CHAPTER 4 – The Men in the Black SUV
Grant crossed the living room in three long strides and took Claire's phone.
The message was still glowing on the screen.
He finally found them. You're all in danger.
"No number," Grant muttered. "Encrypted."
Claire gently took the phone back.
"It isn't the first message."
Grant stared at her.
"What do you mean?"
She hesitated.
"For almost two years... someone has been watching us."
The room became painfully quiet.
Outside, rain had begun tapping against the windows.
Grant stepped toward the front curtain just enough to see the street.
The black SUV remained parked across from the townhouse.
Its headlights were off.
Someone sat behind the steering wheel.
Watching.
Grant's instincts—sharpened by decades of billion-dollar negotiations—told him this was no coincidence.
He immediately dialed his head of security.
"Shut down my travel schedule. Cancel every meeting. I want a protection team here in five minutes."
"Yes, sir."
"And trace every vehicle on this street."
He hung up.
Claire looked at him without expression.
"You think money solves everything."
"No."
Grant's voice was different now.
"I think someone wants my family."
The word slipped out before he realized it.
My family.
Claire noticed.
So did Ethan.
The oldest boy quietly smiled.
For the first time all day, someone had finally called them family.
Just then—
The SUV's engine started.
Grant rushed outside.
The vehicle accelerated away before he could read the license plate.
Only one thing remained on the curb.
A small black envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
Grant's blood turned cold.
It showed Claire pushing a stroller with the quadruplets.
Taken yesterday.
Someone had been following them.
May you like
On the back, only six handwritten words appeared.
"You're too late this time, Grant."
