Chapter 4 - The Twisted Partnership
I spun around in the office chair, my muscles tensed and ready for a brutal fight.
Lumi was standing in the doorway, clutching her favorite stuffed bear tightly to her chest.
"Daddy, you came back for me," she whispered, tears of relief shining in her beautiful eyes.
I scooped her up into my arms and promised her I would never leave her alone in this house again.
We had to escape immediately before Maris woke up and realized her lethal plan had completely failed.
I carried Lumi out to my car and strapped her safely into the backseat under the cover of darkness.
I drove out of the city limits, my mind reeling from the devastating betrayal of my own boss.
Dr. Vance was a respected surgeon, a wealthy man, and someone I had foolishly considered a mentor.
I pulled into the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour diner and called my best friend, Marcus.
Marcus was an ex-detective turned private investigator who owed me his life after a nasty motorcycle accident.
He arrived at the diner thirty minutes later, sliding into the vinyl booth with a grim expression.
I showed him the printed photograph, the positive toxicology strip, and the digital insurance records.
Marcus pulled out his own encrypted tablet and began running a deep background check on both Maris and Dr. Vance.
"Gideon, your wife does not actually exist," Marcus stated flatly after ten minutes of intense typing.
I stared at him in complete confusion, the greasy diner food turning my stomach.
"The social security number for Maris belongs to a woman who died in a fire twenty years ago," he explained.
He pulled up a hidden police database and turned the glowing screen toward me.
The mugshot displayed on the screen clearly showed my wife, but the name underneath read Evelyn Cross.
She was a highly sought-after federal fugitive wanted for a string of unsolved murders across three different states.
"She targets vulnerable medical professionals, marries them quickly, and stages their deaths for massive insurance payouts," Marcus warned.
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"And Dr. Vance provides her with the untraceable hospital drugs to commit the perfect murders," I realized aloud.
Before Marcus could reply, the diner's front window shattered violently inward.
