Chapter 2

• FIVE YEARS LATER…..
• Doug Masters was watching television while Alyssa was reading the magazine when an article did a story on Melissa Layton who was the wife of the missing man named Dave Colbert. The story went on saying that Melissa won the five hundred million dollars but after five years she and her friend Tina Robbins started a business and now they had a billion dollar company along with several investments. The title of the story was From Rags to Riches, two country women one who had lost everything then won the lottery; then the other one had went to college for business. Then she read about little five year old, Rachel Colbert. She was the daughter of the late Dave Colbert. Rachel was a model and had already started her own line of clothes and would be staring in a movie for children.
• “Honey, looks like your a daddy. Your ex wife has made a name for herself.”
• She handed him the papers as he put down the remote. He had managed to take from his family’s business around twenty million but reading the article about his legal wife. He was silent and then a smile crossed his face.
• “Darling I think Dave’s body should surface now.”
• They grinned as they started researching more about Melissa and her new life not to mention his daughter he didn’t know was alive.
• 2❧
• Melissa looked out the business window because she was working from home. Tina was in New York but only for the month. Tina was dating a CEO who had been looking to invest in their business as well. Her daughter was in the other part of the house. Today the private tutor was teaching her foreign languages and tomorrow was math and some science. Melissa had went back to school and got her bachelor degree in business. She had invested in some restaurant with bars and a few investment properties. Back of her mind she always wondered where the brick wall was because every time something good would come along she found the brick wall. She tried many times to believe she was paranoid and as precaution she had put money away. Her daughter came into her office, “Mommy can we go for a ride on the horses please?”
• She looked at her watch and smiled, “I have one more hour to go.”
• “Mommy why were you staring out the window?”
• “Mommy was day dreaming. How was school today baby?”
• “I learned different alphabets in three languages and this weekend I have to watch some foreign cartoons.”
• “It’s time for you to see your business baby and tomorrow we will sit with your manager so that you know how everything is going.”
• “Mommy why don’t I have a daddy?”
• “Daddy went away when you were in my womb.”
• “Why don’t you find me a new daddy then?”
• “One day. Right now mommy wants stability. But that is a grown up decision.”
• “Mommy I know you get lonely though. I see when you cry you and that hurts because I don’t know what I can do.”
• “How about this? I will try to find you a daddy once this deal goes through. Right now mommy is a little stressed and dating right now isn’t a good thing.”
• “Okay mommy. I want a daddy and a little sister or brother or both.”
• The phone rang on and her computer came on, “Okay baby go get dressed for outside.”
• She answered the phone as her daughter scurried off and once she answered the phone it was a robotic voice.
• “Hello Melissa Colbert don’t hang up. If you don’t pay twenty million dollars then the murder of your husband will be pinned on you.”
• “Who is this?”
• “Your worse nightmare. The clock is ticking. I am sure you don’t want to lose your daughter and your lively hood and everything you have because you don’t want to pay up. You have twenty hours or else.” She heard the dial tone and she quickly called the cops to her home to report the disturbing message. She wasn’t going to pay anything because she didn’t do anything. She waited for the cops to come while taking the business call. Even though she was upset she a business to run. When the cops came she had just finished her call and sealed the deal. Now it was up to the lawyers to work out the plans but for now she needed to focus on the call that had disturbed her.
• 3❧
• Two hours later she and her daughter were riding through the trails her daddy had made when she was a little girl and now her and her daughter were enjoying the ride out.
• “Where do yo want to go for Christmas baby?”
• “I was wondering if we could stay home momma? You know that way Santa is chasing after me all over the place.”
• “You want your uncle and aunts over too?”
• “Yes, they only get to see us around the Fourth of July and around Thanksgiving. Could we go all out this year momma?”
• “I don’t see why not. We could go to the mall with your cousins and see the lights. I think staying home for Christmas would be wonderful. We could decorate the house this year and…”
• Her voice trailed off when she got another call and though her heart was racing she went to answer it but she took a sigh of relief it was only Tina who seemed excited. She and her new boyfriend were going to the Islands for a week. And the more Tina talked the more she realized she was being selfish for not wanting to give Rachel a real family. Her fear that she would meet a guy who would be everything she hated about Dave would be her greatest fear. She made the decision that she would start dating and hopefully this would be a good thing.
