Chapter 3 - The Name on the Surveillance Contract
By morning, Daniel had a folder on his desk.
Inside were photographs of Emma.
Walking through the library.
Sleeping beneath a covered staircase.
Searching through trash.
Sitting on a bus.
There were dozens.
Maybe hundreds.
Someone had documented her every move.
For months.
Daniel stared at the photographs.
Then he looked at the name on the contract.
Marcus Vale.
His business partner.
Marcus had been with Anderson Meridian Group for eleven years.
He was the company's chief financial strategist.
He knew everything.
Corporate accounts.
Private investments.
Daniel's schedules.
His son's school.
His security arrangements.
Everything.
But why would he care about a homeless six-year-old?
Daniel called him.
"Marcus."
"Daniel?"
"Where are you?"
"Office."
"Come to my house."
There was silence.
"Is everything all right?"
"No."
Marcus arrived thirty minutes later.
He walked into the study.
"What happened?"
Daniel placed the surveillance folder on the table.
Marcus looked down.
His face changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Daniel noticed.
"Why do you know these photographs?"
Marcus swallowed.
"I don't."
"You recognized them."
"No."
"You did."
Marcus said nothing.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Who is Emma Reynolds?"
Marcus went pale.
"Where did you get that name?"
Daniel's voice became very quiet.
"That's not an answer."
Marcus sat down.
For several seconds, he stared at the floor.
Then he whispered.
"She shouldn't still be alive."
Daniel's heart stopped.
"What?"
Marcus looked up.
"Daniel, you need to listen to me."
"Who is she?"
"Her father."
"Greg?"
Marcus nodded.
"Greg Reynolds."
"What did he do?"
"He worked for our company."
Daniel frowned.
"I don't know that name."
"You shouldn't."
"Why?"
"Because I made sure his employee records disappeared."
Daniel stared at him.
"You erased an employee?"
Marcus rubbed his face.
"Seven years ago, Greg worked in our logistics division."
"And?"
"He discovered something."
"What?"
"Fraud."
Daniel said nothing.
Marcus continued.
"Several executives were moving company funds through shell companies."
"Who?"
Marcus looked toward the door.
"People above us."
"Names."
Marcus hesitated.
Then he said them.
Three executives.
Two contractors.
And one person who made Daniel's stomach turn.
Daniel's uncle.
Richard Anderson.
His father's younger brother.
Daniel had not spoken to Richard in years.
"Why was Greg targeted?"
"He had evidence."
"So you tracked his daughter?"
"No."
"You paid people to watch her."
Marcus nodded.
"After Greg disappeared, someone needed to know whether the child would eventually lead investigators to the records."
Daniel stared.
"Where are those records?"
"I don't know."
"What happened to Greg?"
Marcus closed his eyes.
"Nobody knows."
"Dead?"
"Probably."
Daniel felt sick.
"Sarah?"
Marcus didn't answer.
"Marcus."
"Your mother knew Sarah."
Daniel froze.
"My mother?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I don't know."
Marcus looked terrified.
But Daniel had already put the pieces together.
Emma wasn't simply an abandoned child.
She was connected to a secret buried inside his own family.
And someone had spent three months making sure she remained invisible.
Daniel stood.
"Where is Richard?"
Marcus gave him an address.
Daniel picked up his phone.
Then stopped.
"Why did you help?"
Marcus looked ashamed.
"Because I was a coward."
"What changed?"
"I saw the photographs."
He looked toward the hallway.
"I realized the child was still being hunted."
Daniel walked away.
Before leaving, he told security to lock down the property.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left without clearance.
When he returned to Emma's room, she was awake.
Her eyes were fixed on the door.
"You heard?"
She nodded.
"Am I in trouble?"
"No."
"Are you going to send me away?"
"No."
She looked at him cautiously.
"Do you mean it?"
"Yes."
Josh appeared behind him.
"She's staying, right?"
Daniel looked at his son.
He had never seen Josh care about another child this quickly.
"Yes."
Josh smiled.
Emma looked relieved.
Then she whispered.
"Mr. Anderson?"
"Daniel."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Can I stay until my birthday?"
"When is your birthday?"
"December 8."
Daniel smiled.
"That's two months away."
She nodded.
"I don't know if I'll be here."
"Why wouldn't you?"
"People don't usually keep me."
Daniel's heart broke.
"You've never stayed with someone who wanted you to stay."
Emma lowered her eyes.
"No."
He knelt.
"Then this can be different."
Later that afternoon, Daniel visited the hospital records office.
He asked for Sarah Reynolds.
A strange silence followed.
The clerk searched.
Then looked up.
"There is no Sarah Reynolds who died here three months ago."
Daniel stared.
"That's impossible."
The clerk searched again.
Nothing.
No admission.
No death record.
No discharge.
No emergency visit.
Emma said her mother had died in a hospital.
But no record existed.
Daniel returned home.
He found Emma sitting in the library with Josh.
He sat beside her.
"Emma."
She looked up.
"Can I ask you about your mother?"
Emma nodded.
"What hospital was she in?"
She whispered the name.
Daniel recognized it.
A private medical center owned by one of his competitors.
A hospital that had never appeared in city records under Sarah Reynolds.
Then Emma said something else.
"Mom wasn't supposed to die."
Daniel looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"She told me to hide if men came."
His blood ran cold.
"What men?"
"Men who wanted the papers."
"What papers?"
Emma's small hands tightened around the stuffed dinosaur.
"The papers Daddy found."
Daniel stood.
This wasn't a coincidence.
He had found his missing son.
But his son had led him to a six-year-old girl whose parents were connected to a conspiracy inside his own company.
And somebody was still looking for her.
That night, Daniel made a decision.
May you like
He would find out what happened to Sarah Reynolds.
Even if it meant destroying his own family.
