Chapter 2

02

I pushed the car hard down the empty beltway at midnight. The city's neon streaked past the windows, stretching into long, blurred bands of light, exactly like the mess of my own thoughts.

I called Hunter back and told him to wait for me in the hotel lobby, and not to make a single move.

"Boris, you're something else. This calm?" Hunter clicked his tongue on the other end. "If it were me, I'd have already grabbed a knife and charged up there."

"And what good would that do?" My voice came out unusually rough. "If the woman up there really is her, and I charge in, this family is finished. And if it isn't her, then it's even more complicated. I need the truth, not to blow off steam."

"Fair enough." Hunter went quiet for a moment, then asked carefully, "Boris, be straight with me. How likely do you really think this is? I mean, your wife... is there any chance she..."

"There's no chance." I cut him off, my tone leaving no room for argument.

Linda and I were college classmates. We went from a campus romance to the altar, and there were almost no secrets between us. What kind of person she was, I knew better than anyone. She was proud, driven, fiercely ambitious about her career, but her loyalty in love and her sense of responsibility to this family were carved into her bones. She could go three days and nights without closing her eyes for a project, but she would never make a mess of things with another man. That would stain her pride.

"Then this is a real ghost story," Hunter muttered. "What, is it a clone? Some high-tech face swap? Even novels wouldn't dare write this these days."

"Stop letting your mind run wild." I said it, but inside I was even more of a wreck than he was.

Who was the man? Hunter had said "pretty boy," and my thoughts went straight to the new executive assistant Linda had hired two weeks ago, Xavier Chavez. Elite university, young and capable, and honestly a sharp-looking guy. More than once lately, Linda had praised him to me, saying he was quick on his feet, had drive, the most useful assistant she'd ever had.

Could it be...

I didn't dare follow that thought. Jealousy and suspicion are poison. Once they touch you, they eat away every bit of reason and trust. Until I saw solid proof, I couldn't condemn anyone out of thin air, not Linda, and not Xavier.

The car quickly reached downtown. The Hilton's signature blue logo stood out sharply against the night.

I parked at an inconspicuous spot along the curb instead of driving straight into the garage. I needed to meet Hunter first and get the fuller picture from him.

Hunter was crouched by the flowerbed at the hotel entrance, smoking, a scatter of cigarette butts already on the ground at his feet. The moment he saw my car, he stood and hurried over.

"You finally made it!" He pulled the door open and dropped into the passenger seat, a thick cloud of smoke spreading through the car at once.

"Tell me everything again, exactly." I handed him a bottle of water.

Hunter took a few gulps and steadied himself a little. "It was around eleven thirty, I was grabbing a late-night bite around here. Just as I was about to leave, I saw your wife's white Panamera pull up. Car stops, and first a guy gets out, the pretty boy I told you about. He walks around to the passenger side and opens the door, real gentleman."

"Then I see a woman in a cream skirt suit get out. There were a few dozen yards between us, but I knew her the second I saw her. That was absolutely your wife. After she got out, she seemed a little tired, even put a hand on the door to steady herself. The guy went to help her, and she slipped away from him, smooth, like she didn't even want to make a thing of it."

"She pulled away from him?" I caught the detail.

"Yeah, pulled away. Then she walked straight for the hotel doors, and the guy locked the car in a hurry and followed her, carrying a briefcase. The whole time the two of them barely said a word, but the guy acted really... how do I put it, respectful toward her? Almost scared of her, even." Hunter worked hard to find the words.

That wasn't how a couple sneaking out for an affair would act.

"Something felt off to me right away, so I went in after them. I watched them get on the elevator, and the display stopped at the seventeenth floor. Then I called you." Hunter finished and looked at me. "Boris, this whole thing reeks of something wrong. I keep getting the feeling that your wife... no, that woman, she didn't seem to be there by choice."

Not by choice? The guess made my heart skip a beat.

"Don't jump to conclusions yet." I killed the engine and pushed the door open. "Come on. Let's go check that car in the garage first."

Whether the woman was real or fake, the car was real. Right now it was the only lead we had. If there was a dashcam in it, maybe it could piece some of the truth back together.