CHAPTER 5: THE VIDEO FROM A DEAD MAN
No one moved.
The evidence box sat on the counter like a ticking bomb.
Officer Daniels carefully lifted the flash drive from the pile of documents.
A handwritten label covered the front.
IF YOU'RE WATCHING THIS... IT MEANS I NEVER MADE IT HOME.
The entire diner held its breath.
The officer plugged the drive into a nearby television.
Static filled the screen.
Then...
A young man appeared.
Covered in soot.
His face bruised.
His breathing heavy.
Ethan felt his heart stop.
It was his father.
Alive.
The recording was dated exactly thirty-two years earlier.
The man looked directly into the camera.
"My name is Michael Carter."
"If this video is being played..."
"...then my brother never told the truth."
Hawk slowly sank into a chair.
His hands covered his face.
Michael continued.
"The warehouse wasn't an accident."
"It was insurance fraud."
"I found out too late."
Gasps spread through the diner.
"The owner paid someone to start the fire."
"I tried to stop it."
Then Michael looked away from the camera for a moment, as if someone had entered the room.
When he turned back...
There was blood running down the side of his face.
"If anything happens to me..."
"...look at Hawk."
The room erupted.
"Impossible!"
"No..."
"Hawk would never..."
Michael raised one trembling hand.
"I trusted my brother."
"I begged him to help me save the workers trapped upstairs."
Instead...
"He locked the exit."
The waitress burst into tears.
Even Officer Daniels looked stunned.
Michael's voice broke.
"I heard children crying."
"I went back inside."
"I thought Hawk was behind me."
He closed his eyes.
"But he wasn't."
"He drove away."
Silence.
Pure silence.
Hawk whispered through tears,
"I didn't know..."
Michael's face hardened.
"You knew."
"You looked me in the eyes."
"You chose money over family."
Ethan could barely breathe.
Everything he had ever searched for...
Every answer...
Every nightmare...
Was playing on the screen.
Then Michael smiled sadly.
"If my son is alive..."
"I need him to know something."
The room stood frozen.
"My boy..."
"If you're watching this..."
"I never stopped loving you."
"Not for one second."
Ethan broke down.
He fell to his knees, clutching the wedding ring against his chest.
"I'm sorry..."
"I'm so sorry, Dad..."
Then the video suddenly glitched.
Static flashed across the screen.
The image disappeared for two seconds.
When it returned...
Michael wasn't alone anymore.
Someone had stepped into the frame behind him.
Only part of the man's face was visible.
A black leather vest.
A silver wolf patch.
And a large tattoo wrapping around his neck.
Samuel stared at the screen.
His eyes widened in horror.
"No..."
Officer Daniels paused the video.
"Does anyone recognize him?"
Samuel whispered one name.
"Victor..."
The entire diner froze.
Hawk looked up in disbelief.
"That's impossible."
"Victor died twenty years ago."
Samuel slowly shook his head.
"No..."
"He disappeared."
"There's a difference."
Officer Daniels zoomed in on the paused frame.
The mysterious man wasn't threatening Michael.
He was trying to hand him something.
A folder.
Stamped in red letters.
CONFIDENTIAL — FEDERAL WITNESS PROGRAM
The officer's expression changed instantly.
"This changes everything."
Grace frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Officer Daniels answered quietly.
"It means Michael Carter wasn't running from criminals..."
"He was helping the federal government."
Everyone stared at the screen.
Then Officer Daniels spoke the words that shattered every assumption.
"If this file is authentic..."
"...Michael wasn't the target."
He looked directly at Hawk.
May you like
"You were."
To Be Continued...