• Once they put the horses up after riding for a couple of hours her uncle had came by and Rachel so excited about the Christmas plans she talking about mile a minute. Her uncle and her aunts worked for her locally which helped the family immensely. Her uncle had experience with contracting so she started a business that her father had always wanted to do. Buying old homes then doing a rent to own where those who couldn’t get a loan could eventually own their own homes. Her uncle originally stopped by so they could talk about some land that was being auction off. However, her daughter was just super excited so Melissa used the opportunity to make some coffee and waited for when her daughter was finished.
• “How was your day uncle?”
• “Eventful however I think your aunts are going to be excited about you and Rachel staying here for the holidays. It’s about time you stopped running off.”
• “Not running off. It just a lot since mom and dad died. Then Dave disappearing and then with the lottery winning. I just needed a break from it all.”
• “Regardless you are home. When does Rachel start her acting?”
• “In March. It’s only for a season see if she likes it or not. If it takes off we could talk about getting some of her cousins signed on.”
• She looked at her daughter playing with her video game and she felt her uncle staring at her.
• “What is wrong Melissa?”
• “I got a strange phone call earlier. I have so many hours to pay a certain amount of money or else they will claim I had something to do with my husband’s disappearance. I have an alibi and the money I got was from the lottery. Dave never let me go over to the office let alone go into his office at the house. His family kicked me out so I don’t know why I am being blackmailed.”
• He raised the magazine up showing the cover of her and Tina and placed the magazine back down. “People want money. Did you call the cops?”
• “Yes.”
• “I would get a lawyer just in case. I hope you put some money away like your parents use to.”
• “I just feel like something is going on and Dave may have lived a double life.”
• “You should consider getting a lawyer, darling. I doubt if they could find anything but always think of Murphy’s law.”
• “You know I already have you and aunt Martha to take care of Rachel if anything ever happened right?”
• “I know darling. Plus you know Tina will take care of Rachel’s affairs till she turns twenty-one. Don’t worry whoever it is doesn’t have diddly on you. Probably his family trying to weasel money out of you since their company was burned down they hadn’t been able to afford their once lavished lifestyle.”
• “You don’t do God’s children wrong. I have never wished them anything bad and I actually did forgive them.”
• “You are a lot better person than myself. Now let me get home oh about the property that has over a hundred acres. I got it like you wanted me to now what?”
• “Twenty acres to be divided up that are located near the road. We are going to rent to own but the other eighty acres that will be for us. I was thinking for hunting and maybe divide it for the family.”
• “Face it you want to start getting into ranching, am I right?”
• “Yeah. I always wanted to do a little besides it’s in the blood.”
• 4❧
• Melissa cooked dinner something no matter how much money she had made she always enjoyed cooking so that her daughter could enjoy a home cooked meal. She poured some wine for herself and then poured her daughter some juice before setting dinner on the table. After they ate dinner, her daughter went upstairs to washed up before they settled down for a movie. An hour later her daughter went upstairs after saying goodnight to her mother. Melissa messaged the company’s lawyer and setting up an appointment via the internet. She had learned a hard lesson about relying on others. Because she didn’t stay on top things when she was married with Dave. His family had done some rotten things that now she wouldn’t have tolerated. That if she had known what she knew now Dave would have never taken advantage of her. But again lessons no matter how hard they are there for a reason. She poured wine into her empty glass then going back to work till it was midnight. She went to her safe and she looked over her back up including a gun she kept in case. She looked down and saw the card from five years ago about a private detective Calvin Masters. Back then she didn’t the funds and now maybe it was time for her to look into what really happened to her husband. It was after midnight but maybe she could at least check the P.I. out. She went upstairs with her tablet and started looking the guy and finally messaged him. Yes she agreed it was time to dig up the past up because if someone was going to blackmail her she wanted to know what her husband was into before his disappearance.
