Chapter 9 - THE PERSON HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
Daniel Cross stood frozen.
The words Michael had just spoken kept repeating in his mind.
“Someone who has been living inside your house for years.”
The old mansion suddenly felt different.
The walls.
The rooms.
The people.
Everything he thought he knew was starting to collapse.
“Who?” Daniel asked.
His voice was low.
Dangerously calm.
Michael looked at him.
“I can’t tell you.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“You just told me there’s someone inside my house who knows the truth about my father’s murder, and now you’re saying you can’t tell me?”
Michael looked away.
“Because if I say the name out loud…”
He paused.
“They’ll know we figured it out.”
Daniel clenched his jaw.
“My son is upstairs.”
His voice became harder.
“My employee has been kidnapped.”
He stepped closer to Michael.
“I’m done playing games.”
Michael looked at his brother.
For the first time in years, Daniel saw something in his eyes.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For someone else.
“Daniel.”
Michael spoke quietly.
“Trust me.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Trust you?”
He pointed toward the room.
“You let me believe you were dead for eight years.”
“You watched me suffer.”
“You watched me blame myself.”
Michael lowered his head.
“I know.”
“Then don’t ask me for trust.”
Silence.
Then Michael said something Daniel didn’t expect.
“I stayed away because I was protecting you.”
Daniel froze.
“Protecting me?”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
“From who?”
Michael looked toward the dark windows.
“From the same person who took Amelia.”
Before Daniel could respond, a scream came from upstairs.
Both men turned instantly.
Daniel ran.
“Lucas!”
His son.
The baby monitor had been sitting on the table.
The sound coming from it was his child crying.
Daniel rushed upstairs.
The bedroom door was open.
His heart stopped.
The room was empty.
The crib was untouched.
But Lucas was gone.
“No…”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“NO!”
He searched the room desperately.
“Lucas!”
Michael reached the doorway.
His face turned pale.
“What happened?”
Daniel looked at him.
“They took my son.”
For the first time that night…
Daniel Cross completely lost control.
He punched the wall.
“Find him!”
The security team rushed through the mansion.
Everyone panicked.
Guests were moved outside.
Phones were checked.
Doors were locked.
But Daniel already knew.
This wasn’t random.
This was revenge.
Someone wasn’t trying to destroy him.
They were trying to break him.
Then Daniel noticed something.
On Lucas’s blanket.
A small piece of paper.
He picked it up.
His hands shook.
Only one sentence was written.
YOU TOOK MY FAMILY. NOW I TAKE YOURS.
Michael saw the note.
His face changed.
“Daniel…”
“What?”
Michael looked at the handwriting.
“I know this person.”
Daniel turned.
“Who?”
Michael didn’t answer.
Because he was remembering.
A night eight years ago.
A woman crying.
A child screaming.
A promise he made.
A promise he failed to keep.
“Michael!”
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“Who took my son?”
Michael looked at him.
And finally said the name.
“Rachel Brooks.”
Daniel froze.
“Who is Rachel Brooks?”
Michael looked at him.
“Amelia’s sister.”
The room went silent.
Daniel stared.
“Amelia never told me she had a sister.”
“Because she thought Rachel was dead.”
Daniel felt a chill.
“Thought?”
Michael nodded.
“Rachel disappeared the night of the accident.”
“Why?”
Michael looked at the note.
“Because she believed Amelia abandoned her.”
Daniel frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Michael shook his head.
“It does if someone made her believe a lie.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
Vanessa was standing there.
Listening.
And she looked terrified.
Michael noticed.
“Vanessa.”
She stepped back.
“I didn’t know.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You know Rachel.”
It wasn’t a question.
Vanessa said nothing.
Daniel moved closer.
“You know her.”
“I knew of her.”
“When?”
Vanessa looked away.
Michael’s expression hardened.
“You were there.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“What?”
“The night Rachel disappeared.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
Just slightly.
But enough.
Daniel saw it.
“You were involved.”
Vanessa immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why do you look scared?”
She had no answer.
Michael stepped forward.
“You know where they are.”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“You’re all insane.”
Daniel grabbed his phone.
“Call the police.”
Vanessa suddenly shouted.
“Wait!”
Everyone stopped.
The word came out too quickly.
Too desperately.
Daniel slowly turned.
“You do know something.”
Vanessa’s breathing became heavier.
“I…”
She looked around.
Then whispered:
“Rachel isn’t the person you should be afraid of.”
Daniel stared.
“Then who?”
Vanessa looked at Michael.
Then at the stairs.
Then finally at Daniel.
“The person controlling Rachel.”
Nobody spoke.
Daniel felt his stomach drop.
“Who is controlling her?”
Vanessa swallowed.
And said:
“The person who has been controlling everything from the beginning.”
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
It wasn’t Daniel’s.
It wasn’t Michael’s.
It came from inside Vanessa’s purse.
Slowly…
Vanessa reached inside.
Daniel watched her carefully.
She pulled out a second phone.
An old phone.
One she had hidden.
The screen showed one message.
YOU FAILED AGAIN.
Vanessa’s face turned white.
Then another message appeared.
REMOVE DANIEL BEFORE HE FINDS THE TRUTH.
Daniel saw it.
And his expression changed.
Because now he understood.
Vanessa wasn’t the mastermind.
She was just another piece on the board.
Someone else had been moving everyone.
The accusations.
The accident.
The missing evidence.
The kidnapping.
All of it.
A shadow moved outside the window.
Michael turned.
Too late.
A gunshot shattered the glass.
Everyone dropped.
Daniel fell to the floor.
And when he looked up…
Michael was holding his chest.
Blood spreading across his shirt.
“MICHAEL!”
Daniel rushed toward him.
Michael grabbed his brother’s arm.
His voice was weak.
“Don’t…”
Daniel looked at him in panic.
“Stay with me.”
Michael shook his head.
“Find Amelia.”
A pause.
Then he whispered:
“Because she’s the only one who knows the name of the person who started this.”
Michael closed his eyes.
May you like
And the lights went out again.
TO BE CONTINUED...
