Chapter 2 - The Man in the Snow
Evelyn pressed herself deeper beneath the fallen pine as the flashlight beam moved across the opening.
"Mrs. Prescott?"
The voice came again.
She held one hand over her mouth.
Another contraction tightened around her abdomen.
She closed her eyes.
Not now.
Please.
Not now.
The stranger stepped closer.
Snow crunched beneath his boots.
Evelyn searched around her for anything she could use as a weapon.
A broken branch.
A stone.
Anything.
Her fingers closed around a jagged piece of wood.
The flashlight entered the hollow.
"Evelyn?"
She swung.
The branch struck the man's wrist.
He cursed and dropped the flashlight.
Evelyn tried to crawl away.
"Wait!"
He caught her boot.
She kicked wildly.
"Get away from me!"
"I'm trying to help you!"
"Brandon sent you!"
"Yes!"
That made her fight harder.
The man released her immediately.
"Not like that."
Evelyn froze.
He raised both hands.
He was in his late forties, broad-shouldered, wearing insulated rescue gear.
A patch on his coat read GALLATIN COUNTY SEARCH AND RESCUE.
Evelyn stared.
"You said Brandon sent you."
"He did."
"To kill me?"
The man looked horrified.
"To find you."
She didn't believe him.
"What's your name?"
"Tom Alvarez."
"Prove it."
Tom slowly removed his wallet and slid his identification across the snow.
Evelyn inspected it beneath the flashlight.
Her hands were shaking.
Tom's expression changed when he noticed her stomach.
"Are you contracting?"
"No."
Another contraction immediately seized her.
She gasped.
Tom checked his watch.
"That's a yes."
"Don't take me to Brandon."
"What?"
"Don't tell him I'm alive."
Tom stared.
Evelyn grabbed his sleeve.
"He pushed me."
For several seconds neither spoke.
"He did what?"
"My husband pushed me off the cliff."
Tom's face became unreadable.
"Are you certain?"
"I watched him pry my fingers off the edge."
Tom looked uphill.
"The sheriff's report says you slipped."
"Because Brandon lied."
Tom sat back on his heels.
"There's something you need to understand. Your husband joined the search for nearly two hours."
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
"Of course he did."
"He kept directing us toward the south ravine."
"I fell north."
Tom's gaze sharpened.
That mattered.
"He told us you disappeared south."
"Because he didn't want you to find me."
Tom reached for his radio.
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
"No."
"You need medical help."
"You call this in and Brandon learns I'm alive."
"Dispatch isn't Brandon."
"How do I know who he has helping him?"
Tom started to answer.
Then stopped.
Evelyn watched realization settle across his face.
"You saw someone earlier?" he asked.
"On the cliff. Watching with binoculars."
Tom looked toward the ridge again.
"Could have been search crew."
"Would search crew hide when the helicopter passed?"
He had no answer.
Another contraction hit.
This one was stronger.
Evelyn cried out.
Tom moved immediately.
"We're leaving."
He radioed only one person.
"Sarah, I need you at marker nineteen."
A woman's voice crackled back.
"Found something?"
Tom glanced at Evelyn.
"Yes."
"What?"
"Just bring the truck. No radio traffic."
There was a pause.
"Understood."
Tom built a makeshift support around Evelyn's ankle and helped her move slowly along the ledge.
Thirty minutes later, they reached a narrow service road.
A pickup waited with its lights off.
A woman in her thirties jumped out.
She was wearing paramedic gear.
Her name was Sarah Kim.
She saw Evelyn and stopped dead.
"Oh my God."
Tom spoke quickly.
"She's alive. Baby's alive. Possible labor. And nobody calls it in yet."
Sarah stared at him.
"Why?"
Evelyn answered.
"Because my husband tried to murder me."
Sarah looked from Evelyn to Tom.
Then she opened the passenger door.
"Get in."
They drove to a small rural clinic forty miles away.
Not the main hospital.
Not somewhere Brandon would check immediately.
Dr. Maya Chen examined Evelyn in a private room.
The baby had a strong heartbeat.
Evelyn had a fractured ankle, bruised ribs, a partially dislocated shoulder and mild hypothermia.
The contractions were real.
But labor hadn't fully progressed.
"You were unbelievably lucky," Maya said.
Evelyn stared at the fetal monitor.
"No."
Maya looked at her.
"My baby was."
Before dawn, Walter Greene arrived.
Tom had contacted the sheriff discreetly, and the sheriff had contacted Walter after hearing Evelyn's allegation.
When Walter walked into the room, he covered his mouth.
"Evelyn."
She started crying.