• It was after one before she finally called it a night. She tossed and turned dreaming of her daughter being taken away from her then she had a dream of her husband being brutally killed and then waking up thinking she was in prison for a crime she didn’t commit and laying back down as she regained her breathing. It was six in the morning and all she could think about was taking a hot bath and soaking before her day begin. She looked at herself in the mirror her eyes were like golden honey and her hair was long espresso and silky to the touch. She stood at five feet six and had an hour glass figure. She wasn’t thin but she toned from working out and jogging occasionally. Her daughter though she had her father’s light blue eyes she looked just like her mother.
• She showered considering she had an eventful day and soon she would have to go to California before the tenth of December. Her daughter would be here because it was only going to be a three day before coming back and going to get a tree and other things. So she had schedule everything for everything carefully so that the week before and of Christmas would be free. She dressed in slacks and a red silk blouse and did her makeup before going to her office. An hour later the maid and the cook came to get the day started. Tina already messaged her the plans for the new business venture. And the fax machine was already going crazy from the lawyers going back and forth. She read the papers and signed and then faxed it to her lawyer. She went through the emails and saw that the private investigator had responded. He wasn’t that far away and she gave him her address and he would be over around one to talk with her and hopefully open the case for her. Her lawyer called and they spoke on a conference site and as the lawyer listened he was taking notes.
• “I will have a look over everything and give the private investigator my number and we will see what we can do.”
• “What if they call back again?”
• “Record record and keep a record. If you want I can have our own investigator look into your husband’s old business as well. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You and Tina have done everything legally and everything is kept up to date so if anything it could be someone in his family trying to get money off of you. It’s criminal so we will find out who is doing this and prosecute them.”
• After speaking to her lawyers over some business affairs like the new land they bought and she then faxed over the paperwork of what was just purchase. She felt better by the time the private investigator came by. He looked to be at least thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old. He had a brawny look, broad shoulders and yet slender. His long hair was well kept around his shoulder almost looked like a darker side of Thor. His eyes were hazel and which made his coconut brown hair even darker. The maid showed him in as Melissa entered the room.
• He saw a voluptuous woman probably at least twenty-eight or near the age of thirty. He had already dug up some on her background. She married at the age of twenty years old and then her husband had went missing. She won five hundred million dollars and her best friend went to business school and they turned the millions now into billions.
• “Hello Mrs….”
• “I had my legal named changed back to my maiden name which is Layton. Ms. Melissa Layton would be fine. I never really was a Colbert.”
• “Your daughter has her father’s last name though.”
• “Regardless of how my relationship was that is still his daughter.”
• “You think he is alive or dead?”
• “I don’t really know. The last five years..” She paused, “I am sorry. Would like something to drink before we start talking?”
• 5❧
• Before he could respond a little girl came down the stairs in blue jeans and flannel button down shirt and she had the biggest grin on her face but her gave her a look and the little girl hugged her mother then ran into the kitchen where lunch was waiting on her.
• “She looks so much like you.”
• “Yes. Anything to drink or eat?”
• “I just had lunch but I could have some coffee.”
• She pushed the intercom to the kitchen and ordered two coffees and some sandwiches to be brought into her office. She led the way so that her daughter wouldn’t hear the conversation.
• “My daughter doesn’t know what had happened because all of this happened right when I was pregnant with her. I don’t want her to know because she is a child and I do not want her to be tainted of the sins of the father.”
• She took his hat and coat so that he could sit down on the chair facing her desk.
• He took out a note pad and recorder and waited for her to sit back down when the maid came in with the sandwiches and the coffee.
• “Thank you. Can you have the cook go over the cooking lesson with Rachel and make sure Rachel is the one who does the dishes and not the dishwasher this time.”
• “Yes ma’am. I will be doing the bedrooms today ma’am.”
• “Thank you.”
• The maid close the door before smiling over at the detective because he was very handsome man but she knew that she was on the clock.
• “Let’s start from the top then. What happened prior to your husband disappearance and the days after.”
• “My husband Dave Colbert I believe was having an affair but back then I didn’t want to believe it. I was a house wife and I never finished my schooling so I depended on him financially. I was ignorant basically. He handled all of our finances and never allowed me in his office in our home or allowed me to go to the family business. So I was given money for shopping expenses and had to keep every receipt. You asked me if I believed he was killed or is alive. I don’t know. The months prior to this was nothing out of the usual but he became distant the last three months. I was surprised we even had sex but I had found out I was pregnant the day before. The day he went missing I was angry at him because he didn’t want to hear my great news which was I had found out I was pregnant the day before.”
