Chapter 2 - The Black SUV Was Registered to a Dead Man—Then the Security Footage Revealed Someone Inside My House Had Been Planning Bruno's DisappearanceThe black SUV sat behind the false storage wall in my garage.
I had owned the property for nine years.
I knew every room.
Every corridor.
Every mechanical system.
But I had never known that wall existed.
That fact alone frightened me.
My security chief, Marcus, arrived with three men.
He looked exhausted.
“Sir.”
I pointed.
“Open it.”
They moved the shelving.
Behind it was a concealed vehicle bay.
The SUV sat there.
Black.
Clean.
Engine cold.
No license plate on the front.
The rear plate had been removed.
Marcus examined it.
“Vehicle identification number?”
“Already running it.”
I looked through the window.
There were blankets in the back.
A metal crate.
A bowl.
And a broken collar.
Bruno's collar.
I felt sick.
I opened the rear door.
His collar lay on the seat.
The engraving was scratched.
But I could still read it.
BRUNO.
I closed my eyes.
Someone had brought him here.
The blood trail.
The hidden vehicle.
The missing collar.
Everything pointed in one direction.
This had not been an accident.
“Where is he?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
“We don't know.”
I stared into the SUV.
There was a dog blanket.
A water bottle.
Sedatives.
And something else.
A veterinary syringe.
I picked it up.
Marcus stopped me.
“Don't touch it.”
Too late.
I set it down.
“Someone planned to transport him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
I turned.
“Find out.”
My phone rang.
The security analyst.
“Sir, we found something.”
“Talk.”
“The vehicle entered the property at 9:52 p.m.”
I looked at the clock.
“Almost half an hour after Vivienne says Bruno was last seen.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“The gate wasn't opened.”
“How did it get in?”
A pause.
“It didn't.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“It was already here.”
My stomach tightened.
“Explain.”
“The SUV entered three days ago.”
Silence.
“Three days?”
“Yes.”
“Who authorized it?”
“We're checking.”
I ended the call.
Three days.
That meant someone had planned this before I returned from Chicago.
I turned toward the house.
Vivienne was standing in the doorway.
She looked pale.
I walked toward her.
“Where's Bruno?”
“I don't know.”
“Why was a black SUV hidden inside my garage?”
“I don't know.”
“Why does it contain his collar?”
“I don't know.”
“Why has someone been inside my property for three days?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I believed she was lying.
But I didn't know whether she was protecting herself—
or someone else.
Then Sofia appeared beside Maria.
The little girl pointed toward the SUV.
“They put Bruno there.”
I crouched.
“Who?”
She pointed toward the house.
“Man.”
“What man?”
She touched her hair.
“Silver.”
I glanced toward Marcus.
“Silver hair?”
Sofia nodded.
My mind immediately went to one person.
Leonard Blackwood.
My late father's former business adviser.
He had died eleven years earlier.
At least according to official records.
He had been involved in my father's shipping empire.
He had disappeared after the company collapsed.
We had been told he suffered a heart attack.
I asked Marcus to trace the SUV again.
Five minutes later, he returned.
The vehicle was registered to Leonard Blackwood.
My blood went cold.
“That's impossible.”
Marcus nodded.
“He died in 2015.”
“Then somebody has his vehicle.”
“Or someone wants us to think they do.”
I looked at the SUV.
“Search the entire vehicle.”
They did.
Inside the glove compartment was a hotel receipt.
Chicago.
Three days earlier.
My blood went cold again.
I had been in Chicago.
Someone had followed me.
Someone had brought the SUV to my property while I was away.
Then we found another item.
A photograph.
Bruno.
Alive.
The picture was taken from inside the garage.
Timestamp.
Yesterday.
He was lying on a blanket.
His eyes open.
His mouth muzzled.
I couldn't breathe.
He had been alive.
At least yesterday.
On the back of the photograph:
HE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
I stared.
Marcus asked,
“What does that mean?”
I shook my head.
“I don't know.”
Then Sofia spoke.
“He heard the lady.”
I turned.
“What lady?”
“The lady in Mommy's room.”
Vivienne froze.
I looked at her.
“What lady?”
She didn't answer.
“Sofia.”
I crouched.
