Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
I stared at Adrian's phone.
The photograph was old, faded, and slightly scratched.
But there was no mistaking the man holding the baby.
My father.
Daniel Quinn.
The same man who had taught me how to ride a bicycle, helped me with algebra, and cried when I graduated from nursing school.
The man currently lying in a hospital bed with a failing heart.
"That's impossible," I whispered.
Adrian studied my face.
"You're sure?"
"That's my dad."
Evelyn reached for the photograph.
"Daniel," she murmured.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"He promised Robert he would keep her safe."
"Keep who safe?" I asked.
Evelyn looked at me.
"You."
My knees weakened.
Adrian caught my elbow.
"Sit down."
"I don't want to sit down. I want answers."
Something flickered across his face.
Respect, perhaps.
Or surprise.
Most people didn't raise their voices around Adrian Blackthorne.
I apparently had decided to make a habit of it.
He guided us into a hidden underground room equipped with security monitors, medical supplies, and enough weapons to supply a small army.
A doctor arrived ten minutes later.
He cleaned the cut inside my lip and examined my cheek.
"No fracture," he said. "But she'll have significant bruising."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Thank you, Doctor."
Once we were alone, he turned toward me.
"My father employed Daniel Quinn as his personal financial investigator."
I blinked.
"My father was an accountant."
"Not an ordinary one."
Adrian opened a locked drawer and removed a leather folder.
"Twenty-seven years ago, my father discovered that someone inside our organization was stealing millions through legitimate companies."
"Who?"
"We never found out."
He placed the folder on the table.
"Daniel gathered evidence. Then he disappeared with his wife and infant daughter."
My heart pounded.
"My mother died when I was eight."
Adrian nodded slowly.
"According to this file, her name was Rebecca."
"Yes."
"She was a federal investigator."
The room seemed to tilt.
"No. My mother worked in insurance."
"That's what your father wanted you to believe."
I stood abruptly.
"You're telling me my entire childhood was a lie?"
"I'm telling you someone went to extraordinary lengths to keep you alive."
Before I could respond, Marco entered.
He was Adrian's head of security, a broad-shouldered man with a scar near his left eyebrow.
"Boss."
Adrian turned.
"Report."
"The attackers are gone. Three guards injured. No fatalities."
"Victoria?"
"Her car left the estate six minutes before the power failure."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Convenient."
"There's more."
Marco placed a tablet on the table.
Security footage showed Victoria entering Evelyn's private sitting room that afternoon.
She looked around.
Then removed a small vial from her purse.
My stomach twisted.
"She really was putting something in her medicine."
Marco nodded.
"We've secured the medication for testing."
The video continued.
Victoria opened a cabinet.
She searched through several drawers.
Then she found a small wooden box.
She lifted the lid.
Her expression changed.
And she whispered something.
Marco increased the volume.
"Where is the key?"
Adrian leaned forward.
"What key?"
The video ended.
Marco looked uncomfortable.
"There's something else, boss."
"What?"
"We traced the call that disabled the estate's security system."
"Who made it?"
Marco hesitated.
"The call came from Mercy General Hospital."
My blood turned cold.
"That's where my father is."
Marco nodded.
"Harper, someone accessed your father's room twenty minutes before the attack."
I grabbed the table.
"Who?"
Adrian's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed instantly.
"What do you mean he's gone?"
I couldn't breathe.
Adrian looked at me.
"Harper, your father has disappeared from the hospital."
Then Marco's tablet lit up with a new message.
It contained a photograph of my father's empty hospital bed.
May you like
And beneath it were five words.
BRING US THE GIRL ALIVE.