He crossed the room and embraced her carefully.
"I thought we'd lost you."
"Brandon thinks you did."
Walter's expression darkened.
"Then let's keep it that way."
He told her about the funeral.
The empty coffin.
The rushed memorial.
Vanessa.
The insurance conversation he'd overheard.
Evelyn went very still.
"Vanessa Cole?"
"You know her?"
"She works for Halstead."
"In what role?"
"Financial strategy."
Walter exhaled.
"That could explain more than an affair."
Evelyn looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Walter opened his briefcase.
"When your father created your inheritance structure, Brandon couldn't directly access your controlling shares. But if you died, your shares would transfer into a temporary family trust until your child reached adulthood."
Evelyn touched her stomach.
"And if my child died with me?"
Walter hesitated.
"Brandon becomes one of three controlling trustees."
Her face drained.
"So the fifty million wasn't the only reason."
"No."
"How much would he control?"
Walter met her eyes.
"Potentially several billion dollars in voting authority."
The room fell silent.
Evelyn finally whispered, "He wasn't just killing his wife."
"No."
"He was taking my father's company."
Walter nodded.
Evelyn looked at the monitor.
The baby's heartbeat filled the room.
Steady.
Alive.
She wiped her tears.
"Then we don't tell him."
Walter leaned closer.
"What are you thinking?"
"He thinks I'm dead."
"Yes."
"He thinks our baby is dead."
"Yes."
"Then for the first time in years, Brandon is going to act without pretending for me."
Walter slowly smiled.
"You want him watched."
"I want everything watched."
By noon, the sheriff had created a restricted investigative team.
Tom's body camera from the rescue was secured.
Evelyn's survival was officially concealed while authorities evaluated the attempted-murder claim.
Only six people knew she was alive.
Brandon was not one of them.
Back at the Prescott house, Brandon poured himself a whiskey before lunch.
Vanessa walked barefoot through the kitchen wearing one of Evelyn's robes.
"Too soon?" she asked.
Brandon glanced at the robe.
"Take it off."
Vanessa smiled.
"Feeling guilty?"
"No. Feeling cautious."
She stepped closer.
"The funeral is over."
"The investigation isn't."
"What investigation? She fell."
Brandon looked at her.
"Keep saying that."
Vanessa poured herself a drink.
"When does the insurance company release the money?"
"They need a formal death declaration."
"How long?"
"Depends."
"I thought your guy handled it."
"He handled the policy."
"Then call him."
Brandon's jaw tightened.
"I said I'll handle it."
Vanessa studied him.
"You know, for someone who just inherited fifty million dollars, you don't look happy."
"I haven't inherited anything yet."
"And when you do?"
Brandon looked toward the hallway leading upstairs.
"Then we finish phase two."
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
"What exactly is phase two?"
Brandon didn't answer.
Three miles away, an investigator listened through a court-authorized surveillance device placed in Brandon's office.
The words were transmitted directly to Sheriff Daniels.
Evelyn listened too.
Her face had become very still.
Phase two.
There was more.
That afternoon Brandon called Halstead Aerospace.
He requested an emergency board meeting.
Reason:
Succession planning after Evelyn's death.
Walter almost laughed when he heard.
"He's moving fast."
Evelyn didn't.
"He always does when he thinks no one can stop him."
She asked Walter to bring her private corporate records.
He hesitated.
"You should be resting."
"Resting is what Brandon expects from a dead woman."
Walter brought them.
For six hours Evelyn reviewed trusts, board structures, insurance riders and financial transfers.
Then she found something.
Three months earlier, Brandon had requested access to a subsidiary Evelyn barely used.
Montane Strategic Holdings.
The request had been denied automatically because Evelyn's signature was required.
But someone had attempted the transfer again two days before the cliff trip.
This time a digital version of her signature had been attached.
Forged.
Recipient:
Cole Consulting LLC.
Vanessa's company.
Evelyn showed Walter.
"This wasn't an affair that turned into murder."
Walter studied the paperwork.
"No."
"The affair was part of the operation."
Walter nodded grimly.
A nurse entered.
"Mrs. Prescott?"
"Yes?"
"There's a delivery for you."
Everyone froze.
"No one knows she's here," Walter said.
The nurse held a small padded envelope.
"No return address."
Sheriff Daniels stepped forward and took it.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was Evelyn's missing phone.
The one she had left in Brandon's SUV.
The screen was cracked.
A note was taped to the back.
Evelyn recognized the handwriting.
It belonged to Brandon.
Three words were written across the paper.
May you like
I KNOW, EVELYN.
Then the phone began to ring.