“Who was in Vivienne's room?”
She whispered,
“Lady.”
“What did she look like?”
“Hair.”
“What color?”
“Yellow.”
Blond.
Vivienne had blond hair.
But she wasn't the only woman with blond hair.
I looked at my fiancée.
“Who visited you?”
“No one.”
Sofia shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed at Vivienne.
“Not Mommy.”
Vivienne went pale.
“Stop.”
Sofia stepped backward.
Maria grabbed her.
I stared at Vivienne.
“Who was in your room?”
“No one.”
“You're lying.”
“I am not.”
“Then why is a three-year-old afraid to look at you?”
Vivienne turned toward Maria.
“Take her away.”
I stepped between them.
“No.”
My voice hardened.
“She stays.”
Vivienne stared.
“Adrian.”
“Enough.”
For the first time since I returned, I stopped looking at her like my fiancée.
I looked at her like a suspect.
That night, I reviewed every security camera personally.
At 8:11 p.m., Vivienne entered the west wing.
At 8:19, she met someone.
The camera angle was bad.
I couldn't see the face.
But I saw the clothing.
Dark coat.
White gloves.
And a distinctive silver watch.
I recognized it.
My uncle's.
Marcus stopped beside me.
“Your uncle?”
I nodded.
“He died six years ago.”
“Another dead man.”
I looked at the screen.
Someone was using the identities of dead people.
Someone who knew my family.
Someone who knew my security.
Someone who knew Bruno.
Then I saw something else.
At 9:06 p.m., Bruno appeared on camera.
He was walking toward the kitchen.
He stopped.
Looked toward the west corridor.
Then turned around.
He seemed afraid.
At 9:12, Vivienne entered the kitchen.
At 9:16, Bruno disappeared.
At 9:52, the black SUV entered the hidden garage area.
At 10:14, the gate opened.
At 10:19, another vehicle left.
My heart pounded.
Bruno had been taken.
Vivienne was involved somehow.
But the person in the shadows—
the person using dead identities—
was someone else.
I showed Marcus the footage.
“Find the other vehicle.”
He nodded.
“Already trying.”
I turned.
Maria stood in the hallway.
She was crying.
“Sir.”
“Yes?”
“I need to tell you something.”
“Go ahead.”
She looked at Vivienne.
Then at me.
“Your fiancée told me to lie.”
My stomach dropped.
“About what?”
“About Bruno.”
I stared.
“What did she tell you?”
Maria swallowed.
“She told me if anyone asked, I should say he wandered away.”
My heart sank.
“Why?”
“She said it was for your own good.”
I looked at Vivienne.
Her face was white.
“Adrian…”
“Don't.”
Maria continued.
“She also told me not to let Sofia talk about what she saw.”
The room became silent.
I turned toward my fiancée.
“Who was in the house?”
She began crying.
“I didn't hurt Bruno.”
“Who?”
“I don't know his name.”
“Then describe him.”
She shook her head.
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“He said if I told you, you would kill me.”
My hands tightened.
“Who?”
Vivienne whispered,
“Your father's former lawyer.”
I froze.
“What was his name?”
She looked at me.
“Richard Hale.”
The name meant nothing.
Then Marcus pulled up an old photograph.
I saw the man.
Gray hair.
Black suit.
Cold eyes.
And beside him—
my father.
I knew him.
Not as Richard Hale.
As someone else.
Someone who had been in my life since childhood.
My father's personal physician.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
And he had been dead for twelve years.
I stared at the screen.
Dead men were no longer staying dead.
Someone was resurrecting the past.
And Bruno had somehow become important enough to threaten the person behind it.
I looked at Sofia.
She whispered one word.
“Garage.”
I turned.
“What about it?”
“Puppy.”
Bruno.
She was pointing toward the wall.
“He's still there.”
My blood ran cold.
Maybe he hadn't been moved.
Maybe the hidden garage wasn't empty.
We opened the second wall.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
The smell hit me immediately.
Dog.
Blood.
Medicine.
I ran inside.
At the end of the tunnel was an empty crate.
Bruno was gone.
But scratched into the concrete floor were four letters.
HELP.
And below them—
May you like
a bloody paw print.
Bruno's.
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