Chapter 2 - The Teenager I Thought Was Running From Strangers Knew the Names of My Most Trusted Men, and My Daughter Was the Only One Who Could Tell When He Was LyingThe gunfire lasted less than a minute.
My security team responded quickly.
The attackers fled before we could capture any.
One vehicle was abandoned outside the east gate.
The engine was still warm.
Whoever had sent them knew my security system.
That was the part that bothered me most.
I returned inside.
Eva was holding Marcus's hand.
She wouldn't let go.
I crouched.
“Are you hurt?”
Marcus shook his head.
Eva answered for him.
“No.”
I smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
She looked at me.
“For what?”
“For talking.”
Her expression softened.
Then Marcus whispered:
“They're going to come back.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the door.
“People from your organization.”
Silence.
I studied him.
“Names.”
“I don't know everyone's names.”
“Give me the ones you know.”
He swallowed.
“Mr. Hale.”
My stomach tightened.
Victor Hale.
My logistics director.
“Who else?”
“Mr. Russo.”
Enzo Russo.
Head of operations.
“One more.”
Marcus hesitated.
“Matteo.”
Every muscle in my body went still.
My daughter watched my face.
She understood something.
I looked at Marcus.
“Why Matteo?”
“Daniel said not to trust him.”
I glanced toward the security monitor.
Matteo appeared on one of the cameras.
Walking through the hall.
Calm.
Professional.
As though nothing had happened.
I stared.
Then Marcus whispered:
“That's him.”
My hand moved toward my weapon.
Eva immediately grabbed my wrist.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
Those words frightened me more than the shooting.
My seven-year-old daughter had somehow understood that killing Matteo immediately would be a mistake.
I trusted her.
I told my men:
“Find Victor Hale.”
They moved.
Matteo entered the room.
“You all right?”
I looked at him.
“We're fine.”
He glanced at Marcus.
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
A flicker.
Fear.
Recognition.
Then gone.
“You know him?”
“No.”
Marcus stared at the floor.
I noticed.
Eva noticed too.
After Matteo left, I asked:
“What were you going to say?”
Marcus shrugged.
“He knows my brother.”
“How?”
“He was there the night Daniel disappeared.”
“What happened?”
Marcus hesitated.
“My brother was working late.”
“And?”
“I heard him arguing with someone.”
“Who?”
“He said, ‘I won't give you the ledger.’”
I leaned forward.
“Then?”
“A man said, ‘You don't have a choice.’”
“Whose voice?”
Marcus looked at me.
“Matteo.”
My suspicion became certainty.
But I needed proof.
That night, we searched Daniel's abandoned apartment.
The place had been stripped.
Drawers open.
Computers gone.
But one thing remained.
A photograph.
Daniel with Marcus.
And behind them, Matteo.
Standing beside a black sedan.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
Six months earlier.
The date Daniel disappeared.
We found a hidden compartment beneath the floor.
Inside was a flash drive.
Encrypted.
I brought it to my tech team.
It took two hours.
The files opened.
Financial transactions.
Names.
Payments.
And a list of internal operatives.
One section was marked:
OPERATION GLASSHOUSE.
Underneath:
Target: Adrian Moretti.
I felt cold.
Matteo wasn't simply stealing.
He was planning to replace me.
The document showed an internal timeline.
Step one: Remove Daniel.
Step two: Recover ledger.
Step three: Isolate Adrian.
Step four: Transfer assets.
Step five: eliminate resistance.
I stared at the screen.
The last line had a date.
Three weeks.
Someone had planned to kill me within three weeks.
Marcus looked over.
“That's why my brother sent me to you.”
I nodded.
Then Eva entered.
She pointed at the screen.
“That's him.”
I turned.
“Who?”
She pointed at one photograph.
A man standing beside Matteo.
I recognized him.
Dr. Jonathan Reed.
The man who had treated Eva since she was a child.
My stomach tightened.
“What does he have to do with this?”
Eva whispered:
“He made me quiet.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“He said I mustn't tell.”
I crouched.
“Tell me what?”
She looked toward Marcus.
“His brother.”
Marcus stared.
“What brother?”
Eva pointed to the photograph.
“Daniel.”
The room went silent.
Dr. Reed had been treating Eva for years.
He had been manipulating her.
Keeping her silent.
And somehow Daniel knew.
The pieces were starting to fit.
Daniel had discovered the conspiracy.
He tried to protect Marcus.
He sent him to me.
May you like
And before disappearing, he left someone else behind.
A seven-year-old witness who had finally decided to speak.
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