Page 56 of Shattered Hope
He must have followed me when I went to Jonathan’s house and assumed, she was there. He couldn’t see through the high wall, so he found his way onto the property from the beach. No one would know he was there until he broke the door on his way out. He’d watched and waited for this chance to grab her. Now she was his prisoner again.
I was parking my car at Wells Corporation when I received a call from the PI.
“Are you sure this woman’s name is Ailani?” was the first thing he asked.
“No… I can’t say I am. It was the name he used to call her, and she confirmed it was a real name,” I explained.
“Well, it doesn’t make any sense. I’m sending a few pictures as we speak for you to confirm their identities.”
“What doesn’t make any sense?” I asked, surprised, as I downloaded the pictures, he sent me.
“The woman in the pictures is Ailani Kekoa Hudson, married to Daniel Hudson, three years ago.”
“That’s her,” I confirmed, staring at the pictures of her wedding, my heart aching at the way she looked at her new husband.
“Well, that woman is supposedly dead. Killed in a car accident over a year ago,” the PI explained.
“What?” I shouted startled.
“Her car flew over a ravine and burst into flames when it hit bottom. It was impossible to recognize the body, but there was no evidence of foul play, and the husband identified her purse and a neckless that belonged to her,” he added.
“She’s not dead,” I assured the man.
“Well, someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure everyone thought she was,” the PI replied. “Do you think she was capable of doing it?”
“No,” I was sure of that. “She was definitely on the run, but I doubt she had the means to pull off something like that. What happened to her alleged body?”
“Cremated on a very private ceremony,” the PI confirmed my suspicions.
“Of course, it was… he wouldn’t leave evidence behind,” I mumbled, barely containing my rage.
“So, you think the husband did it?”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. You don’t buy yourself a new life to live as a homeless person… and that’s what she was when I met her.”
“Yeah… it doesn’t make sense.”
“Besides, why would her husband follow her here if he was convinced, she was dead? He didn’t seem shocked when he met her at the gala.”
“I’ll keep digging.”
“Who’s this guy? Does he have the means to pull this off?”
“Oh, yes, he does. He’s an ex-SEAL and CEO of a big company dedicated to security issues… you know, providing surveillance systems, bodyguards, and that stuff to those able to pay for their services.”
“Damn!” I hit the steering wheel of my car. Finding a man trained to hide and move undetected was not an easy task. “We need to find them. Get all your men working on this.”
“If he did this, she’s the only person capable of exposing him,” the PI warned me, and I knew it.
The bastard was going to kill her. If only I had let her explain…
“I know… just do your best. I’ll tell the police what you found.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
Instead of calling, I went straight to the police station. It would be a lot easier explaining all this in person than over the phone. If I wanted to find her in time, I needed all the help I could get.
The police officers were a bit skeptical about my story. “How can you be sure these two women are the same person?” one of them asked me.
