Chapter 4 - My Son Had Been Spying on His Own Father
Evelyn took me to a motel outside Columbus.
We couldn't use credit cards.
We couldn't call anyone we knew.
We couldn't go home.
Everything had changed.
The next morning, Evelyn handed me an old laptop.
“This belongs to Noah.”
I opened it.
There was one folder.
MOM.
Inside were dozens of videos.
The first showed Noah sitting in his bedroom.
He looked twelve again.
Scared.
Tired.
“Mom, if you're watching this, I need you to know something.”
He paused.
“I never wanted to leave you.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I love you.”
I covered my mouth.
Noah continued.
“Dad thinks I don't understand what he's doing.”
He smiled sadly.
“He's wrong.”
The next video showed documents.
Bank statements.
Emails.
Company registrations.
Names.
Noah had been documenting everything.
He had even recorded Ellis talking to one of his business partners.
The conversation was chilling.
“Once the trust is transferred, the boy becomes irrelevant.”
Noah had recorded the entire thing.
My son had been spying on his own father.
At twelve.
For months.
I suddenly understood why he had become distant.
Why he stopped laughing.
Why he stopped sleeping.
Why he sometimes stared at me as though he wanted to say something but couldn't.
He had been protecting me.
The next video changed everything.
Noah whispered:
“Dad knows Grandma Evelyn is alive.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She froze.
“How?”
“He found an old photograph.”
Noah continued.
“Dad wants her dead.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Then came the final part.
“I found something else.”
Noah showed a document.
It was a travel itinerary.
Atlanta.
Then Miami.
Then Zurich.
Then London.
There was a date.
Three days from now.
Evelyn leaned closer.
“He's leaving.”
“And Noah?”
“He's taking him.”
I looked at the clock.
We had less than seventy-two hours.
We needed help.
But who could we trust?
Every attorney who had represented me during the divorce had been recommended by Ellis.
Every financial advisor we had used had known him.
Even some people at the courthouse could potentially be connected.
Then I remembered someone.
Daniel Reeves.
Ellis's former business partner.
Three years earlier, Daniel had abruptly left their company.
Ellis told me Daniel had stolen money.
But perhaps that wasn't true.
We found him in Cincinnati.
He opened the door with a baseball bat in his hand.
“Sabrina?”
“You know me.”
“I know who you are.”
“I need your help.”
He looked at Evelyn.
His face went pale.
“She's alive?”
“Yes.”
He lowered the bat.
“Then Ellis really is planning something.”
Daniel invited us inside.
He told us everything.
Ellis had been running a secret financial operation for years.
Daniel had discovered it and tried to leave.
Ellis threatened him.
So Daniel disappeared.
He had kept copies of several files as insurance.
Those files could prove everything.
But there was a problem.
The original evidence was stored on a server in Atlanta.
And Ellis controlled access.
Daniel looked at me.
“You want your son back?”
“Yes.”
“Then we have to get to Atlanta before Ellis leaves.”
I nodded.
“Let's go.”
We drove through the night.
At sunrise, my phone buzzed.
A message from Noah.
Mom, I'm scared.
I immediately typed:
I'm coming for you.
His reply came quickly.
Don't come to the airport.
I frowned.
Another message appeared.
Dad knows you're looking.
Then:
He knows Grandma is alive.
And finally:
He knows about Daniel.
I stared at the screen.
May you like
Someone had betrayed us.
But who?
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