• She took a deep breath and had some of her coffee to regain composure because talking about this opened up wounds but she knew if she didn’t have this explored that if she was going to be blackmailed she wanted to start the investigation so that it wouldn’t bite her in the ass later on.
• “Sorry. Some wounds never heal. I shall continue on. So I decided that day to treat myself because I had thoughts of leaving my husband because I was tired of being neglected. I have never cheated on him and even now though he may or may not be alive I haven’t been on a date or been with anyone else.”
• At that she blushed because she had only known one man and she married him and thinking about that made her tear up some.
• “The day he went missing I went and got my hair and nails done to pamper myself some. I had lunch with my friend and now she is my business partner, Tina Robbins. My husband’s secretary Bethany called and told me my husband hadn’t come back from his lunch. So I went home and searched for him and nothing. I was told by local police I had to wait twenty-four hours to file a missing person claim. Well they found my husband’s truck but nothing seemed out of place except I believe his hand gun was missing. A month into his disappearance my husband’s family business burned down. No one knew what had happened. But after they had kicked me out of my after three months and I was pregnant, I lost interest. I came back to my family home and my uncle put a camper here. I went to work for the local bank here and then one night I won the lottery and the rest was history. I mean I did go to the casino with Tina after winning the five thousand on a scratch ticket. Then at the casino we won a couple of thousand dollars. After I collected my winnings from the lottery I left to go overseas after my daughter was born. Tina and I came back and started up our business ventures. Then after we did an interview with the magazine I get a phone call about my husband’s death and if I don’t give the caller twenty million that I would be regretting it.”
• 6❧
• “What’s the relationship between you and Tina?”
• “We grew up together. Her mother worked for my father’s family until her mother had gotten cancer. When her mother was too sick she and Tina came here to live. When her mother passed then Tina’s father came to take her to Kentucky. We stayed in touch and after I lost my parents she was there when I had no one. She is dating now and in New York. I am here because I have other business deals going. Our main business is in New York we have a few restaurants with bars up north and a few night clubs. We also invested into electronics and not to mention skin care products. My daughter has her own clothes line while modeling and she has children’s show and movie coming up in March. I run with my family here investment properties. I do have a line of bars and hotels throughout the country so the magazine was a chance to get our name out there. My next goal is to getting into ranching purchasing some prize bulls and go from there. Rags to riches basically.”
• He watched her and studied every movement while she was talking and then he made a few more notes.
• “Do you have any of the reports from when you reported your husband missing?”
• “I do. And I also went on live television trying to get the word out.”
• She went over to the filing cabinet and handed him some files she had kept for all these years.
• “Look this may not be anything but I have already lost so much before I was twenty-five years old. I have nothing to be afraid of because I could never hurt anyone. My lawyer wanted me to give you this number and would want any information to be copied and given to him as well. I also want copies of whatever you find. I already know that my husband was keeping secrets maybe even living a double life. This is about protecting my daughter and her future.”
• “So you think he is alive then?”
• “Honestly if he is dead then at least his family should have a peace of mind. If he is alive then I want a divorce and for him to stay away from Rachel.”
• He was about to ask a question when a call interrupted him and she answered then putting the caller on speaker so that he could hear the conversation.
• Again it was the robotic voice coming through, “So Mrs. Colbert have you decided what you are going to do?”
• “I think you are a coward. I am not giving money when I haven’t done anything wrong.”
• The robotic laughter came through which was chilling to her, “Your daughter is very pretty riding her bike on your family’s property. To bad her mother is going to destroy her life not just your own life.”
• “Touch my daughter or come near her and I promise you that I will find a way to hurt you.”
• “You couldn’t even find your husband so how would you be able to find me?”
• There was a dial tone and she hung up and the private investigator recorded everything. He looked at her and decided he had to take this case.
• “I would recommend you hire some bodyguards for your daughter and yourself. Are you armed?”
• She kicked the table drawer and showed him her .357 and then putting it back into it’s hiding space.
• “My father was an Army Ranger. He schooled me well.”