Chapter 4 - The Ultimate Betrayal
My heart shattered into a million pieces as I recognized her voice.
Sarah, the woman who had stood beside me at my wedding, was holding the flashlight.
"Julian, she is not on the road," Sarah called out over her shoulder.
Julian stepped out of the passenger side of the SUV, holding a silenced pistol in his right hand.
"She has to be here somewhere, Sarah," Julian snapped angrily.
"Vanessa said she sabotaged the car, so she must have taken the bike to escape."
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, forcing myself to remain completely silent.
Sarah was not leaving for a business conference at all.
She was an active part of this horrific conspiracy to murder me and steal my father's legacy.
Vanessa was the corporate spy handling the financial theft, but Sarah was the inside informant manipulating my every move.
They had all been working together to destroy me from the inside out.
I slowly slid my hand into my tote bag and wrapped my fingers around a heavy rock I had picked up near the cabin.
Julian walked closer to my hiding spot, kicking the bushes with his expensive leather shoes.
"If we do not find her tonight, the life insurance payout is worthless," Julian muttered in frustration.
Sarah sighed and pointed her flashlight toward the steep drop-off of the ravine.
"The bike went over the edge, Julian," she reasoned coldly.
"She probably fell down the cliff and broke her neck in the dark."
Julian sneered and fired a single, muffled shot into the darkness of the ravine just to be sure.
"Let's get back to the city and finalize the asset transfers before morning," Julian commanded.
They climbed back into the black SUV and sped away down the mountain road.
I waited until the red taillights completely disappeared before I dared to move a single muscle.
I crawled out of the thorny bushes, covered in painful scratches and freezing mud.
I was entirely alone, miles from civilization, with no phone and no vehicle.
I began the agonizingly long walk down the mountain, fueled entirely by a burning desire for revenge.
By the time the sun began to rise over the Colorado landscape, I had finally reached a small, roadside diner.
I walked inside and used the payphone in the corner to call my trusted attorney, Marcus.
Marcus answered on the first ring, his voice filled with frantic panic.
May you like
"Where are you?" Marcus demanded immediately.
"Julian just filed an emergency police report claiming you embezzled his company funds and fled the state."
