Prologue
The sun set on another day as Bryan Tines worked tirelessly in his austere high-rise. He’d been there since before
the sun came up, working the phones. That was his forte; he was a master on the phones. He could persuade a bank
to extend a loan, a contractor to get the job done a week ahead of schedule, a designer to give that extra touch
needed to make the building a step above, and keep his vendors at bay.
Bryan was the lord of his domain. Six months shy of forty, three quarters of an inch beneath six feet, two pounds less
than two hundred, with a full head of hair, and dazzling blue eyes that pierced right to your soul, he always had a five
o’clock shadow. His nearly perfect smile disarmed even his worst enemy, the only flaw a slight chip in his upper left
lateral tooth that could only be seen up close. He ran a successful real estate development firm in Southern
California, with twenty-five employees counting on him for their daily bread. He’d built the kingdom through hard work
and long hours, stomping out the competition, making enemies along the way.
Amber, Bryan’s wife of twelve years, waited patiently for Bryan to stop working so hard, so long, and so ferociously.
He barely slowed down for the birth of their two children, Skye and Taylor, now nine and six. Although Bryan claimed,
“They are the center of my universe!” his world never slowed enough for that to be true. When he finally left his
office, that crisp February night, he had a nagging feeling he had left something undone, but he couldn’t quite put his
finger on it.
One
The crushed-gravel drive had been the latest trend when the four-thousand-square-foot home had been built at the
end of the cul-de-sac. It had been a second-anniversary present to Amber. Bryan spent so little time there that it
became more of a chore to pull the Bentley into the driveway. It was past midnight when he slipped his key into the
wrought-iron, hand-carved door that opened into the high-ceilinged foyer.
Amber had left one light on at the end of the hall. Bryan slipped in quietly and immediately remembered what he had
forgotten. How could I be so stupid! he thought as he open-palmed his hand to his forehead. Of course! Today’s our
twelfth anniversary, and I promised Amber I’d be home in time to take her for a romantic dinner—just the two of us.
She even reminded me this morning. “Honey, you won’t forget, will you? I’ve already lined up the babysitter.”“I won’t
forget! I promise.” That’s what I told her, and once again, I broke my word.
He walked slowly into the sunken living room and dropped into the over-stuffed chair. He leaned back and slipped his
shoes off and began to wiggle his toes. All the while, his mind was racing. How am I going to make this up to her? She’
s always telling me that I put work before her and the kids, and I tell her that is ridiculous, but that is exactly what
happened today. First thing tomorrow morning, I’m hiring a new assistant, and their job is going to make sure that I
put my family first!
Bryan was so pleased with himself he put his head back and instantly fell asleep.
Sunrise coming in the living room windows woke him up. The Tines home not only rested at the end of a cul-de-sac
but also sat atop a hill, and the living room had one uncurtained, full wall of glass, to allow for an unobstructed view of
the valley around them.
Not wanting to wake Amber up before she had to take the kids to school, he quietly showered and changed in his
private bathroom. It was separate from the master bedroom. The décor was in deep shades of brown, with an
oversized shower, made of one continuous slab of marble, flown in special from Italy. The countertop and sink were
of the same marble, and the bathroom had no tub. On the wall were towel bars large enough to hold three large bath
sheets, and there was a place for Bryan to hang his oversized robe.
Before leaving for the office, he placed a note in a conspicuous place on the kitchen table, “Honey, Skye, and Taylor,
I love you all so much. You will see that I am going to change everything. I will be home for dinner. Hugs and Kisses.”
Bryan drove to work with renewed enthusiasm, and as soon as his assistant Scarlett arrived, he began barking
orders. “Scarlett!”
“Yes, sir?” she sheepishly responded.
“I want you to find me a new assistant!”
Scarlett Milton, a beautiful woman, who was immensely shy and understated her good looks, did as she was asked,
but never started a conversation. She was perfect for Bryan Tines, because she never questioned him. She had
been his assistant for eight years, and had put up with more things than most assistants would. Her brown eyes,
brown hair, and five-three, petite build allowed her to blend in with every crowd. Bryan used her to spy on his
enemies. “Did I do something wrong, sir?”
“No, of course not, I need another assistant.”
“Oh, of course, right away, sir.”
By three o’clock, the new assistant had been hired, and Bryan told her the only thing she was to do was make sure
he never missed another personal commitment again.
On Tuesday, February 3, Bryan Tines left his office at 4:00 PM, something he had never done in all the years he had
been in business. This was the day he was putting his family before his business.
Pulling into the crushed-gravel driveway, Bryan’s heart was doing somersaults; he was so excited. He practically leapt
out of the car and ran into the house. “Amber! I’m home.”
He was greeted by silence.
“Skye? Taylor? Anybody home? I’m here, just like I said I would be.”
Silence.
“Anyone?”
Bryan walked into the kitchen and saw his note sitting in the same place he had left it that morning. “That’s odd,” he
said out loud.
