Chapter 3: The Man Who Died in the Dark
The gunshot echoed through the skyscraper.
Then...
Absolute silence.
Someone screamed.
Several executives dove beneath the conference table.
Glass shattered somewhere in the darkness as chairs crashed to the floor.
"Nobody move!"
Richard's voice thundered through the room.
"Ethan!"
"I'm here!"
The boy's frightened voice came from somewhere beside the conference table.
Richard dropped to his knees, reaching blindly through the darkness until his hand finally grabbed Ethan's arm.
He pulled the boy close.
"No matter what happens," Richard whispered, "don't let go of my hand."
For the first time in his life...
Richard wasn't protecting a billion-dollar company.
He was protecting his son.
Emergency lights flickered on.
A dim red glow filled the room.
Everyone slowly looked around.
Daniel Mercer was gone.
The chair where he had been sitting moments ago was empty.
One security guard shouted,
"He escaped!"
Another guard pointed toward the emergency exit.
"The door's open!"
Richard frowned.
"Find him!"
Six armed guards rushed into the hallway.
Seconds later...
Another scream echoed outside.
Not fear.
Pain.
The guards burst back into the boardroom.
"You need to come now!"
Richard grabbed Ethan and followed them.
The hallway looked like a battlefield.
Broken glass covered the floor.
A security camera dangled from the ceiling, its wires ripped apart.
At the end of the corridor...
Daniel Mercer lay face down in a pool of blood.
A single bullet hole pierced the back of his head.
He was dead.
One of the guards checked for a pulse.
Nothing.
Richard stared in disbelief.
"Someone executed him."
The police would later say it was a clean professional kill.
One shot.
No struggle.
No witnesses.
Whoever had done it knew exactly where to aim.
Then Ethan noticed something strange.
"Wait..."
He pointed toward Daniel's lifeless hand.
"He's holding something."
The detectives carefully opened Daniel's fingers.
Inside...
Was half of a burned photograph.
Richard's heart nearly stopped.
It was an old family picture.
He recognized himself immediately.
Emily stood beside him, smiling.
She was pregnant.
But the picture had been torn in half.
The other side was missing.
Richard turned it over.
On the back, written in faded black ink, were six terrifying words.
THE OTHER CHILD MUST NEVER LIVE.
Richard felt the blood drain from his face.
"The other child?"
He whispered.
"What other child?"
Ethan looked confused.
"I don't have a brother..."
No one answered.
Because no one knew.
Three hours later...
The boardroom had become a crime scene.
Federal agents searched every inch of the building.
Richard sat alone in his private office, staring at Emily's letter.
A soft knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
An elderly housekeeper entered.
Her name was Margaret.
She had worked for the Hawthorne family for over forty years.
She looked nervous.
"I... I heard about the boy."
Richard nodded silently.
Margaret looked toward the closed office door before speaking in a whisper.
"Sir..."
"I think there's something you should know."
Richard frowned.
"What is it?"
She reached into her apron pocket.
From inside, she carefully removed an old silver locket.
"I've kept this secret for twelve years."
Richard recognized it instantly.
It belonged to Emily.
"I found this the night she disappeared."
Richard slowly opened the locket.
Inside were two tiny baby pictures.
Not one.
Two.
One was Ethan.
The second...
Was a little girl.
Same hazel eyes.
Same smile.
Same birthday written beneath the photo.
Richard's hands began to shake uncontrollably.
"They're twins..."
Margaret nodded with tears in her eyes.
"Emily gave birth to twins."
Richard could barely breathe.
"Where is she?"
Margaret's face turned pale.
"I don't know."
"But Emily made me promise something."
"If anyone ever found Ethan..."
"I was to tell them..."
"...never stop looking for Lily."
The room fell silent.
Richard whispered the name.
"Lily..."
A daughter.
A child he never knew existed.
Before he could ask another question—
His office phone rang.
The caller ID showed UNKNOWN.
Richard answered.
A distorted voice laughed softly.
"You finally know about the twins."
Richard stood up instantly.
"Who is this?"
"You've already found the boy."
"But you'll never save the girl."
Richard's blood froze.
"What have you done with my daughter?"
The voice laughed again.
"You have exactly seventy-two hours."
"After that..."
"You'll be burying both of your children."
The line went dead.
Richard slowly lowered the phone.
Then another notification appeared on his desk computer.
A live video feed.
A frightened twelve-year-old girl sat tied to a chair inside a dark warehouse.
Tears streamed down her face.
She looked directly into the camera.
"Dad..."
"Please..."
"Hurry."
The screen suddenly went black.
Richard collapsed into his chair.
For twelve years...
He believed he had lost the woman he loved.
Today...
He discovered he had a son.
Now...
He learned he also had a daughter.
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And someone had already kidnapped her.
To Be Continued...
