CHAPTER 4 – The Mother’s Terrifying Secret
Ethan’s mother, Clara, stood between two armed men.
Her face was pale.
Her hands were tied.
“Give us the watch,” one man shouted, “or your mother dies.”
Ethan slowly reached into his pocket.
“No,” Nathan whispered. “Don’t.”
But Ethan couldn’t watch his mother suffer.
He stepped forward.
Clara suddenly screamed, “Ethan, don’t trust him!”
Ethan turned.
Nathan froze.
“What?”
Tears streamed down Clara’s face.
“He isn’t just a stranger.”
The rain seemed to stop.
“He’s your father.”
Ethan’s world cracked open.
Nathan lowered his head, broken with guilt.
“I tried to come back,” he whispered. “I left to protect you both.”
The gunman laughed.
“How touching. Now hand over the chip.”
Ethan looked at the watch.
Then at his mother.
Then at the father he had saved without knowing it.
Slowly, he held out the watch.
The gunman reached for it.
But Ethan suddenly dropped it into the rushing river.
Everyone gasped.
The watch vanished beneath the dark water.
The gunman’s smile disappeared.
“You stupid little boy…”
Ethan looked him straight in the eyes.
“It already sent the files.”
Nathan’s face changed.
He understood.
Before the cabin attack, Ethan had accidentally activated the watch’s emergency transmitter.
In the distance, sirens began screaming.
Federal vehicles burst through the trees.
Spotlights surrounded the gunmen.
The leader tried to run—
But Clara slammed her elbow into his ribs and knocked him down.
Ethan stared at his mother.
She wasn’t helpless either.
Nathan smiled weakly.
“She was my partner.”
But just when Ethan thought the nightmare was over…
One final gunman rose from the shadows behind Clara.
May you like
And aimed directly at her back.
END OF CHAPTER 4…
