CHAPTER 4 — THE PRICE ON MY LIFE
CHAPTER 4 — THE PRICE ON MY LIFE
Nobody spoke.
The words blurred as tears filled my eyes.
PAYMENT RELEASED ONLY AFTER CONFIRMATION OF THE BRIDE'S DEATH.
At the bottom was a figure.
$50,000,000.
Fifty million dollars.
My entire body went numb.
"They were paying him..." I whispered.
"...to kill me."
Agent Brooks didn't answer immediately.
She already knew.
The room was evacuated while forensic teams processed every piece of evidence.
An hour later, Brooks sat across from me again.
"There is something you deserve to know."
"I don't think tonight can get any worse."
"I hope you're right."
She placed another folder on the table.
This one contained documents from my father's company.
I frowned.
"My father's been dead for twelve years."
Brooks nodded.
"So everyone believed."
"What does that mean?"
She slid over a notarized trust agreement.
My father's signature was unmistakable.
"My father created a trust?"
"Yes."
"Worth approximately two hundred and eighty million dollars."
I stared at her.
"That's impossible."
"No."
"It was sealed."
"The final condition was that it could only be claimed after your lawful marriage."
Everything suddenly made sense.
David had insisted on a quick wedding.
He had pushed for no prenup.
He had volunteered to handle all legal paperwork.
He hadn't fallen in love with me.
He had hunted me.
"But why kill me after marrying me?"
Brooks answered quietly.
"Because if you died after the marriage..."
"...your husband inherited everything."
The room spun.
For years I had believed I was an ordinary architect with a comfortable life.
I had no idea I was the heir to a fortune.
And David had known before I did.
Sarah suddenly remembered something.
"Maya..."
"What?"
"The day David proposed..."
"He borrowed your passport."
My stomach tightened.
"He said he was planning our honeymoon."
Brooks looked up sharply.
"When exactly?"
"About eight months ago."
The agent immediately called another investigator.
"Check every international account under Maya Bennett's identity."
Within minutes the answer came back.
The investigator looked horrified.
"There are seven offshore companies."
"What?"
"Registered under Maya Bennett."
"I've never opened a company."
"You didn't."
"Someone used your identity."
Millions of dollars had been moved through businesses carrying my name.
If David disappeared...
...I would become the perfect suspect.
Not only dead.
But blamed.
Before anyone could speak again, alarms rang throughout the command center.
A technician shouted, "We've got movement!"
Everyone rushed to the monitors.
Traffic cameras showed the black SUV speeding toward a private airfield outside the city.
David was escaping.
Brooks grabbed her radio.
"All units, move now!"
She turned to me.
"I need you to stay here."
I shook my head.
"No."
"He tried to murder me."
"I'm done hiding."
Brooks hesitated, then nodded.
"Stay with the tactical team."
"But do exactly what I say."
Forty minutes later, a convoy of armored vehicles surrounded a secluded private hangar.
Rain hammered the runway.
Inside, a sleek private jet sat with its engines already running.
Floodlights illuminated the aircraft.
The cabin door was still open.
Agent Brooks whispered into her radio.
"Move in."
Officers stormed the hangar.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Then one agent shouted from inside the jet.
"Agent!"
"You need to see this!"
Brooks climbed aboard.
Seconds later, she called my name.
I stepped into the cabin.
Every leather seat was empty.
David had vanished.
But on the table in the center of the aircraft sat a single white envelope.
May you like
Across the front, written in David's unmistakable handwriting, were five chilling words:
FOR MY WIFE, MAYA.
