Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 121: A Demon From My Past

Stiff was also missing. That left me and CK chasing down clues online. I called in Sampson and Min to do a site search for Bea. I called Jake and Father DiMarco. They were headed back to the city.

It made me antsy that Stiff had fallen off the grid. I wasn’t the only one with GPS tracking on my phone. So did Stiff and Bea. Bea’s phone was still at CK’s place—somewhere. All trace of Stiff’s signature had been erased, along with his banking transactions, his emergency contract information, and tracking to his car and laptop.

The fucker was hiding from me. Only Stiff was an elite. King had contacts he could use to find him. I hoped. Stiff would regret falling off the grid at the same time that Bea needed him.

Neither Bea nor Stiff had been gone long enough to report as a missing person to the cops. The only resources left to explore were the Crazy Code employees. I initiated the emergency phone chain to call key personnel into the office. They could scan security footage in and around CK’s place and the church for our AWOL teammates.

Alec returned. "Dad swears he didn’t have anything to do with it. Estelle backs him up. I believe him. Give me Bea’s details. Dad offered to help."

"What was the harm? If Eugene had Bea, he already knew what she looked like and her name, and he had enough information to track her to CK. I sent the information to Alec’s phone.

"Stiff is missing, too, but I think he ran away from home because he is mad at me."

Alec waved for me to continue. "Give me what you’ve got. I’ll find him."

I called King, who picked up my call on the first ring. I had to wait until he walked out of a meeting to fill him in.

"Stiff and I have associates in common. Let me see what I can do," King offered.

The second I hung up, my phone buzzed with a new call. I didn’t recognize the number, but I did the voice, and it chilled my blood.

Lettie said, "I’ve got your troublesome little friend. She’s not looking so good."

She texted me a picture of Bea, pale with beads of sweat on her forehead and upper lip.

Yeah, even if Lettie’s people treated Bea well, she would be due for the medication that prevented her body from rejecting the kidney.

I slumped back in my chair. Oh my god, after everything we’d done to save her, Bea’s life was endangered again.

"What do you want, Lettie?"

"I want Daniel and Anya out of jail. How dare you risk my future grandchild?"

"How long has it been since you recovered?"

"From what? Oh, the stroke. I did what it took to survive. I always have."

"Does King know?"

Lettie snorted. "That fool only knows what I tell him. It’s why he’s been so malleable all these years. It’s made him the perfect tool."

How had Lettie hidden it? I’d seen footage of her at the facility with her face half paralyzed and expression blank as if her mind had gone on vacation.

Stiff had hired people on the inside to watch her. We maintained a permanent tap on the facility’s surveillance camera. Even if Lettie was faking it, there was no way she could fake it twenty-four-seven—not with so many eyes on her.

Unless the woman we’d been watching wasn’t Lettie, just a lookalike.

I pulled up the surveillance to the patient’s room. The Lettie we had been watching was still there. I should never have agreed to delay her prosecution.

"How do you expect me to secure their release? Daniel has already been sentenced."

"You are the computer expert. You’ll find a way."

"Bea needs her medication. I can’t work that fast. Can you buy me some time? I can bring her meds to you. Just give them to her until I can think of a plan."

"You’ll work faster if she goes without."

The call ended, and so did all the hope I had left of saving my friend. If breathing weren’t instinctual, I would have stopped then and there.

How could I have been so sloppy? Lettie was a demon. I should never have underestimated her.

Alec returned with Estelle.

"I want to help," Estelle said.

"How? Lettie has her," I whispered.

"What did you say?" Alec asked.

"Lettie is not sick. She probably never was. She’s fooled all of us. She took Bea."

"Teela, you’re not making any sense," Alec said.

My phone buzzed repeatedly. Text messages. I had a lot of balls in the air. Now, I was letting them drop.

"Teela!" Alec shook me. "Bea’s depending on you. Pull it together. You are stronger than you think."

The doorbell rang. Estelle left and came back with King and Father DiMarco.

King. It was his fault, all his fault. I ran at him, attacking him with fists and nails as Alec and Father DiMarco tried to pull me off.

"It’s his fault! He protected Lettie. Now she’s got Bea. I should never have trusted him. He’s damaged goods who will always stand up for that woman! I hate him. I hate you, King Heavenly! Get out of my sight before I kill you."

Alec wrapped me in his arms and turned me away from King. I fought against him until every muscle in my body protested. Meanwhile, Father DiMarco urged King out of the room.

A part of me knew I was wasting precious time, but it felt like a useless endeavor to begin with. There was no way I could secure Daniel and Anya’s release quick enough to save Bea—not alone, not without Stiff, who was my focal point for a successful campaign.

Estelle pressed two pills into my palm and handed me a glass of water. "Take these, Teela. They’ll calm you down, then we’ll help you move forward."

Obediently, I swallowed the pills. "I need five minutes to pull it together."

I might be lying, but it helped to have a time limit on my pity party. I just needed to think. To pull together an executable plan.

I asked Alec for my phone. I called Stiff repeatedly. If he left because of me, he would reconnect when the anger wore off. I tried again and again until Estelle took the phone.

"I’ll call your friend," Estelle said. "Finish the water, then go out to the dining room. People are waiting on you."

The water was lukewarm but wet. It helped soothe the lump in the back of my throat. The meds were probably kicking in as well because the feeling of defeat was fading, allowing my functioning brain space to operate.

"You’ve got this, Teela. Now, let’s update everyone," Alec said.

"Everyone?"

"You’ve got a lot of support. They are waiting for you in the other room."

"Okay, let’s go. Estelle, keep trying Stiff. I need him."

The open floor plan came in handy with the size of the crowd in the other room. So little time had passed, and yet Eugene was there with six men. King and Ben were at the dining table. Father DiMarco and Rosie crossed back and forth from the kitchen to the visitors, refilling coffee and offering juice and baked goods.

Somehow, the tech team from Crazy Code had the address and were waiting with laptop bags slung over their shoulders. My security people were there, as were Angie and her mom. CK was cross-legged on the floor with his laptop open, typing away, his body rocking the whole time.

As soon as they saw me, all conversation ended. I swallowed hard and started in.

"Lettie Heavenly kidnapped Bea. She wants Daniel and Anya released. She sent me a photo of Bea. She doesn’t look well. Bea needs her meds, or her body may reject the transplanted kidney.

"Ben, call Joshua. Find out how much time we have, please. CK, call off the search for clues around your place."

Eugene picked up his phone, "Mayor, I need a favor—"

"King, do you have an idea where Lettie is?"

King and Ben looked as shocked as I felt. King said, "I thought she was in the long-term care facility. I visited her last week. She was in no condition to pull off a stunt like this."

"The doppelganger is still there. I need you to work with the tech team to find out who she is and when the switch was made. Also, did you find out anything about Stiff?"

King said, "Nothing yet. I’ll take the tech team to Heavenly Enterprises. They can work with my guys on both projects."

"Excuse me," Techie Albert raised his hand. "I found footage of Stiff renting a car. I contacted the rental place. He used a credit card issued to a Michael Hess. I’ve got the license plate number."

I recognized the name as one of Stiff’s aliases.

CK said, "Hit me with it."

Eugene ended his call and made another one. "Hello, Warden. I need a little favor."

Was Eugene doing what I thought he was doing?