I abandoned my paralyzed wife for ten days to chase another woman, convinced she would still be helplessly waiting exactly where I left her. I thought I had escaped the worst betrayal of my life while she suffered quietly in our home. But when I finally walked back through the front door, what I found destroyed every selfish excuse I had been hiding behind.

The sharp ceramic blade sliced easily through the thick plastic binding my wrists.

I rubbed my raw, bleeding skin as Vance quickly moved over to cut Olivia free.

"Thank you, Daddy," Olivia sobbed quietly, throwing her arms around her father's neck.

"Save the tears for when we are across the state line, sweetheart," Vance murmured softly.

"What about me?" Lauren demanded from the corner, her voice rising in panic.

"Cut me loose right now!"

Vance stopped in the dark and looked down at her.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't leave you tied to that chair for your brother to find," Vance growled.

"Because I know where David keeps the private runway keys," Lauren argued frantically.

"There is a small charter plane parked behind this hangar."

"David keeps the master keys and the fuel codes in his leather briefcase."

"Without me, you will never get off the ground before his men hunt you down."

I looked toward the ventilation grate, watching the pale blue light of dawn begin to creep into the sky.

Time was running out.

David's mercenaries would realize the glove compartment was empty and return within minutes.

"Cut her loose, Detective," I decided quietly.

"If she slows us down, we leave her behind."

Vance hesitated, then grunted and sliced Lauren's restraints with a single, aggressive stroke.

Lauren stood up, stretching her legs with complete ease.

Seeing her stand upright without a hint of pain or hesitation made my blood boil all over again.

She had spent months letting me carry her from the bed to the bath, pretending to be helpless.

Vance climbed onto my shoulders and peered carefully through the narrow ventilation grate.

"There are only two guards left standing outside the container," Vance reported in a whisper.

"David is sitting inside the main office across the hangar floor, talking on a satellite phone."

"The other two mercenaries haven't returned from the cabin yet."

"This is our only window," Vance said, dropping quietly back to the floor.

“Which daughter is yours?” should have been a harmless question

The first wineglass shattered at 8:07 p.m

The moment the mafia boss’s wife called me “an illiterate servant,”

"Marcus, when I open this door, you and the girls run for the side emergency exit."

"I will handle the guards."

Chapter 15 - True Colors