Chapter 1

• PROLOGUE:
• Melissa Colbert a simple house wife learns that she was pregnant with her first baby. Before she could tell her husband that they were expecting their first child he is no where to be found. After weeks of searching the police department finds nothing of her husband and after she is excluded from being a person of interest. She begins trying to put her life together and prepare for her child. However because there was no will his family of the Colbert Estates takes back their family land and kicks her to the curb. Though she is pregnant and nowhere else to go she takes any job she can find to support her unborn baby and herself. After a few months and bills piling up she decides to play the lottery and becoming the next five hundred million dollar winning. She doesn’t reveal who she is and decides to leave the state and start a new life. Five years down the road she and her daughter, Rachel are living a life of luxury. Melissa turned her millions into billions and all over the media. Her missing husband who had started a new life sees that his wife is worth more than what he was and he soon he decides to have her arrested for his fake death. Melissa who never knew exactly what had happened to her husband finds herself caught up in a murder and later learns her husband wants her but she doesn’t want him. So now she has to prove that he is alive and she had nothing to do with his disappearance or his crimes from before. She hires Private Investigator Calvin Masters. He has a short amount of time to help the Billion dollar client to clear her name and prove that her husband was never missing or else she finds herself behind bars. Though everything seems to be against her she finds comfort with the man who is trying to prove her innocence. Will he be her saving grace or will he be too late?
• CHAPTER 1:
• The phone rings in his office and he sees who is calling him. His mistress of the last two years was on the phone.
• “Hello Dave, is everything ready for tomorrow?”
• “Yes. No one knows anything. The tickets and the money is in a safe location. Remember what the plan is though. You don’t leave right away. Patience is the key once they finish the investigation then leave.”
• The phone didn’t last very long as plan and he knew she would be throwing the burner phone away. She called nowhere near her home or the office just in case. Tomorrow morning was only a few hours away.
• “Honey I am home.”
• He smiled as he left his office to greet his wife. He had spent the entire day cleaning his office and making sure everything was good to go. Yes Dave had thought of everything to the T. He looked at his wife of three years and though he loved her, it wasn’t enough. No, this would give him a fresh start.
• “Hey Dave, how was your day honey?”
• “Busy you know how mind numbing it can be?”
• “Oh yes. I got some great news and I wanted…”
• “I am sorry dear but after everything I am calling it a night. We can have lunch tomorrow if you like and you can tell me your great news.”
• “Um, okay. Is everything okay?”
• “Just a little tired love. I am sorry not trying to be mean just been a long week at work.”
• He kissed her on the forehead and smiled at her before going to bed. She watched him go up the stairs and biting her lower lips she wondered what had been going on lately. He had been so distant for over a year and lately he had gotten worse. Granted he did work a lot of hours she wondered sometimes if he was cheating but she hadn’t really caught him and she wanted to trust him. Melissa putting the groceries away looking at the test results that made her smile. They had been trying to get pregnant since last year and now she saw on paper she was thirteen weeks pregnant. She sighed thinking that had been a while since she and her husband had made love. That night she remembered he came home and was wanting her like never before. Though he had smelled of alcohol she figured he went to the bar with his friends and that night was something of a memory now. She had planned on divorcing him because he no longer acted like a husband but now with her being pregnant she would give them another chance.
• 2❧
• Melissa rolling over in bed and realizing that Dave had left for work hours ago she would do something different today. She went to do her nails and hair then going to the bookstore and get away from the stress at home. She had been trying to work on her marriage with Dave but it was all one sided. Yes today she was going to enjoy a good book till Dave came home. He had said he wanted to have lunch with her but today was all about her. She phoned a friend and they went to the cafe where she heard about her friend’s new romances. The time was one when the office called her asking if Dave had went home.
• “Not that I am aware Bethany. Dave normally calls me when he leaves the office.”
• “He left the office as usual before twelve and he hasn’t came back. His client showed up ten minutes ago and I have tried to page him.”
• “I am not at home but I will swing by there to see if he is there then.”
