A SINGLE DAD CARRIED A DYING CEO THROUGH A DEADLY BLIZZARD—WHEN SHE WHISPERED “I FEEL SAFE WITH YOU,” HE REALIZED SOMEONE WAS STILL HUNTING HER… AND THEY WERE CLOSER THAN HE THOUGHT! 😱👇

Inside, the building was dark except for a single fluorescent light above a metal table. Dust covered old machinery, and the windows had been painted black from the inside.

Gavin searched the rooms while Sam contacted Agent Shaw.

They found a map of Denver, several burner phones, and a briefcase containing travel documents under false names.

Marcus had planned his escape long before Belle walked into the boardroom.

"He knew the vote might go wrong," Sam said.

Gavin examined the travel documents.

"He knew a lot of things."

One passport bore a photograph of Marcus with a different name. Another belonged to Daniel Cross.

There was also a small envelope marked with the initials C.M.

Gavin opened it.

Inside lay a hospital property tag and a handwritten note.

The evidence was never the problem. The problem was what she knew.

Gavin recognized the handwriting.

Marcus.

He handed the note to Sam.

"Take this to Shaw."

Sam studied him.

"What are you going to do?"

"Find Marcus."

"Gavin, we've got investigators on their way. Let them handle it."

Gavin looked at him.

"You saw Lily under that ice."

Sam's expression fell.

"I did."

"Then you know I can't sit in a waiting room while that man decides whether he's going to come after her again."

Sam lowered his eyes.

After a moment, he placed a hand on Gavin's shoulder.

"Then we do this properly. We find him, we keep the evidence intact, and we make sure he never gets close to your daughter again."

Gavin nodded.

They returned to the hospital just after six.

Lily was awake and eating soup from a paper cup. Nora sat beside her, knitting a scarf and pretending she had not been crying.

The moment Gavin entered the room, Lily dropped the cup.

"Daddy!"

He caught her carefully as she threw her arms around him.

"Easy, sweetheart."

She clung to his neck.

"Are the bad men gone?"

Gavin looked at Nora.

Then he looked at Belle, who had arrived moments earlier.

"Some of them are."

Lily pulled away.

"Is Mr. Vale gone?"

"Not yet."

Her small face tightened.

"He was mean to Belle."

"Yes."

"He was mean to me, too."

Gavin swallowed.

"Yes, he was."

Lily glanced toward Belle.

"Does that mean he doesn't get any presents?"

Belle blinked.

"What?"

"At Christmas. If someone is mean, do they still get presents?"

For a moment, Belle could not speak.

Then she sat on the edge of the bed.

"I think people should be held responsible for the things they do."

Lily nodded seriously.

"That's what Daddy says."

Gavin kissed her forehead.

"You're not responsible for what happened, baby. Not one part of it."

She looked at him.

"But I told him I didn't know where the files were."

"And you told the truth."

"What if he comes back?"

Gavin gently brushed her hair away from her face.

"Then he'll have to get through a lot of people before he reaches you."

Belle took Lily's hand.

"Your daddy isn't the only person protecting you anymore."

Lily studied her.

Then she smiled faintly.

"Good. Because Daddy needs to sleep sometimes."

Gavin laughed under his breath.

Nora shook her head.

"That child has more sense than the three of you combined."

For several minutes, the hospital room felt almost normal.

Then Agent Shaw entered.

She carried a tablet and a folder of documents.

"We have an update," she said. "Deputy Harlan has been arrested."

Gavin stood.

"Where?"

"At a private residence outside Denver. He was attempting to leave the state under a false identity."

"Did he talk?"

"He requested a lawyer, but we recovered his phone and several financial records. We also found messages between him and Marcus Vale discussing the crash that killed Clara Mercer."

Belle closed her eyes briefly.

"What about Marcus?"

"His vehicle was located near the warehouse. We believe he escaped through an underground service passage. We're tracking several financial transfers that may lead us to him."

Gavin looked at the folder.

"Does the evidence prove he ordered my wife's death?"

Shaw took a breath.

"It strongly supports that conclusion. We have the recording from Clara, the payment records, and the altered accident report. We still need to establish exactly who was present at the crash scene."

Gavin looked away.

Three years of questions, and the answer was still incomplete.

Shaw continued.

"There's something else. Marcus used a private company server to store copies of the original transaction logs. The server was accessed shortly before the crash on the mountain."

Belle frowned.

"From where?"

"The old Whitmore mining property."

Gavin and Belle exchanged a look.

The mine.

The place where Marcus had held Lily and tried to force Belle to reveal the location of the records.

"Why would he access the files then?" Belle asked.

"Possibly to remove evidence. We're still investigating."

Shaw handed her the tablet.

A map showed the mining property and a smaller structure beside the northern road.

An old communications tower.

The tower Sam had identified through the emergency radio.

Gavin studied the map.

"That's where he's going."

Shaw nodded.

"We believe Marcus is trying to reach the tower and destroy the remaining records before our team can secure them."

"Then we'll give him something to look at."

Belle looked at Gavin.

He shook his head.

"No."

She stiffened.

"I'm not asking permission."

"And I'm not asking you to stay in a hospital bed. I'm saying he wants you to chase him. It's a trap."

"What would you have me do? Wait here while other people decide how my company should be saved?"

Gavin lowered his voice.

"This isn't about the company anymore."

"It's about Clara," Belle replied. "It's about the workers whose injuries were covered up. It's about the families who were threatened into silence. It's about Lily."

She looked toward the bed.

"I won't let him turn her fear into another secret buried beneath that mountain."

Gavin held her gaze.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then Lily spoke from the bed.

"Can you stop fighting?"

They both turned.

She pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"You're doing it again."

Belle's expression softened.

Gavin exhaled.

"You're right."

He looked at Belle.

"We make the plan together."

She nodded.

Agent Shaw spread the map across the table.

They would approach the communications tower with state investigators and a tactical team. Sam would monitor the emergency frequencies and provide a second route into the property. Belle would identify the company systems Marcus might try to access.

Gavin would lead the approach through the northern service road.

The plan was careful.

It was legal.

It had enough people to prevent Marcus from isolating any of them.

For the first time, Gavin allowed himself to believe they might finally have the advantage.

Then Lily reached into the pocket of her hospital blanket.

"I found something."

She held out a small object.

A piece of silver metal attached to a torn leather strap.

Gavin stared.

Clara's watch.

The watch he had found beside Harlan's pickup had been a different timepiece, a replica engraved with her initials. He had realized it was a fake only after examining it closely in the hospital.

This one was real.

Lily pointed to the cracked casing.

"It was in my backpack. The nice man at the mine must have put it there."

Gavin carefully opened the watch.

Inside the back cover, beneath a layer of dust, was a tiny folded strip of paper.

He unfolded it.

Three words had been written in Clara's handwriting.

NOT THE TOWER.

Beneath them was a set of coordinates.

Gavin looked toward Agent Shaw.

"Change the plan."

Shaw studied the numbers.