Chapter 4 - The Panicked Husband
In downtown Denver, inside the penthouse suite of the Halcyon Hotel, Evan Bennett was losing his mind.
Mallory Pierce sat on the edge of the plush king-sized bed, wearing a silk robe, sipping champagne from a crystal flute. She looked entirely untroubled by the storm brewing in Evan's eyes.
"She'll come back, Evan," Mallory said smoothly, tracing the rim of her glass with a manicured fingernail. "She's eight months pregnant. Where is she going to go? She has no job, no income of her own, and her family lives in Chicago. She's panicking. She's trying to scare you."
"You don't know her, Mallory!" Evan snapped, pacing back and forth across the hardwood floor, his coat thrown haphazardly over a chair. "She left her ring on the counter! She knew about Rothman! She knew about Room 1418!"
"So what if she knows?" Mallory stood up, stepping toward him, her voice dropping to an intoxicating whisper. "Isn't this what we wanted? You don't have to keep pretending anymore. The Aspen project closes in three weeks. Once the Lumina funding clears, you can file for divorce, give her a modest settlement, and we can finally be together openly."
Evan grabbed her by the shoulders, his grip a little too tight. "You don't understand, Mallory! If she files for divorce now—before the Aspen closing—the court will freeze my personal and corporate assets! They'll audit everything! They'll look into Lumina!"
Mallory’s expression cooled instantly. Her blue eyes narrowed. "Are you worried about losing your wife, Evan? Or are you worried about losing my money?"
"I'm worried about going to prison!" Evan shouted, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Claire isn't stupid! She was an auditor before I met her!"
Mallory pulled back, adjusting her robe, her tone suddenly icy. "Then you better find her and fix it. Because if Lumina’s capital gets tied up in a high-profile divorce audit, my investors will pulled out overnight. And if Lumina pulls out, Bennett Development goes bankrupt by February."
Evan’s phone buzzed in his hand. He snatched it up desperately, hoping it was a text from Claire.
It wasn't. It was a message from his head of corporate security:
Mr. Bennett, we checked your wife's phone location. The device was powered off at 2:15 AM near downtown. Her personal vehicle is still in your garage. No airline tickets have been purchased in her name. She has vanished off the grid.
Evan sank down onto the sofa, cold sweat dampening his shirt collar. He remembered the look in Claire's eyes right before she walked upstairs last night. There had been no tears. No screaming. No hysterical emotion.
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Only a terrifying, absolute calm.
He realized then that he hadn't just angered a pregnant wife. He had awakened a sleeping adversary who held the keys to his entire life. And for the first time in his calculated, successful existence, Evan Bennett was terrified.
