CHAPTER 4 – MY MOTHER WAS NEVER MISSING... SHE WAS HIDING
The five black SUVs screeched to a halt.
Doors flew open.
Armed men in black tactical gear flooded the empty street.
Not police.
Not security.
Professionals.
The old man's face lost all color.
"They've never deployed this many before."
The young woman revved her motorcycle.
"Ethan! NOW!"
Without thinking, Ethan grabbed the old man's arm and climbed onto the motorcycle.
The engine roared.
Seconds later...
Gunshots shattered the silence.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullets ripped through the glass bus shelter.
The wooden bench exploded into splinters.
The motorcycle shot into traffic just as another SUV slammed into the curb behind them.
"Who are these people?" Ethan shouted.
The woman didn't look back.
"They work for Blackwood Global."
Ethan's heart skipped.
"My father owns them?"
"No."
She gripped the handlebars tighter.
"They work for whoever stole your father's company."
Ten minutes later...
The motorcycle stopped outside an abandoned church hidden deep in the woods.
The building looked forgotten.
Broken stained-glass windows.
Rotting wooden doors.
A rusted cross barely hanging above the entrance.
"This place is safe," the woman said.
"For now."
Inside, candles flickered across the dark sanctuary.
The old man collapsed into a chair, exhausted.
Ethan finally looked at the woman.
"You owe me answers."
She slowly removed her leather jacket.
Around her neck...
Hung the exact same silver necklace Ethan had.
"My name is Claire."
"I knew your mother."
Ethan's breathing became shallow.
"You knew her?"
Claire nodded.
"She saved my life."
"And then disappeared."
The old man interrupted.
"No..."
"She didn't disappear."
Claire looked down.
"She sacrificed herself."
Ethan slammed his fist onto the table.
"Stop speaking in riddles!"
"Tell me the truth!"
Claire reached into an old wooden cabinet.
She pulled out a dusty laptop and inserted an encrypted flash drive.
A video appeared on the screen.
The date stamp read:
17 YEARS AGO
The image was grainy.
A hospital room.
A young woman cradled a newborn baby.
Ethan's heart stopped.
It was his mother.
Tears filled his eyes as he watched her kiss the baby's forehead.
Then another man entered the room.
Richard Blackwood.
Seventeen years younger.
He smiled as he held the baby for the first time.
"My son..."
"I'll protect you forever."
Ethan couldn't breathe.
His father had been there.
He hadn't abandoned him.
Then the hospital door burst open.
Three masked men stormed inside.
Richard fought them.
One of the attackers struck him across the head with a metal pipe.
He collapsed unconscious.
The screen shook violently.
Ethan's mother screamed.
One of the masked men grabbed the baby.
Another shoved a syringe into the mother's arm.
The video suddenly cut to black.
Silence filled the church.
Claire whispered,
"That footage was erased from every hospital server."
"The only surviving copy is this one."
Ethan looked at the old man.
"So... my father never left us."
The old man slowly nodded.
"He spent seventeen years searching for a son he believed had died that night."
Ethan's hands trembled.
"If that's true..."
"...who stole me?"
Before anyone could answer...
The church lights suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A red laser dot appeared on Ethan's chest.
Then another.
And another.
Claire whispered one word.
"Snipers..."
A voice echoed through the church loudspeaker.
"Hand over Subject E-17..."
"...or everyone inside dies."
The old man closed his eyes in despair.
"They finally know who you really are."
Ethan stared into the darkness.
"What is Subject E-17?"
The old man answered with tears in his eyes.
"You're not just Richard Blackwood's son..."
May you like
"...you're the legal heir to a $480 billion fortune."
TO BE CONTINUED...
