Chapter 4 - The Phantom Bride
I watched the live news broadcast on my computer screen as massive flames consumed the roof of my apartment complex.
Evelyn had ordered her men to destroy my home just minutes after I had discovered their tracker.
If I had not stayed at the office to investigate the financial records, I would have burned to death in my own bed.
Marcus immediately dispatched a federal protection detail to secure the perimeter of my office building.
He promised me that we were going to systematically dismantle Evelyn’s operation and put Daniel behind bars.
I needed to know more about the young woman I had seen in the recovery center nursery.
I ran a facial recognition search using the security footage I had illegally pulled from the clinic’s database.
The search results identified the woman as Mia Sterling, a twenty-four-year-old former art student.
The name immediately triggered a massive red flag in Marcus’s federal intelligence database.
Mia Sterling was the estranged daughter of Federal Judge Thomas Sterling.
Judge Sterling was the exact magistrate who had officially signed Daniel’s death certificate five years ago.
The entire disappearance was a massive conspiracy orchestrated from the highest levels of the judicial system.
Daniel had seduced and married the judge's daughter to guarantee permanent legal protection for his new identity.
I realized that Mia might not be a willing participant in this criminal nightmare.
I found a hidden social media account linked to Mia and sent her a highly encrypted message.
I introduced myself as Daniel’s first wife and offered to help her escape if she was in danger.
May you like
I waited in agonizing suspense for nearly an hour before the chat window finally blinked with a reply.
Mia responded with a terrifying message begging me to save her because Evelyn was planning to sell her newborn baby to the cartel.
