Chapter 4: The Man Behind the Plan
I ran until my lungs burned.
The black car disappeared at the end of the street, leaving only the sound of tires against wet pavement.
“Ethan!””
My voice cracked as I screamed his name.
But there was no answer.
Victoria rushed outside behind me, her face completely drained of color.
“Daniel…”
I turned around.
“Don’t say my name.””
She stopped.
“I swear I didn’t know this would happen.””
I stared at her.
“You knew enough to let it happen.””
“That’s not true.””
“Isn’t it?””
My hands shook as I held up my phone.
The picture of my son sitting in that car was still on the screen.
“He knew about Ethan. He knew Ethan was the problem. You knew Marcus existed.””
Victoria looked down.
And that silence destroyed whatever trust I had left.
I called the police immediately.
Then I called every person I knew who could help.
But while everyone else moved quickly, I felt frozen.
Because my son had been right.
He had seen the danger before I did.
I had spent months telling him Victoria was safe.
Now he was gone because I refused to believe him.
Three hours later, investigators were searching the area around Victoria’s sister’s apartment.
The rain had started falling harder.
I stood under the porch light, staring at the empty street.
A detective approached me.
“Mr. Hayes?””
I turned.
“Yes?””
“We found something.””
My heart jumped.
“Ethan?””
The detective’s expression softened.
“Not yet.””
Those two words almost broke me.
He handed me a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was Ethan’s small notebook.
The same notebook I had seen earlier.
But there was one new page.
A page I hadn’t read.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
The handwriting was rushed.
Almost like Ethan wrote it while hiding.
“Dad, if you find this, don’t trust Victoria.””
I stopped breathing.
The detective looked away, giving me privacy.
I kept reading.
“She is scared of Marcus, but she is also scared of me.””
Another line.
“She thinks I saw something she doesn’t know about.””
I turned the page.
The final sentence was written larger than the others.
“I know who was driving the car the night Mom died.””
My entire body went cold.
I looked at Victoria.
She was standing across the yard.
She saw my face.
And immediately knew.
“What did he write?””
I walked toward her slowly.
“What did Ethan see?””
Her eyes widened.
“I don’t know.””
“You’re lying.””
“I’m not.””
“You knew about my wife.””
Victoria started crying.
“Daniel, please.””
“No.””
My voice became sharper.
“You don’t get to ask for forgiveness before telling me the truth.””
She covered her face.
“I met Marcus because of your company.””
“What does that mean?””
She looked at the ground.
“Marcus was investigating Richard.””
My anger shifted.
Richard.
My business partner.
The man I trusted.
“Why?””
“Because Richard wasn’t just stealing money from you.””
I stepped closer.
“What else?””
Victoria hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“He was involved in your wife’s death.””
The world seemed to stop.
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
Every memory of my wife came back.
The last dinner.
The last conversation.
The last time she kissed Ethan goodbye before leaving for work.
I had spent years believing I lost her because of bad luck.
But now I wondered if someone had taken her from us.
At 3:17 a.m., my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered immediately.
“Where is my son?””
A man laughed quietly.
“Still focused on the wrong person, Daniel.””
My grip tightened.
“Marcus.””
“Yes.””
“Where is Ethan?””
“Safe.””
“If you hurt him—”
“You misunderstand me.””
His voice became colder.
“I don’t want to hurt Ethan.””
“Then why did you take him?””
A pause.
“Because he knows the truth.””
My blood ran cold.
“What truth?””
The line went silent.
Then Marcus said:
“Ask your son what he saw in the old warehouse.””
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
The old warehouse.
There was only one old warehouse connected to my company.
The place where Richard stored documents.
May you like
The place where my wife had gone the night she died.
And suddenly I knew where I had to go.
