Part 17: The Familiar Ghost
Part 17: The Familiar Ghost
I closed the register.
I walked around the counter.
“Can I help you?” I asked. My voice was intentionally soft.
She swallowed hard. Her hands were shaking.
“I… I don’t have a prescription,” she whispered.
She looked over her shoulder, terrified that someone had followed her through the rain.
“I read about you,” she said, her voice barely audible over the sound of the storm outside.
“Maya. You were married to Preston Caldwell.”
I stopped.
My posture didn’t change. My expression remained entirely neutral.
“I was,” I replied.
She stepped closer. The little boy hid behind her expensive coat.
“My name is Clara Thorne. My husband is Elias Thorne. He… he took over Preston’s old development contracts.”
I knew the name. Elias Thorne was cut from the exact same cloth as the Caldwells.
Ruthless. Arrogant. Obsessed with optics.
“I need to leave him,” Clara whispered, a tear finally escaping her eye.
“But he controls my phone. My bank accounts. My passport.”
May you like
A pause.
“You got out. You beat them. Please… tell me how.”
