Chapter 2
Three weeks earlier, Gavin had kissed Morgan goodbye at their mountain property in Montana and told her to be careful.
That kiss had bothered her.
Not because it was cold.
Because it was too careful.
Gavin had never been good at goodbye kisses. He was distracted, impatient, always half-looking at his phone. But that morning, he held her face with both hands and stared into her eyes like a man trying to memorize evidence before destroying it.
“Storm’s coming,” he said.
Morgan smiled faintly.
“I’ve trained soldiers in worse.”
“That’s what worries me.”
At the time, she thought it was love.
Later, she understood it was rehearsal.
Morgan was going to the north training shelter alone to inspect equipment for a winter survival course her nonprofit ran for veterans and rescue volunteers. Gavin had insisted he drive her to the trailhead.
That was unusual.
He hated snow.
He hated early mornings.
He hated anything that did not involve comfort, status, or money pretending to be purpose.
But he said he wanted to support her.
Morgan should have known.
Support from Gavin always came with paperwork behind it.
Their marriage had been dying for a year.
Quietly at first.
Then loudly.
Gavin resented her work, her discipline, her reputation, the way people respected her without him standing beside her.
He loved being introduced as Morgan Mercer’s husband until he realized that was the only reason some people remembered his name.
Alyssa made him feel larger.
That was her gift.
She listened to his complaints.
Praised his business instincts.
Called Morgan controlling.
Called Morgan cold.
Called Morgan “too military to be a real wife.”
Gavin believed what made him feel innocent.
Morgan discovered the affair two months before the memorial.
She did not scream.
She printed the messages.
Saved the bank transfers.
Copied the insurance policy changes.
And called her attorney, Rebecca Hayes.
“I think Gavin is planning something,” Morgan said.
Rebecca did not laugh.
She had known too many charming men with sudden paperwork.
“What changed?”
“He increased the life insurance. Tried to access my nonprofit reserves. Asked about survivorship clauses in the mountain property.”
Rebecca was silent for one second.
“Do not go anywhere alone with him.”
Morgan looked out the window at falling snow.
“I already agreed to a shelter inspection.”
“Cancel it.”
“I won’t scare him into hiding.”
“Morgan.”
“I know how to survive outside. I need proof of what he thinks I won’t survive inside.”
Rebecca hated the plan.
But Morgan had spent her adult life teaching people that fear was information, not a command.
So she prepared.
A satellite tracker hidden in her boot heel.
A backup blade sewn into her glove seam.
A micro recorder clipped inside her jacket lining.
An emergency thermal pack inside a false panel of her rucksack.
May you like
And one message scheduled to send if she failed to check in.
If I disappear, start with Gavin.