He continued to move through the house, first into the family room. Everything seemed to be in order. Then he went
into Skye’s room. The bed was made, everything was put away, and nothing seemed wrong. He went into Taylor’s
room, and the same thing was true there. Then he went into the master suite.
That’s when he saw them. He took one look, fell to his knees, and started to scream.
Scarlett arrived in the office Wednesday morning at her usual time, but her boss was not there; that was unusual. In
fact, that had never happened before. Unsure what to do, she did nothing. When Bryan still had not shown up by the
end of the day, and she had made numerous excuses for him, she sensed something was wrong, but had done
absolutely nothing about it.
Scarlett was in awe of Bryan Tines. In the eight years she had worked for him, she had never gotten over her initial
reaction. She knew more about him than he would ever know, and she kept that knowledge secret, waiting to use it
when it became necessary. Her admiration of Bryan Tines did not outweigh her disdain for him; she had seen him
literally bring successful businessmen crawling to him for forgiveness. Bryan could be ruthless, cunning, and
downright evil. Scarlett never wanted that wrath unleashed toward her.
On Wednesday, February 4, Scarlett Milton made a point not to tell anyone that her boss had not come to work. She
made up excuses for him, cancelled appointments, and covered for him; while deep inside, she feared something was
wrong. She only hoped that he would be there Thursday morning, and she could breathe easier.
Detective Kyle Adams arrived at Bryan’s office at ten thirty on Thursday morning. “Ms. Milton?” the detective asked.
He was a sharp dresser, wearing an overcoat of dark gray that offset the gray specks at his temples. His brown eyes
had a twinkle in them and managed to put Scarlett at ease immediately.
“Yes,” she barely managed to whisper.
“You’re Mr. Tines’ executive assistant, right?”
“I guess you could call me that.” She chuckled.
“Is he in today?”
“I haven’t seen him today.”
“Is that usual, ma’am?” Kyle asked, placing himself on the edge of her desk.
Scarlett looked up at him and wondered how honest she should be. “Umm, no, not really.”
“Not really? Or no?”
“No,” Scarlett said, on the brink of tears.
Kyle noticed and immediately backed off. “Is it okay if I call you Scarlett, ma’am?”
“Yes, I suppose so,” she answered, barely audibly.
“Were you named after Scarlett O’Hara?” Kyle asked, shyly, as if it was a secret.
Scarlett’s eyes lit up, and she answered, “Yes, my mother was raised in Georgia and always wished she’d been
raised on a plantation, so I guess she did the next best thing by giving me that name.”
“Well, it suits you, ma’am.”
“Thank you,” she responded, blushing.
“Now, can you tell me what your boss’s daily routine usually is?”
“Actually, up until two days ago, he was always here before me in the morning, so I’m not really sure what time he’d
get here,” she blurted out, before realizing what she had said.
“So, he didn’t come to work yesterday, either?”
Scarlett gave Kyle a guilty look and asked, “Was I not supposed to tell you that?”
“Scarlett, we’re trying to find your boss, so I need you to tell me anything you can.
Okay?”
“Okay,” she answered.
“When was the last time you actually saw Mr. Tines?”
“Four o’clock, Tuesday night.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive,” she answered, nodding. “That was the first time since I started here that he had ever left the office before
I did. Usually, Mr. Tines was the first person in the office and the last person out of the office. It was a well-known fact
around here that no one could ever beat him to work and no one would ever leave after him.”
“Why was that?” Kyle asked, wrinkling his eyebrows together.
Scarlett put her elbow on her desk and rested her chin on her hand and thought about the question for a minute
before answering. “Well, I can only tell you the things that I’ve heard.”
“That’s better than nothing,” Kyle said. “Fire away, I’m all ears.”
“I’ve heard that he worked so hard because he built this business from the ground up and he didn’t trust anyone else
to do it better than him.”
“That makes sense,” Kyle said, shaking his head.
“I’ve also heard that his father told Bryan as he was growing up that he would never amount to anything, and that is
why he works so hard. He needs to prove his father wrong.”
“That also makes sense,” Kyle said.
“The other one that I’ve heard is that he’s so far in debt that he has to work hard just to pay his bills.”
“That one might be true, too,” Kyle said. “I guess we’ll have to find out which one, or if all of them are true. Why do
you think he worked so hard?”
Scarlett looked at Kyle and asked, “Can I be perfectly honest with you?”
“Of course you can, ma’am.”
“I don’t think Bryan Tines is a very happy man, and the only thing that gives him any joy or satisfaction is making
other people unhappy. He had to be here to do that. I think that is why he worked so hard.”
“Where do you think he went?”
“Honestly, Detective Adams, I don’t have any idea,” she said, looking straight at him. “But I really hope you find him.”
“Ma’am, you really care for your boss, don’t you?”
She looked down at her hands, wrung them together in her lap, and replied, “He works hard at being not a very nice
man, sir. But I don’t really think that’s who he is”