A wealthy business owner teams up with a bumbling investigator to uncover the reason his girlfriend died four years earlier. Will he get the answers he seeks? Or will his obsessive pursuit of the truth lead to his own demise?
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Cole banged on the door of Mina's apartment. She hadn't responded to any of the texts he sent to Lisa's old phone number. He walked around the back and tried opening the sliding doors he had used to break into her apartment previously. The locks held them closed. He pressed his hands against the glass, viewing into the small space, but the lights were off.
"She's not home," he muttered. For a moment, he worried Salvatore's men had caught her. How much money did she owe him?
He headed back to his car where the same kids from the night before were standing watch. He gave one of them a twenty and quickly left the poor neighborhood. Driving up to his childhood estate was a stark difference from the shabby apartment Lisa lived in. The gated property boasted a long driveway leading to the front of the mansion.
He entered to hear his parents arguing in the main living area. Their family butler, Eaton, was standing by, ready to be of assistance, if needed.
"Same old, same old?" Cole asked the older man. Eaton was bald except for a tuft of bright red hair he combed back. Eaton had been around since Cole was a child. Nothing went on in the Hollister household without Eaton's knowledge.
"Master Cole," the old man murmured. "As you can hear, your parents are having a lively discussion about your potential marriage to Ms. Vivienne Crawler. Master Edward is also present."
Cole looked up and groaned. "I'm not marrying her, Eaton."
"As you say, sir."
"I'm not. My mother has gone overboard in insisting that Vivi and I are a match. We aren't."
Eaten stared at him with watery gray eyes. "Then perhaps Master Cole should join the discussion and make his stance known."
Cole sighed. He strode past Eaton and joined his parents and uncle. "What are you two arguing about now?"
Eddie Hollister laughed at Cole's entrance. He sat on a loveseat, his shiny patent shoes resting on the coffee table. Cole knew his mother normally rebuked anyone who dared to put their feet up on her furniture.
Barbara Hollister glared at her son. "What did you do to Vivi? She was practically catatonic."
"Oh? You've seen her since last night? Lance told me she was in Aruba," Cole said dryly.
His father, Desmond Hollister, smirked. He was inspecting a cigar while seated in a leather recliner. "Yes, Aruba, otherwise known as the Montgomery Psych ward. I'm sure both are pleasant in their own ways."
"Do not joke about this," Barbara shrieked. "Vivi's mother, Elaine, is completely distraught. Vivi was acting like a madwoman and hollering about how your dead girlfriend has come back to life."
Desmond's eyes widened. "What's this now? She was going on about ghosts?"
Eddie chuckled. "Nonsense. Us Hollisters don't believe in ghosts. Your lovely wife was explaining how Vivienne accused Cole's ex-girlfriend of rising from the dead."
