CHAPTER 2 — THE MAN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD
Anna's scream echoed through the morgue, but the man never released her wrist.
His grip was impossibly strong.
"I... I saw your death certificate..." she whispered, trembling.
Daniel slowly sat upright on the metal table.
"I know."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"There are people who wanted me dead. Tonight was supposed to be the final step."
Anna stared at him in disbelief.
"You... you're alive?"
"Barely."
Daniel slowly removed the oxygen tube that had been hidden beneath the blanket.
"My heart stopped for almost four minutes."
Anna frowned.
"That's impossible."
"So everyone believed."
He smiled bitterly.
"My family owns Harper Biomedical. Four billion dollars. Three days ago I changed my will."
Anna's heartbeat accelerated.
"My wife found out."
He pulled a folded envelope from inside his jacket.
"I left everything to charity."
Anna swallowed.
"My wife... my younger brother... and my business partner poisoned me during dinner."
"They expected the doctors to declare me dead."
"They bribed someone inside the hospital."
Anna stepped backward.
"So..."
"You knew someone would come for the ring?"
Daniel slowly looked at the gold ring.
"This ring contains a hidden memory chip."
Anna blinked.
"What?"
He twisted the black stone.
A tiny compartment opened inside the ring.
Hidden within was an encrypted microSD card.
"The security cameras in my house."
"The recordings from my office."
"The conversations proving they planned my murder."
Anna couldn't breathe.
"They searched everywhere for this."
"But no one would think I'd hide it inside my wedding ring."
Daniel looked directly into her eyes.
"And you."
Anna lowered her head in shame.
"You were trying to steal it."
Tears rolled down her face.
"I... I'm sorry..."
"For three years I've stolen from the dead."
"I thought no one would ever know."
Daniel remained silent for several seconds.
Finally he asked,
"How many?"
Anna couldn't answer.
"How many families buried their loved ones without the wedding rings they expected?"
She began crying.
"I don't know..."
"I stopped counting."
Daniel sighed.
"You had a choice every single time."
Before Anna could respond, the lights suddenly went out.
The entire morgue plunged into darkness.
Only the emergency exit sign glowed red.
Daniel whispered,
"They're here."
A loud metallic bang exploded from the hallway.
Someone had locked the main entrance.
Footsteps.
Three people.
Moving closer.
Very slowly.
Then a familiar woman's voice echoed through the darkness.
"Daniel..."
His face turned pale.
His wife.
"You really are difficult to kill."
The morgue doors burst open.
Three masked men entered carrying suppressed pistols.
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Anna realized she wasn't trapped with a dead man anymore.
She was trapped with people determined to finish what they had started
