Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED

Elaine Parker’s apartment was empty.

Her phone was off.

Her car remained inside the hospital parking garage.

Security footage showed her leaving through a service entrance at 12:41 a.m.

She carried one handbag.

Nothing else.

Detective Brooks watched the video twice.

“She knew where the blind spot was.”

Julian stood beside her.

“She helped design gala security routes.”

“Meaning?”

“She had access.”

Brooks nodded.

“And opportunity.”

Khloe sat nearby.

She had been discharged under strict instructions to remain on bed rest.

Instead of returning to the penthouse she shared with Marcus, she went to Julian’s townhouse.

Marcus did not protest.

That almost hurt too.

Brooks turned toward her.

“How well do you know Elaine?”

“Three years.”

“She coordinated foundation events.”

“Was she close to Isabella?”

“I didn’t think so.”

Marcus spoke from the far end of the room.

“She worked for Rossi Meridian before the foundation.”

Khloe turned sharply.

“What?”

He looked uncomfortable.

“Four years ago.”

“And you never mentioned that?”

“I didn’t think it mattered.”

Khloe stared at him.

“That sentence may be carved on your headstone.”

Brooks almost smiled.

Marcus did not.

Julian opened Elaine’s employment file.

“She joined Khloe’s foundation two months after leaving the bank.”

“Who recommended her?”

Khloe asked.

Julian scrolled.

Then stopped.

“Richard Thorne.”

The room went silent.

Khloe leaned back.

Her baby shifted inside her.

She placed her hand over the movement automatically.

Everything connected to Richard.

The forged signature.

The hidden transfer.

Isabella.

Elaine.

Marcus’s affair had become a doorway into something much older.

Brooks closed the laptop.

“I need to talk to Richard.”

Marcus shook his head.

“He’ll lawyer up.”

“That’s his right.”

“He’ll destroy records first.”

Brooks gave him a hard look.

“Then maybe don’t warn him.”

Marcus looked offended.

“I’m trying to help.”

“You spent months lying to your wife about the woman who assaulted her.”

“Forgive me if I don’t automatically put you on the good-guy team.”

Marcus looked away.

Khloe watched him.

She should have enjoyed seeing someone else cut him down.

She didn’t.

There was too much grief mixed into the anger.

That evening, Isabella was arraigned.

The prosecutor requested significant bail.

Her attorney argued she was no flight risk.

The judge disagreed.

Bail was set at two million dollars.

Rossi family money paid it within three hours.

By nine that night, Isabella was free.

At 9:26, Khloe received a text from an unknown number.

One sentence.

ASK MARCUS WHO WAS REALLY SUPPOSED TO OWN YOUR SHARES AFTER YOU DIED.

Khloe read it twice.

Then a photograph arrived.

It showed a section of the collateral trust.

A clause had been highlighted.

CONTINGENT BENEFICIARY UPON DEATH OF KHLOE THORNE.

Khloe zoomed in.

The beneficiary was not Marcus.

It was not Richard.

It was not her unborn child.

The name was Isabella Rossi.

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Khloe’s blood ran cold.

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