CHAPTER 4 — THE MAN WITH DANIEL’S FACE
When the lights returned, Daniel was gone.
The officer who had escorted him lay unconscious on the floor.
Every camera in the hallway had been disabled.
The station exploded into chaos.
“Prisoner escaped!”
“Lock every exit!”
But Marcus knew the truth.
Daniel had not escaped.
He had been taken.
Thirty miles away, Daniel woke tied to a chair inside an abandoned warehouse.
A man stood in the shadows.
Same height.
Same hair.
Same beard.
Same face.
Daniel’s breath stopped.
It was like staring into a mirror.
The man smiled.
“Hello, Daniel.”
Daniel trembled.
“Who are you?”
The stranger stepped closer.
“My name is Adrian Vale. But thanks to you… the world thinks I’m a schoolteacher.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Why are you doing this?”
Adrian leaned down.
“Because twenty years ago, your father destroyed mine.”
Daniel froze.
“My father?”
Adrian threw an old newspaper onto Daniel’s lap.
The headline read:
“Judge Carter Sends Crime Boss Victor Vale to Life in Prison.”
Daniel’s father had been the judge.
Adrian’s father had died behind bars.
“So you framed me for revenge?”
Adrian smiled.
“No. I framed you because revenge is too small.”
He walked to a laptop and opened a live video feed.
Daniel’s wife and daughter appeared on screen.
They were being followed.
Daniel screamed, “Leave them alone!”
Adrian whispered:
“Confess to the robbery and murder on camera… or your family disappears next.”
Daniel stared at the blinking red recording light.
For the first time, he understood.
This was never about arresting the wrong man.
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It was about forcing the innocent man to become guilty.
To Be Continued…
