Chapter 1 - THE ENVELOPE
The captain’s voice came through the cabin again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, due to an unexpected mechanical issue, we are diverting to Colorado Springs. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened.”
Nobody around me seemed particularly alarmed.
I was.
Not because of the diversion.
Because Cassandra had just told me my children were mine.
Luke.
Violet.
Two little lives I had never known existed.
And now she was telling me that someone was watching them.
I stared at the sealed envelope in her hands.
My name was written across the front in handwriting I recognized immediately.
Cassandra's.
“Open it,” I whispered.
She shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
She glanced toward the aisle.
A man in a navy jacket was standing near the galley.
He wasn't a flight attendant.
He wasn't a passenger.
At least, not according to the boarding information I had seen earlier.
Cassandra noticed him too.
Her fingers tightened around the envelope.
“That's why.”
I looked at the man.
He pretended to study the overhead compartment.
“What does he want?”
“I don't know.”
“You said they wouldn't be safe if someone knew I found you.”
“They wouldn't.”
Luke tugged on my sleeve.
“Are you really my daddy?”
The question hit harder than anything Cassandra had said.
I crouched beside him.
I didn't know what to tell a two-year-old about three years of stolen time.
So I told him the only thing I could.
“I think I might be.”
He smiled.
The tiny dimple appeared in his left cheek.
Exactly like mine.
“Mommy said my daddy was far away.”
My throat tightened.
“She was right.”
Cassandra looked away.
I stood.
“Why did you tell them I was far away?”
“Because I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You think I wanted this?”
She lowered her voice.
“You think I wanted to disappear while pregnant? You think I wanted to raise twins alone?”
“Then tell me what happened.”
She looked at the envelope.
“Your father happened.”
I froze.
“My father?”
Cassandra nodded.
“Your father found out I was pregnant.”
My father had died eighteen months earlier.
A heart attack.
At least, that was what I had been told.
“What did he do?”
“He offered me money.”
“How much?”
“Enough to disappear.”
I stared at her.
“And when I refused?”
“He threatened me.”
My hands curled into fists.
“What exactly did he threaten?”
Cassandra looked toward Luke and Violet.
“Not me.”
The words were barely audible.
“The babies.”
I sat down.
For three years, I had believed Cassandra had betrayed me.
Now I was beginning to understand that maybe she had been trying to protect me.
“What did my father say?”
“He told me that if I stayed with you, you would lose everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said your company wasn't really yours.”
I felt cold.
“My company?”
“The company you inherited.”
The acquisition documents sitting inside my briefcase suddenly seemed much heavier.
My father had left me the controlling interest in our family's logistics empire.
I had spent three years expanding it.
Tonight, I was supposed to close a $780 million acquisition.
Cassandra reached for my hand.
“Damon, you need to listen carefully.”
Her voice trembled.
“Your father wasn't afraid of losing his company.”
“He was afraid of what would happen if you discovered who actually owned it.”
Before I could respond, the man in the navy jacket turned toward us.
Our eyes met.
He immediately walked into the lavatory.
Cassandra whispered:
“That's him.”
“Who?”
“I don't know his name.”
“But he's been following us for almost two years.”
I looked at the lavatory door.
Then at Cassandra.
Then at the envelope.
I tore it open.
Inside was a single photograph.
My father.
Standing beside Cassandra.
And beside them was another man.
I recognized him instantly.
He was the chairman of the company I was flying to Denver to acquire.
On the back of the photograph were six handwritten words.
DON'T SIGN THE DENVER ACQUISITION.
I looked at Cassandra.
“Why?”
She swallowed.
“Because the acquisition is a trap.”
And then the plane suddenly dropped.
People screamed.
The lights flickered.
May you like
The man in the navy jacket came out of the lavatory.
And he was holding a gun.
