CHAPTER 4: THE PHOTOGRAPH THAT CHANGED
Richard snatched the framed photograph from the wall.
His hands trembled.
"No..."
He whispered.
"I saw him."
Only thirty seconds earlier, the maintenance worker had been standing in the back row, half-hidden behind two executives.
Now...
There was nothing.
Just an empty patch of sunlight where a man should have been.
Marina stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Richard pointed at the picture.
"There was someone right here."
She frowned.
"I don't see anyone."
"The maintenance worker."
"There isn't one."
Richard looked around the room.
Every face staring back at him carried the same expression.
Confusion.
Not one person believed him.
Only Luna.
The little girl never took her eyes off the photograph.
"He doesn't like pictures."
Richard slowly turned toward her.
"What did you say?"
"He doesn't like people remembering his face."
Silence swallowed the room.
Richard crouched until he was eye level with the child.
"Who doesn't?"
Luna hesitated.
Then she whispered two words.
"The Collector."
No one spoke.
"The Collector?"
She nodded.
"He takes people."
Detective Hayes, who had just entered with two forensic officers, stopped in the doorway.
"Who told you that name?"
Luna looked frightened.
"I wasn't supposed to say it."
Hayes immediately motioned for everyone else to leave the room.
Within seconds, only Richard, Marina, Ethan, Luna, and Hayes remained.
The detective closed the doors.
"Luna."
His voice became calm.
"I need you to tell me everything."
The little girl stared at the floor.
"When I sleep behind the fish market..."
"...sometimes trucks come."
"What kind of trucks?"
"No company name."
"No license plates."
"They only come after midnight."
Richard exchanged a glance with Hayes.
"And then?"
"They bring children."
Marina covered her mouth.
"What do you mean... bring children?"
"They're scared."
"They cry."
"Sometimes they're hurt."
"They stay inside the warehouse."
"Then..."
"They disappear."
Hayes leaned forward.
"Where is this warehouse?"
"I don't know."
"They cover my eyes if they see me."
Richard felt the room grow colder.
Hayes pulled out a notebook.
"How many times have you seen this happen?"
Luna answered without hesitation.
"Six."
Six.
If she was telling the truth...
This wasn't a bombing case anymore.
It was something far darker.
At that exact moment...
One of the forensic officers burst into the room.
"Detective!"
Hayes stood.
"What is it?"
"We've identified something from the bomb casing."
"What?"
"It wasn't built from military components."
Hayes frowned.
"So?"
"It was assembled..."
"...using parts manufactured by Sterling Technologies."
Richard froze.
"That's impossible."
The officer swallowed.
"The serial numbers match your own factory."
Every eye turned toward Richard.
For the first time that night...
He looked less like a victim.
And more like a suspect.
Across the city...
Inside an abandoned church...
The old man in the gray suit stood before a stained-glass window.
The scarred man approached carefully.
"Sir."
"Report."
"We failed to eliminate Sterling."
"I know."
"And the girl is under protection."
The old man smiled faintly.
"No."
The scarred man looked confused.
"No?"
"She is exactly where I wanted her."
He tapped his silver cane once against the stone floor.
"They think they're protecting her."
He laughed softly.
"They've just carried her through the front door."
The scarred man's eyes widened.
"You mean..."
"Yes."
"The mansion."
"The final key has entered the lock."
Back at Sterling Mansion...
The atmosphere had changed completely.
Security cameras were checked.
Doors were sealed.
Thermal sensors activated.
Bodyguards took positions around the property.
No one entered.
No one left.
Richard personally walked Luna upstairs to a guest bedroom.
The room was larger than the apartment where some families lived.
A soft bed.
Fresh pajamas.
Stuffed animals lined neatly on a shelf.
Luna stared silently.
"Is... this really for me?"
Richard nodded.
"You'll be safe here."
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then asked a question that made him pause.
"Mr. Sterling..."
"Yes?"
"Do rich people always lock every door before they sleep?"
Richard forced a smile.
"Tonight isn't normal."
Luna looked out the window into the darkness.
"No..."
she whispered.
"They're already inside."
Richard instantly reached for the radio clipped to his belt.
"Control."
A crackling voice answered.
"Go ahead, sir."
"Report every guard's position."
"North gate secure."
"South gate secure."
"East wall secure."
"West wall secure."
Richard exhaled.
Everything was covered.
Then...
A different voice came over the radio.
Calm.
Slow.
Unknown.
"You're counting the guards..."
"...but you forgot to count the guests."
The transmission ended.
Every radio in the mansion went dead at the same time.
The lights flickered once.
Twice.
Then the entire estate was plunged into darkness.
For three endless seconds...
No one could see anything.
When the emergency lights finally came on...
Luna was gone.
Only her tiny yellow shoe remained in the middle of the bedroom floor.
May you like
And written across the bedroom wall in fresh black paint were five chilling words:
"YOU WERE TOO LATE AGAIN."
