Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Adrian stared at his daughter.
“Lily, Grandpa is dead.”
She shook her head.
“Uncle Daniel said he isn't.”
Detective Morgan immediately crouched beside her.
“What did Daniel tell you?”
Lily looked frightened.
“He said Grandpa has been watching us.”
Adrian felt the room tilt.
“Where?”
She pointed toward the security monitors.
“He talks to Vanessa through the cameras.”
Morgan ordered the officers to search every room.
They found nothing.
Then one officer discovered an old computer hidden behind a panel.
It required a password.
Adrian tried his father's birthday.
Denied.
His mother's birthday.
Denied.
Then Lily whispered:
“Try Violet.”
Adrian turned.
“Why?”
“Grandpa called Mom Violet.”
Adrian stared.
Vanessa's middle name was Violet.
He entered it.
The computer unlocked.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Adrian opened the first.
It contained surveillance footage from the estate.
Years of it.
He watched himself entering the house.
Meeting Vanessa.
Holding Lily as a baby.
Celebrating birthdays.
Every important moment had been recorded.
Then he saw something impossible.
His father.
Older.
Standing in the basement.
Alive.
Adrian stopped breathing.
The timestamp was from six months earlier.
“My God.”
Detective Morgan watched the footage.
“We need to find him.”
A voice suddenly came from the computer speakers.
“Adrian.”
He froze.
His father's voice.
“I know you're watching.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Dad?”
The recording continued.
“If you're hearing this, Vanessa has finally made her move.”
Adrian's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to stop her.”
The recording showed Robert sitting in a chair.
“I couldn't expose her without putting you in danger.”
Then he revealed the truth.
Vanessa had been working with a private network that targeted wealthy families.
They identified vulnerable heirs.
They entered their lives.
They gained access to property.
Then they manipulated family members into signing away assets.
But Robert had discovered the operation.
He tried to expose them.
That's why he had to disappear.
Adrian whispered:
“Where are you?”
The recording continued.
“I'm sorry I let you believe I was dead.”
Then the screen changed.
A map appeared.
One location was marked.
A warehouse outside Richmond.
Adrian immediately stood.
“We're going there.”
Morgan stopped him.
“We go with a team.”
They arrived twenty minutes later.
The warehouse was abandoned.
Inside, they found files.
Dozens of them.
Names of wealthy families.
Children.
Trusts.
Insurance policies.
Then Adrian saw his own name.
Underneath it:
TARGET STATUS: ACTIVE.
Beside it was another name.
LILY HALE.
TARGET STATUS: PRIORITY.
Adrian's hands shook.
Then he found the final file.
ROBERT HALE.
STATUS: ALIVE.
A noise came from behind him.
He turned.
An elderly man stepped out of the shadows.
Gray hair.
Walking stick.
Older than Adrian remembered.
But unmistakable.
His father.
Robert looked at him.
“I should have come home sooner.”
Adrian stared.
“Where is Vanessa?”
Robert's expression hardened.
“She isn't your biggest problem.”
“Then who is?”
Robert looked toward Lily.
“The person who ordered her punishment.”
May you like
He whispered:
“Her mother.”
