Chapter 4 - The Video Hidden Inside the Rabbit
The memory card contained only one file.
Noah opened it inside the secure office at Patterson International.
A video appeared.
Daniel Bennett sat in a parked car.
His face looked tired.
He was speaking directly into the camera.
"If you're seeing this, then I'm probably already gone."
Noah's jaw tightened.
Daniel continued.
"I didn't steal anything."
He looked at the camera.
"Marcus Vail did."
Noah leaned closer.
"Vail has been moving Patterson money through shell corporations for six years."
The screen changed.
Bank transfers.
Account numbers.
Dates.
Amounts.
Millions upon millions.
Daniel returned on screen.
"Your father knows."
Noah swallowed.
"He approved the transfers."
That sentence shattered something inside him.
His father.
The man Noah had spent his life trying to impress.
The man who had taught him that reputation mattered more than comfort.
The man who had told him never to trust people who wanted something.
He had known.
Daniel continued.
"But your father isn't the mastermind."
Noah stopped breathing.
"The mastermind is your mother."
The video ended.
Noah stared.
Clara sat across from him.
Emma was asleep in the adjacent room.
"What do we do?"
Noah asked.
Clara looked at him.
"You need to decide whether you want the truth."
"I do."
"Even if it destroys your family?"
"They're already destroying themselves."
The investigation became dangerous.
They discovered accounts linked to overseas real estate.
A charitable foundation.
Three private hospitals.
A construction company.
And one school supply company that had been overcharging public institutions for years.
Noah's own company had unknowingly been financing part of the network.
But then they discovered something worse.
The transfers began before Noah's father became CEO.
His mother had been involved from the beginning.
Why?
Because she had built the network herself.
She used charities to move money.
She used political connections.
She used family businesses.
And she had one obsession.
Control.
Noah confronted Marcus Vail.
"Did my father know?"
Marcus remained calm.
"Know what?"
"The shell companies."
"Your father knew more than you think."
"Did he kill Daniel?"
Marcus's face changed.
"No."
"Who did?"
"You're asking questions you cannot survive."
Noah leaned forward.
"I'm not afraid."
"You should be."
He stood.
"So you're threatening me?"
"I'm warning you."
Noah smiled coldly.
"Then here's my warning."
He slid a folder across the desk.
"I know everything."
Marcus looked at it.
Inside were copies of every transfer.
His face went pale.
Noah stood.
"You're done."
That night, Noah returned to Clara's apartment.
He found the door open.
He ran inside.
Emma was missing.
Lucas was missing.
Clara was unconscious on the floor.
Noah dropped to his knees.
"Clara!"
She stirred.
"Emma..."
"Where are they?"
Her lips trembled.
"They took them."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Noah's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice said:
"You should have walked away."
Noah's blood turned cold.
"Who is this?"
"You'll get the children back when you stop investigating."
"Where are they?"
"Twenty-four hours."
The line went dead.
Noah looked at Clara.
She was crying.
"They're going to kill my babies."
"No."
He took her hand.
"I'm bringing them home."
"Noah..."
"I'm serious."
The next twelve hours became a battle.
His security team traced the phone.
Nothing.
Traffic cameras showed a black SUV.
The license plate was stolen.
The only useful detail came from a toll camera.
The vehicle had crossed a bridge toward an old Patterson warehouse.
Noah went there with police.
The building was empty.
Except for a tiny lunchbox.
Emma's.
Inside was a folded drawing.
A castle.
A girl.
A little boy.
And a man standing outside the castle.
At the bottom, in a child's handwriting:
Noah, don't let them make you scared.
He closed his eyes.
Emma had known.
She had understood more than any child should.
Then a second detail appeared.
A tiny flower drawn beside the castle.
Five petals.
Noah recognized it.
It matched the logo of his mother's old foundation.
Clara stared at it.
"That's it."
"What?"
"That's where they are."
"The foundation?"
"The old children's home."
She looked at him.
"My husband told me once that your mother used a children's charity to hide records."
Noah's face changed.
They drove there.
The building had been closed for years.
Inside, they found Emma and Lucas.
Alive.
Scared.
A woman was with them.
Noah stopped.
His mother.
Or, more precisely, the woman he had been told was his mother.
She looked at him.
"Hello, Noah."
He couldn't speak.
She smiled.
"You finally found me."
Clara whispered:
"Who are you?"
The woman laughed.
"You already know."
Noah stared.
There was something wrong with her face.
Something familiar.
May you like
And then the woman said the words that would change everything.
"Your mother died eighteen years ago."
