bus.”
“Then where is she?”
Marcus slid a photograph across the desk.
A train station.
Evelyn was visible in the distance.
Hospital bag over her shoulder.
One hand beneath her stomach.
She was not alone.
A man walked beside her.
Adrian stared.
“Who is that?”
“We're still identifying him.”
“Find him.”
Marcus nodded.
Hours later, the identity appeared.
Nathaniel Pierce.
Thirty-seven.
Former military medic.
Current owner of a medical supply company in St. Louis.
No criminal record.
No known connection to Evelyn.
Except one.
His mother had been Evelyn's mother's closest friend.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“Why would Evelyn go to him?”
Marcus answered quietly.
“Because she knew him before you.”
That sentence hurt more than it should have.
But Adrian had bigger problems.
The gunshot investigation produced results.
The bullet was not random.
The shooter had used a high-grade rifle from a distance of nearly six hundred yards.
Someone had been watching the house for weeks.
And there were fingerprints found in the nursery.
A small black camera had been hidden behind a baby monitor.
Adrian stared at it.
“When?”
“Unknown.”
“Who installed it?”
“No idea.”
He looked toward Marcus.
“Check every device in this house.”
They found three more.
One in the bedroom.
One in the kitchen.
One in the hallway outside Evelyn's room.
Adrian's stomach turned.
Someone had been watching her.
Watching him.
Watching the baby.
Then they found the encrypted file.
A video.
Celeste appeared on screen.
“You're going to hate me,” she said.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Probably.”
She continued.
“I didn't sleep with you.”
Adrian froze.
“We need to talk about that night.”
The footage continued.
Celeste was sitting in a hotel room.
Behind her were photographs of Evelyn.
“If you're seeing this, something went wrong.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“Your wife is not the target.”
He frowned.
“You are.”
The video stopped.
Adrian replayed it.
Again.
Then again.
He called Celeste.
No answer.
Her apartment was empty.
Her car was abandoned.
She had disappeared too.
Marcus looked at him.
“Your mistress is missing.”
“She was never my mistress.”
“Evelyn won't know that.”
“I know.”
“Then we need to find her.”
Adrian stared at the screen.
“Where is Nathaniel Pierce?”
“St. Louis.”
They drove there that night.
Nathaniel was waiting.
When Adrian entered the warehouse, two men raised weapons.
Nathaniel lifted one hand.
“Put them down.”
They obeyed.
Adrian stepped forward.
“Where is my wife?”
Nathaniel studied him.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Not telling you.”
Adrian moved closer.
“You have ten seconds.”
Nathaniel did not flinch.
“You can threaten me.”
“I am not threatening you.”
“You look like you are.”
“I am asking.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Then ask.”
Adrian swallowed his anger.
“Why is she with you?”
“Because she called my mother.”
“My wife's mother is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then?”
Nathaniel's expression softened.
“Your mother-in-law had a sister.”
Adrian froze.
Evelyn's aunt.
He vaguely remembered hearing her name once.
Margaret.
Nathaniel continued.
“She knew what was happening.”
“What was happening?”
“That your family had been lying to Evelyn.”
“About what?”
Nathaniel hesitated.
Then handed him a file.
“Read it.”
Adrian opened it.
The first page was an old police report.
Date:
Six months before Evelyn's parents died.
Cause:
Suspicious fire.
Victim:
Margaret Bennett.
Adrian looked up.
“That's Evelyn's aunt.”
“Yes.”
“She died.”
“No.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“She disappeared.”
The report had been falsified.
Margaret Bennett had survived.
She had spent the last sixteen years investigating the Moretti family.
And she had one name at the center of everything.
Adrian.
His own.
Adrian's face tightened.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Nathaniel looked at him.
“She doesn't trust you.”
“I know.”
“She believes you used her.”
“I didn't.”
“She believes you married her because of her father.”
“I didn't.”
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“Then prove it.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“How?”
Nathaniel's answer was quiet.
“Find out who tried to kill your wife.”
Then he handed Adrian another photograph.
A man stood beside a car.
Adrian recognized him.
His uncle.
Dominic Moretti.
The man everyone believed had died ten years earlier.
Adrian's blood went cold.
“My uncle is dead.”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“No.”
He paused.
May you like
“He's alive.”
And he has been watching Evelyn since the day you married her.
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