Chapter 2 - Kate Disappeared Before Christmas Morning—And Julian Discovered She Had Been Preparing To Leave For Months
Julian searched the estate until sunrise.
He checked cameras.
Security logs.
Vehicles.
Every employee.
Every gate.
Every road leaving the property.
Nothing.
Kate had planned carefully.
Too carefully.
At 6:30 a.m., Marcus entered the study carrying a thin folder.
“We found this.”
Julian looked up.
“What is it?”
“Apartment lease.”
Julian frowned.
“Her name?”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Then whose?”
“Catherine Bell.”
Julian went still.
The name meant nothing.
Marcus continued.
“The apartment has been rented for four months.”
Four months.
Julian stood.
“Where?”
“Twenty-two miles west.”
“Who knew?”
“We don't know.”
Julian opened the folder.
The lease had been signed three months before Kate told anyone she was unhappy.
There were utility bills.
A grocery delivery account.
A small nursery furniture receipt.
Not luxurious.
Not remotely like the Cross estate.
A crib.
A bassinet.
A rocking chair.
A secondhand dresser.
Julian stared at the receipts.
“She was preparing a home.”
Marcus said nothing.
Julian felt his chest tighten.
“She wasn't running last night.”
“No.”
“She was going home.”
Marcus lowered his gaze.
Julian hated the distinction.
Because it was true.
He drove there himself.
No convoy.
No security team.
No black SUVs.
Just him.
The apartment was small.
Second floor.
A brick building overlooking a frozen river.
Julian walked up the stairs.
A woman opened the door.
She was Kate's older cousin, Nora.
Julian stared.
“You knew.”
Nora crossed her arms.
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“If I knew, I wouldn't tell you.”
Julian's jaw tightened.
“She’s pregnant.”
“I know.”
“She needs medical care.”
“She has a doctor.”
“I am her husband.”
Nora's expression became hard.
“You're the man who was never there.”
Julian flinched.
“I was protecting her.”
“From what?”
“Everything.”
“No.”
Nora shook her head.
“You were protecting everyone else.”
She stepped aside.
“Come in.”
The apartment smelled like cinnamon and baby lotion.
A Christmas tree stood in the corner.
Small.
Artificial.
Decorated with handmade ornaments.
Julian stared.
Kate's handwriting was on a paper star.
For our little boy.
He touched it.
“When did she choose this place?”
“Three months ago.”
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because she didn't want you to know.”
“Why?”
Nora looked at him.
“Because she knew you'd make it impossible.”
The words landed harder than a bullet.
Julian walked deeper into the apartment.
On a shelf sat several photographs.
Kate as a little girl.
Kate and her mother.
Kate at her nursing graduation.
Kate and Julian on their wedding day.
Then a photograph he had never seen.
Kate asleep on a hospital bed.
A sonogram beside her.
Beneath it was a handwritten note.
He promised to be there.
I believed him.
Julian closed his eyes.
“I don't remember saying that.”
“You did.”
“When?”
“The night she told you she was pregnant.”
Julian remembered.
He had been leaving for a meeting.
A shipment had been seized.
Three men were missing.
He had kissed her forehead.
“We’ll talk tonight.”
He never came home until three in the morning.
Then the next week had been chaos.
Then the next.
He had forgotten.
Not the pregnancy.
The promise.
But she had not.
A phone rang.
Nora looked at the screen.
Her expression changed.
“Katie?”
Julian turned.
Nora rejected the call.
His pulse jumped.
“Where is she?”
Nora stared at him.
“You don't get to chase her because you finally feel guilty.”
“She is carrying my child.”
“She knows.”
“Then give me five minutes with her.”
“No.”
“Please.”
The word surprised even him.
Nora studied him.
“You've never said please to anyone.”
“I'll say it now.”
Nora hesitated.
Then placed the phone on the table.
“She won't tell me where she is.”
Julian looked at the screen.
The call had come from a blocked number.
He stared at it.
“Can you call her back?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“She doesn't want contact.”
Julian looked at the Christmas tree.
Then the tiny stocking hanging beneath it.
It had one name embroidered in blue.
Elliot.
Their unborn son's name.
Julian touched it.
“She chose the name without me.”
Nora said quietly:
“She asked you once.”
He turned.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
He remembered nothing.
Nora looked toward the window.
“She said you were busy.”
Julian sat down.
For the first time in years, he looked like a man who had lost a fight.
Not with an enemy.
With himself.
At noon, his mother called.
“You need to come home.”
“I’m busy.”
“Julian.”
“I said I’m busy.”
“There are rumors.”
He closed his eyes.
“What rumors?”
“That Kate left.”
His mother sounded irritated, not concerned.
“People are asking questions.”
Julian's voice hardened.
“Let them.”
“What about Vivien?”
He snapped.
“This is not about Vivien.”
His mother went quiet.
Then said:
“Your sister needs you.”
Julian stared at the wall.
“My wife needed me.”
The call ended.
That sentence followed him all afternoon.
By sunset, he had searched six locations.
Nothing.
At 10:12 p.m., a courier delivered a small envelope.
No return address.
Julian opened it.
Inside was Kate's wedding ring.
His heart stopped.
Beneath it was a note.
I am not trying to punish you.
I am trying to remember who I am when no one needs something from me.
Julian read it three times.
Then turned the ring over.
A tiny smear of blood marked the inner band.
His voice dropped.
“Marcus.”
The lieutenant entered.
Julian held out the ring.
“Find her.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Alive?”
Julian's gaze sharpened.
“If anyone has touched her…”
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
But then Marcus noticed something.
“There’s an address inside the envelope.”
Julian froze.
“Where?”
Marcus pulled out a second slip of paper.
A rural clinic.
May you like
Twenty-eight miles north.
Julian was out the door before Marcus finished reading it.
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