Chapter 13 - The Murder That Never HappenedPolice surrounded Marcus within minutes.
A body had been discovered at the Vale estate.
Adrian.
Dead.
He had been shot once.
The weapon was found near Marcus's fingerprints.
Marcus was taken into custody.
I refused to believe it.
Kara stood beside me.
“He didn't kill him.”
“I know.”
She looked at the security footage.
“The system was manipulated.”
Daniel nodded.
“Adrian had access to the cameras.”
“But he was arrested.”
“Someone else could have done it.”
Kara looked at my mother.
“My whole life, they told me Adrian was the enemy.”
My mother lowered her head.
“He was.”
“Not alone.”
Then Kara opened a file.
Inside was a list.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
At the top was one name.
Evelyn Vale.
But below Evelyn was another.
Marcus Vale.
I stared.
“No.”
Kara shook her head.
“That is what they want you to believe.”
The list showed payments made from Marcus's bank account.
Millions.
But Marcus had never made them.
Someone had cloned his identity.
Then another file appeared.
A voice recording.
Marcus's voice saying,
“Take care of Khloe.”
I froze.
Kara grabbed my hand.
“It's fake.”
I listened again.
The voice was perfect.
Every breath.
Every pause.
But one detail was wrong.
Marcus always said my name differently.
He shortened it to Khol when he was nervous.
The recording said Khloe.
Someone had recreated his voice.
Then I remembered Isabella.
She had been the one who knew about the camera.
Maybe she had been working with us.
Maybe she had been trying to expose the operation.
We found her at a safe house.
She was injured.
She told us the truth.
“I was ordered to attack you because they needed the camera to record a specific event.”
“What event?”
“The red heel.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because the heel contained a tracking device.”
“What?”
Isabella removed the heel.
Inside the sole was a tiny transmitter.
“They wanted to know where you went after leaving the hospital.”
“Why?”
“Because you were going to meet someone.”
“Who?”
She looked at Kara.
“Her.”
Kara stepped back.
“What?”
Isabella nodded.
“The entire attack was designed to force you to discover the camera.”
“So they wanted us to find the recording?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the recording was bait.”
My stomach tightened.
Isabella handed me a phone.
“There is a second camera.”
I looked at her.
“Where?”
She pointed at my own hospital bracelet.
“The red light isn't on the ceiling camera.”
I looked down.
My bracelet contained a tiny blinking light.
My blood ran cold.
“The entire time,” Isabella whispered, “they were recording you.”
The phone displayed a live feed.
Marcus sat alone inside the interrogation room.
A man entered.
He sat opposite him.
Marcus looked up.
His face changed.
The man smiled.
Then he said,
“Tell your wife the truth.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What truth?”
The man placed a photograph on the table.
It showed me.
Pregnant.
But standing beside me was someone else.
A man I had never seen.
The timestamp was tomorrow.
The man said,
May you like
“Your wife has another husband.”
The live feed cut.
