CHAPTER 8 – The Uncle No One Knew Existed
The investigation reopened immediately.
Federal agents searched company archives dating back thirty years.
At first...
Nothing.
No birth certificates.
No business records.
No tax filings.
It was as though Robert Sullivan had vanished from history.
Then Daniel remembered something.
"Ethan kept everything."
Claire hurried home.
She opened the leather duffel bag once more.
Inside Ethan's notebook...
She noticed several pages had been glued together.
Carefully separating them, she uncovered a hidden envelope.
Across the front, Ethan had written only one sentence.
If you're reading this... I wasn't imagining it.
Inside was a faded newspaper clipping.
A photograph of two teenage boys.
Richard.
And another boy who looked almost identical.
Robert.
Along with a handwritten note.
"Dad always said Robert died.
He lied.
If anything ever happens to me... look for the lighthouse in Harbor Point."
Daniel immediately recognized the location.
Years earlier, Ethan had investigated suspicious company shipments there while volunteering for a veterans' housing project.
Within hours, federal agents surrounded the abandoned lighthouse.
It looked deserted.
Broken windows.
Peeling paint.
Rusted doors.
But hidden beneath the floor...
They discovered a private underground office.
Walls covered with financial records.
Fake identities.
International passports.
Millions of dollars in offshore accounts.
And one massive portrait hanging behind the desk.
Robert Sullivan.
Older now.
Gray-haired.
Still unmistakably Richard's brother.
But Robert himself was gone.
Only a single chess piece remained on the desk.
A black king.
Beneath it lay a handwritten note addressed to Richard.
"You always chose family.
I always chose power.
Looks like we're finally playing the same game."
At that exact moment, an investigator's radio crackled.
"Target spotted!"
Robert's black helicopter had just lifted off from a private dock less than two miles away.
Daniel didn't hesitate.
He sprinted toward the waiting helicopter with federal agents close behind.
As the aircraft lifted into the stormy sky, Claire stood at the edge of the dock holding Ethan's notebook tightly against her chest.
She whispered through tears,
"We're coming for the truth."
Far above the crashing waves...
Robert Sullivan looked down through the helicopter window.
A cold smile spread across his face.
He slowly opened another folder.
On top...
Was a recent photograph of Emma.
Attached to it was a handwritten note.
The girl knows nothing... yet.
Robert closed the folder.
May you like
"Bring her to me before they do."
The hunt had only just begun.
