Chapter 3 - The Inside Source
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
A life insurance policy on my daughter, signed just twenty-four hours before she was brutally attacked.
They had never planned on just beating her into submission.
Victoria and Lewis had intended for Chloe to die on her honeymoon.
"How much is the policy for?" Robert asked, his voice eerily calm.
"Five million dollars," I read from the bottom of the document, feeling a wave of nausea wash over me.
"And Lewis is listed as the sole beneficiary."
Robert took the paper from my hands, his jaw clenching so tightly I thought his teeth might crack.
"They needed her dead to collect the insurance, and they needed the deed to secure the condo," he deduced.
"Lewis must have forged her signature on the transfer documents while his mother was doing the dirty work."
My phone suddenly vibrated on the coffee table, startling all of us.
It was an unknown number sending a text message.
I opened it and gasped.
It was a ten-second video clip showing Victoria Dudley screaming at Chloe in the hotel room, slapping her across the face.
A second text immediately followed.
"I was in the room. I have the whole twenty-minute video. Bring two hundred thousand dollars in cash to the marina at noon, or I delete it."
I showed the screen to Robert, my heart racing with a desperate spark of hope.
"One of Victoria's friends is trying to cash in on the drama," I realized.
Robert nodded, immediately dialing his bank to arrange the massive cash withdrawal.
"I will go meet this informant," Robert declared.
"No," I countered, standing up tall.
"Victoria expects you to be playing the protective billionaire, but she thinks I am just a weak, divorced housewife."
Chloe grabbed my hand, pleading with me not to go into danger.
"Mom, please, they are ruthless," she cried.
"So am I, when it comes to my child," I promised her.
At noon, I stood alone at the edge of the sun-drenched Miami marina, holding a heavy black duffel bag.
A woman in a wide-brimmed hat and oversized sunglasses stepped out from behind a docked yacht.
It was Brenda, Victoria’s younger sister, clutching a small flash drive in her manicured hand.
"You brought the cash?" Brenda asked, her eyes darting around nervously.
I tossed the heavy bag onto the wooden dock at her feet.
Brenda smiled greedily and bent down to unzip the canvas bag.
May you like
But as she reached inside, a cold, hard voice echoed from the deck of the yacht behind her.
"I told you she was stupid enough to come alone," Victoria Dudley sneered, stepping into the sunlight with a heavy steel wrench in her hand.
