Chapter 6 - Uncovering the Ghost
Vanessa did not return to her luxury penthouse to cry.
She was driven entirely by vengeance and a desperate need to destroy the woman who ruined her life.
The next morning, she hired the most ruthless private investigator in Boston.
"I want everything you can find on Naomi Reyes," Vanessa ordered, sliding a thick envelope of cash across the table.
"I want her criminal record, her debts, her dirty secrets."
"I am going to make sure she never works in this state again."
The investigator nodded greedily and began digging into Naomi's seemingly boring past.
For three days, he found absolutely nothing.
There were no parking tickets, no bad credit, and no scandalous social media accounts.
Naomi Reyes existed on paper like a ghost.
But the investigator was highly skilled, and he eventually noticed a heavily redacted file hidden in federal databases.
He used illegal backdoor software to bypass the security firewalls.
When the documents finally downloaded, the investigator's blood ran completely cold.
He drove straight to Vanessa's apartment and slammed a thick black folder onto her glass coffee table.
"I need double my fee, and I am officially walking away from this case," the investigator said nervously.
Vanessa frowned, opening the folder to look at the papers.
"What is all this?" she demanded.
"That woman isn't a housekeeper, Ms. Sterling," the man said, backing toward the door.
"She spent eight years working as a Tier-1 close protection specialist for high-risk targets."
He pointed to a photograph of Naomi holding a tactical weapon, standing over a neutralized threat in Philadelphia.
"She is highly trained in lethal combat, and the people she used to work for are incredibly dangerous."
"If you have half a brain, you will leave her alone."
The investigator practically ran out of the apartment, terrified of the hornet's nest he had poked.
Vanessa stared at the photograph of Naomi in her black tactical gear.
A smart person would have walked away.
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But Vanessa was a creature of absolute arrogance.
She smiled, realizing she finally had the ammunition she needed to destroy Ethan's new obsession.
