Chapter 2: City-Wide Search
Tara's POV
From the windows of the Mountain View Estate, endless forest stretched to the horizon. The view was a stark contrast to Manhattan's glittering skyline – and a perfect place to disappear.
I turned around and saw Peter Quinn approaching with a stack of documents. After three years of no contact, he didn't ask where I had been the moment he saw me. Instead, he quietly applied medicine to my wounds and reported the latest investigation progress to me.
"These are the Lincoln family's financials from the past five years." Peter's jaw clenched as he spread the papers across my desk. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of a document. "Their legitimate income doesn't explain where all this money comes from."
I studied the numbers carefully. "This transfer from three years ago..." My voice was intense as my face turned grim. "It matches perfectly with my attack."
"What about your family’s incident?" Peter asked, his eyes revealing doubt.
"It also lines up with their activities." I let out a bitter laugh. I might have aggravated the wound, causing me to frown and let out a soft groan of pain.
Peter seemed unable to hold back any longer and cautiously asked, “Boss, what have you done in the past three years”
I closed my eyes helplessly, Luke's cruel laugh over the hospital phone still ringing in my ears. "I kept a dog for three years, couldn't tame it, got bitten. Lesson learned."
"Let me handle it." Peter's hand moved to his weapon, his fingers wrapping around the grip. His face darkened with barely contained fury.
"Focus, Peter." I cut him off calmly, my eyes turning cold. "As Red Falcon, I need to make an appearance at the Lincoln estate. That's our priority now."
---
Luke's POV
I stood in my bedroom, staring at Tara's half-empty closet. Her expensive dresses still hung there. However, the worn medical textbook she kept on her nightstand, the lavender hand cream that filled the room with her scent, and the family photo she never spoke of but touched every morning—all of these intimate details that truly defined her were gone.
Suddenly, I felt a wave of emptiness wash over me. It seemed as though an important part of my life had been lost. Damn it, how many of those little moments had I missed?
Walking to my study, I stopped abruptly at the sight of two documents on my desk. The divorce papers caught my eye first, Tara's elegant signature stark against the white paper. Next to them lay the deed to the Lakeside Park. My hands trembled slightly as I picked up the papers. I sank into my chair, staring at her signature until the letters began to blur.
"What game are you playing this time, Tara?" My voice sounded strained in the empty room. Beneath my carefully maintained calm, there was a hint of panic I didn't want to acknowledge. Three years of marriage, and I still couldn't tell when she was acting and when she was genuine.
My phone buzzed, and my heart stopped for a second before I saw it was the hospital. Sarah needed me.
I went to the hospital as soon as I received the message. The private hospital suite reeked of antiseptic and fear. Sarah's face had gone ashen, her perfectly styled hair now limp against the pillow. Her hand trembled as she reached for the water glass, and something in my chest tightened at how fragile she looked.
"Mr. Carter." Dr. Richards didn't bother hiding his concern. "The results are... troubling. Ms. Quinn was poisoned before she even arrived at the hospital."
"Luke..." Sarah's voice was barely a whisper, but her fingers gripped mine with surprising strength. "Don't be too hard on Tara. She... she was just trying to keep you. Any wife would..."
Mentioning Tara, I suddenly felt a surge of inexplicable irritation. Things were slipping out of my control.
"Shh." I squeezed her hand, trying to push down the rage building in my chest. "Don't waste energy defending that woman. Just rest. I'll take care of everything."
I watched Sarah drift into uneasy sleep, her face pinched with pain even in unconsciousness. My fingers flew across my phone's screen, setting the city's best security teams on Tara's trail. But there was nothing to be found.
---
Two days now. I loosened my tie for the third time in my office. The entire city had been searched, yet Tara had vanished into thin air. Standing at the window of the Carter Group, I stared at the endless flow of traffic below, my fingers drumming unconsciously against the window frame. Damn it, where was she hiding? Somewhere in this concrete jungle, my wife was out there, perhaps within sight of where I stood, planning her next move. I slammed my fist against the glass.
"Mr. Carter?" My assistant's voice pulled me from darker thoughts. "A doctor called 'Red Falcon' is scheduled to visit the Lincoln estate next week. It was said that this doctor's like something out of a legend, curing any poison and healing any wound. Maybe he can treat Ms. Quinn."
I turned from the window, showing impatience. "Red Falcon? I’ve never heard of him."
"Almost no one has, Mr. Carter. He was incredibly picky about patients. But there's no poison he can't beat."
Something flickered in my memory – Tara's odd fascination with toxicology. I shoved the thoughts away. It must be a coincidence.
"Get me a meeting," I ordered. "Whatever it costs."
After my assistant left, I found myself talking to the empty office, "You better run far and fast, Tara. Because when I find you..."
My phone buzzed: another dead end in the search for Tara. She'd vanished as completely as those millions that had disappeared from certain offshore accounts three years ago, which I'd only recently discovered were linked to the Lincoln family.
Very well. Since you wish to play this game, I'll indulge you. But when I catch you - and I will catch you - we'll see just how I'll discipline you properly, my dear wife.
"Who are you really, Tara?" I asked the setting sun, watching it paint Manhattan in shades of blood and gold. "And what weren't you telling me all those nights we slept side by side?"
My assistant walked in again and said, "We just received reliable information. Red Falcon will be visiting the Lincoln family in Manhattan at 4 PM today to treat Old Lincoln."
Being invited by the Lincoln family indicated Red Falcon had some skills. "Go and invite him!"
After a moment's thought, I called out to my assistant who had reached the door, "I'll go myself."