• Her friend Tina didn’t say anything until Melissa got off the phone.
• “You know I think he is cheating on you Melissa.”
• “Not this again.”
• “Look I have been your friend for a long time honey. He is either screwing his secretary or she is one a few that he is banging.”
• “Until I catch him I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
• “Girl, here the private investigator Calvin Master. He is the best and if your husband is cheating then Master will find you the evidence and you can divorce your husband and get the hell out of dodge.”
• “I am pregnant Tina. I tried telling him last night and he didn’t give me a chance to tell him.”
• “You want him to be around your child and setting a bad example?”
• “I will call you later Tina.”
• “Bye but here take this card. You never know when you are going to need this guy’s help.”
• “You have never liked Dave.”
• “Nope. I think he is a jerk with a silver tongue. I just get a bad feeling around him. I don’t know why but I just do.”
• Melissa paid her tab then hugged her friend before heading home.
• 3❧
• They lived modest but upper community home. The house was in a gated community and security was the most important thing to her. She passed a few houses before pulling in to her two story house with two door garage and the white picket fence. They didn’t have any pets because her husband hated animals making a mess. Though she wanted a dog he refused to even entertain the idea of a smelly creature making his home less than perfect. She checked the garage and his vehicle wasn’t to be found and going inside revealing he wasn’t home at all. She cringed thinking of calling his family because his family felt that he was too good for her. She called her monster, mother-in-law only to get the cold voice letting her know that her husband wasn’t there or hasn’t called in the last few days. As if it was her fault. Her husband had a mind of his own and even when she tried convincing him to call he wouldn’t. Then when they went to see his family he would tell them lies and of course she would be made out to be the bad guy. She called the office because maybe in the time of her driving back he had already returned to work. She dialed the number and waited until Bethany answered the phone.
• “Colbert’s Warehouse, this is Bethany how may I help you?”
• “Bethany has Dave returned to the office yet?”
• “No Mrs. Colbert. I have tried his pager once more and left him several of voicemails and still no luck.”
• I will drive around see if somehow he has car trouble. Just keep me posted if he returns back to work then.”
• “Yes Mrs. Colbert.”
• She called the police station and then the local hospital but nothing about her husband. She drove around some areas that were between the house and his job and she didn’t see anything. Six hours later she was calling the police department making a report though she was told she had to wait at least twenty-four hours before she could make a missing person’s case. Six hours became eighteen and finally she called her friend while waiting for her husband to come home. The hours didn’t seem to go by fast enough and finally at the twenty-four hour marker as she was about to head out the door the police officer was already there.
• “Ma’am a passer by reported a truck that came back under your husband’s name. We didn’t see a body or anything. We were wondering if you could identify if anything seems out of sorts.”
• 4❧
• “What do you mean y’all didn’t find his body?”
• “The truck seemed to go off the road although we don’t believe he was in a wreck but for the truck to be there and no driver just seems odd to us.”
• She grabbed her jacket and purse then following the officer to the station where the truck had been hauled off to. She looked and she noticed his wallet and a few other things were still there along with his cards and cash. His gun was missing but that was about it. She filled out some paperwork and talked to the police chief because the chief of police and her husband’s family were close friends. Three hours later after giving a statement and waiting for any kind of information she again went home alone. She felt tears rolling down her cheek and she decided that tomorrow if there was no news about her husband she would go to the media. She tried getting sleep but she was restless and with the baby she woke up a few times from throwing up. What was supposed to be happy moments between a wife and husband was now a nightmare. After a sleepless night she made a call to the media and letting them know about her husband going missing. By ten in the morning, she was giving an interview about her missing husband. It was well passed the twenty-four hour mark and already local officers and volunteers were combing through the area. Melissa and a few of her friends were posting flyers and soon Dave’s family got involved. His mother was the worst of them all but except in public. On camera she seemed hurt and was begging if anyone knew about her son to please call the local police department. Off camera she blamed Melissa for her son leaving. Her mother-in-law was cussing Melissa and finally one of her friend’s stepped in.
