Page 193 of Bleeding Hearts Duet

***

Three days had come and gone.

I was going out of my fucking mind. I couldn’t stop crying, and I couldn’t keep anything down. Matt, Nicole, Norma, and Ted all kept silent vigil in the living room, waiting for any shred of news.

Ryland had officially been declared missing. The police hadn’t told me anything, but they’d come and torn the house apart searching for clues. I’d been questioned a thousand times, things I didn’t even know. And I hated myself for not knowing more about Ryland’s company. Why didn’t I know these things? I should have known these things. I was supposed to be helping him, and I couldn’t even answer their questions.

I’d sent Mick to look for him, and he didn’t protest. He said Ryland could be pissed whenever he came back, but right now, he was his top priority. I was grateful and spent every waking second thinking of something else I could do. Something else that I’d missed.

I even tried to contact Alex Burton. I left him several hate filled messages, but he wouldn’t return my calls. All of the light that filled my life was suddenly turning bleak. My heart grew weak in my chest, and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to go on. I couldn’t lose him. There was just no way. We were meant to be together. It couldn’t end this way.

There was a knock at the door, and Norma got up to answer it while Nicole tried to get me to drink some water. Another detective came into the room, one I didn’t recognize.

“Brighton Bennett?” he asked.

“That’s me.” I stood up on shaky legs. “Do you have any news?”

“I’m going to need you to come with me,” he said.

Matt was at my side a moment later, glaring at the man and his tone of voice. “What’s this about?” he demanded.

“We have some questions for Mrs. Bennett,” the detective answered.

“You’ve already asked her questions,” Matt said. “Repeatedly. She doesn’t need to go anywhere. This is her home, and as you can see, she’s very pregnant.”

The detective didn’t seem to care. “She doesn’t have a choice at this point.”

“It’s okay, Matt,” I said. “I want to help. I’ll do whatever they ask.”

“I’m coming with you,” he stated.

Nicole gave me a quick hug and smoothed down my hair. “I’ll stay by the phone in case anyone calls,” she said. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything at all, okay?”

“Okay.”

I followed the detective out the door and into his car, grateful to have Matt by my side. Whatever was going on, I had a feeling it didn’t bode well for me.

***

“I told you he was in Chicago,” I said for the fifth time.

“That is what you said,” the detective agreed, leaning across the table to watch me carefully. “But that wasn’t true, Mrs. Bennett.”

“What are you talking about?” I hissed. “He had a business trip to Chicago that day. With Robert Burton. How many fucking times do I have to say it?”

I was losing my patience, but I didn’t care. They were wasting their time asking me these stupid questions over and over instead of looking for Ryland. I was beginning to hate them all.

“Ryland scheduled a flight that morning, but he never took it,” the detective answered in a neutral tone. “His driver dropped him off in front of his building, and that was the last time he was seen.”

Bile rose up in my throat as I clutched my arms around myself, shaking my head. “No, that’s not right,” I rasped. “You have to be mistaken. He went straight from our house. And then all that stuff was on the news, so I know he met with Alex Burton.”

“That meeting with Alex Burton took place two weeks ago,” the detective answered again.

I wanted to believe that he was lying to me. That he just misunderstood what was happening. But I could tell by his eyes he wasn’t. Which only meant one thing. Ryland had been backed into a corner by Alex Burton. But how? And why didn’t he say anything to me?

“I understand that you also signed off on a sizable life insurance policy on your husband the night before he went missing.”

I stared at him in shock as his words sunk in.

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