Chapter 3 - The Missing Years
The police allowed Sarah to return to her suite by midnight, but the resort was under a strict quarantine. No one left until the primary investigation concluded.
Sarah paced the hardwood floor of the living room, her mind racing. Chloe. Alive all this time. Why hadn't she reached out? Why let their family mourn? Sarah unlocked her phone and did something she swore she would never do again. She called James, her ex-husband.
He picked up on the second ring. "Sarah? The news is everywhere. Are you and the kids okay?"
"We're physically fine," she said, pacing faster. "James, they identified the body. It was Chloe."
Dead silence on the line. Then, a sharp intake of breath. "Sarah... listen to me very carefully. You need to get out of that resort right now. Grab the kids and leave."
"I can't, the police have it locked down. James, what do you know?"
"A month before we divorced, I found something in Michael's background check," James confessed, his voice thick with guilt. "I didn't tell you because you thought I was just being a jealous ex. But Michael didn't just meet you by chance at that gallery. He had been tracking you for years. And he was wiring money to a private psychiatric facility in Oregon. The patient's name was Chloe Bennett."
Sarah collapsed onto the sofa, the phone pressed hard against her ear. "He knew about her? He kept her locked up?"
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"I don't know the details. But Michael is dangerous, Sarah. He's obsessed with you, and whatever Chloe was about to do—or tell you—he stopped her. I'm three hours away. I'm driving down now. Lock your door."
The line went dead. Sarah stared at the dark screen. The man she was supposed to marry wasn't a savior who had rebuilt her life. He was the architect of her nightmare.