• “You have no right talking to Melissa as if she was a dog. She is a good woman and done everything for your son.” Tina red in the face wanted to slap the mother-in-law.
• Tina watched the old hag leave before turning back to Melissa, “Why do you take it Melissa? I mean you can do so much better especially with his family. Your parents may not have been rich but they would be rolling in their graves on his family are treating you.”
• “I keep telling myself that it will get better. I mean it has to.”
• 5❧
• Bethany checking her email when she got a message from Mr. Doug Walter. It was now two weeks into Dave Colbert’s missing case. She read through the email in his cryptic message before replying back. Because Dave hadn’t been in the office so his brother came in to take his place so that the business wouldn’t go up in smokes. Steve Colbert was more about business than Dave’s laid back approach. He was going through the books and hadn’t given any thought to what Bethany was doing.
• “Sir, I am going on my lunch break now.”
• “That is fine. Before you come back stop at the bank and pick up some files that will be waiting on you when you get there.”
• “Yes sir.”
• “My brother is a good sales man but he couldn’t keep records for the life of him. I know tomorrow is Friday but I may need you to come in Saturday. I need to go through all the records and files over the last year.”
• “This Saturday I had already made plans.”
• “Either you come in Saturday or find another job. It’s simple.”
• “Fine. I quit. I will be cleaning out my space now.”
• She quickly cleared out as much as the evidence as possible then made sure everything was taken care of before leaving. She texted Doug letting him know that Steve was going through paperwork that was in the office. She went to the apartment that belonged to Doug and there in the room was the money and the passport. She knew that once Steve was declared dead then she would be leaving this town.
• 6❧
• Melissa drove to her parent’s graves and laid some flowers down. She cried because she felt alone and had no one that was supposed to be there. Two weeks ago her husband’s business had burned down and now it had been three months since her husband had gone missing. Her brother-in-law and his family had taken back the family home and she was only allowed to take few of her things. She was grateful that Steve had put her vehicle in her own name. Her parents did leave her a little bit of money but she wasn’t going to use it till it was her only option. The house her parents left her wasn’t maintained because Dave thought her parent’s home should have been sold. She didn’t want to lose her childhood home so he never gave her the money to fix because he thought it wasn’t worth it. She drove there because that was all she had even though Tina told her she was welcome to stay in her home. She wanted to stand on her own two feet. She was now in her second trimester and soon it would be her third trimester. Her uncle had came by the day before and put a small camper for her till she could get the money to do the work. She left the town that her husband had called home. Now it would soon be a distant memory. Melissa found a job as a bank teller even though it wasn’t a high paying job she decided she was going to go back to school. She had bought a few lottery tickets before coming to see her parents. Going to a place that was no bigger than the walk in closet in her once beautiful two story home but reality was it never felt like home. She came in and showered before taking the food out of the bag and finally looked at the tickets. She started scratching the tickets until she nearly choked. She got the ticket for five thousand dollars. She called her friend Tina, “We need to go to the casino.”
• She dressed up and her friend came and they left for the casino. Getting there was a breath of fresh air. They ate at the buffet of crab legs and prime rib. She showed her friend the five thousand dollar ticket. So to celebrate they played after they left the buffet. That night she felt something was different and tonight she felt like a winner.
• It was about ten in the morning when she got home and turned on the news. They went over Dave’s story that his family took over. Then she was about to turn the television off when the numbers she played came in order. She had already won five thousand from the scratch ticket then last night she won a couple of thousand dollars and on the screen her numbers were blaring and she got up and fell on her knees crying and realized she just wont the five hundred million lottery.
• A week later she wore a disguised because she didn’t want anyone she knew to know she won the five hundred million dollars. She had already changed her name back to her maiden name and accepting the money she decided that she was going to leave the states for a little bit after her daughter was born. She already had plans to fix her family’s home so going overseas for a little reprieve from what had been going on. Her daughter was due in just a few weeks and she figured a year abroad would be good. Tina would be going with her and the two had talked about starting a business from years ago and now it looked like their dreams would be coming true.