Chapter 5 - Ghosts in the Machine
I couldn't just sit and wait for the boogeyman to kick my door down. I hired a private investigator, a disgraced former cop named Miller who didn't care about ethics, only results. I drained my savings account to pay him.
"Find me everything on Marcus Thorne," I told him, sliding a thick envelope of cash across the diner table. "I don't care how deep you have to dig."
A week later, Miller called me to a dark parking lot. He tossed a manila folder onto my dashboard.
"Your boy Marcus? That’s not his real name," Miller grunted, lighting a cigarette. "Born Mark Thomas. He changed his name ten years ago. And Rachel wasn't his first wife."
I opened the file. Photos of a beautiful blonde woman and a young boy stared back at me.
"Elaine Thomas. Disappeared off the coast of Florida in 2015 during a boating trip with Mark. Body never found. The stepson, Leo? Drowned in the family bathtub two years prior. Ruled an accident. He collected life insurance on both of them and vanished, rebranding himself as Marcus."
My hands shook as I stared at the photo of the little boy. Marcus wasn't just a domestic abuser. He was a serial predator. He found vulnerable single mothers, isolated them, and eliminated them when he grew bored.
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"I have the police reports from Florida," Miller said. "But it’s all cold cases. No hard proof."
"It's proof enough for me," I whispered.
