CHAPTER 6 — Wife Number Seven
CHAPTER 6 — Wife Number Seven
The words echoed through Olivia's mind long after Detective Marcus Reed stopped speaking.
You're the first wife who's ever escaped.
She stared at the photographs spread across his desk.
Seven smiling brides.
Seven elegant weddings.
Seven women looking into Ethan Parker's eyes with absolute trust.
Only one of them was still alive.
Her.
Marcus slid another file across the desk.
"We never proved they were murdered."
Olivia opened it carefully.
Inside were newspaper clippings.
Young Businesswoman Missing After Honeymoon.
Real Estate Investor Vanishes During Mountain Vacation.
Wealthy Newlywed Presumed Dead After Boating Accident.
Different names.
Different cities.
The same pattern.
Each woman had married Ethan under a slightly different identity.
Sometimes he used the last name Parker.
Sometimes Pierce.
Sometimes Preston.
Different driver's licenses.
Different passports.
The same face.
"He changed his name?" Olivia whispered.
Marcus nodded.
"He always stayed one step ahead."
Olivia's stomach twisted.
"Why didn't anyone stop him?"
"We tried."
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
"But witnesses disappeared. Financial records vanished. Every investigation ran into people with money and influence."
He pointed to one particular photograph.
"This woman almost exposed him."
Olivia studied the image.
A brunette in her early thirties smiled beside a beach.
"Rachel Simmons."
"What happened to her?"
Marcus was silent for several seconds.
"She called the FBI."
"And?"
"The next morning, her car went over a cliff."
Olivia closed the folder.
"No."
Marcus looked away.
"The brakes had been cut."
Olivia suddenly remembered the mysterious voice on the speakerphone.
The one giving Ethan instructions.
"Who was on the phone that night?"
Marcus sighed.
"That's the question."
He enlarged one of the copied emails Olivia had recovered.
The metadata revealed an encrypted sender.
Then another document caught his attention.
A digital authorization code.
Marcus froze.
"I've seen this before."
He hurried to another filing cabinet.
After several minutes he returned carrying evidence from a completely different investigation.
The codes matched.
Exactly.
Olivia frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Marcus looked unusually disturbed.
"It means whoever ordered your murder..."
"...also ordered three others."
Meanwhile...
Forty miles away...
Inside a private estate surrounded by iron gates...
Ethan Parker calmly poured himself a glass of whiskey.
Madison paced across the room.
"She's talking."
"I know."
"We have to find her."
"We will."
Madison stopped walking.
"You don't seem worried."
Ethan smiled.
"Because Olivia is predictable."
He walked toward a massive oil painting hanging above the fireplace.
Behind it was a hidden wall safe.
He entered a code.
The steel door opened.
Inside were seven velvet boxes.
Six were closed.
One remained empty.
Madison stared.
"You kept them?"
"They remind me not to make mistakes."
Ethan opened the first box.
Inside lay a diamond wedding ring.
The second.
Another ring.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Sixth.
Each belonged to one of his former wives.
Only Olivia's ring was missing.
His smile slowly disappeared.
"This one fought back."
Madison whispered nervously,
"What if she reaches the police?"
Ethan closed the safe.
"Then we stop running."
He picked up his phone.
"It's time Father handled this himself."
Across town...
A black SUV entered the estate.
An elderly man stepped out.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
Cold gray eyes.
Richard Parker.
The man Marcus had shown Olivia in the old investigation file.
He entered without knocking.
Ethan stood immediately.
"You let her escape."
"I underestimated her."
Richard slapped him so hard the whiskey glass shattered on the floor.
"You underestimated love."
Ethan lowered his head.
Richard's voice remained calm.
Dangerously calm.
"Do you know why I chose Olivia?"
"No."
"Because she inherited something worth far more than money."
Ethan looked confused.
"What?"
Richard smiled faintly.
"Her father never told her."
Ethan frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Richard leaned closer.
May you like
"The Bennett family doesn't just own land."
"They own the evidence."
