Chapter 3: The Night Daniel Disappeared
“Uncle Victor?”
Sophie’s tiny voice trembled inside the dark car.
Victor Hale turned toward her.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he smiled.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Sophie pressed herself against the car door.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“That's what your mother told everyone.”
Sophie stared at him.
“Vanessa isn't my mommy.”
Victor looked at her through the rearview mirror.
“No.”
His voice became strangely quiet.
“She isn't.”
Outside, rain began tapping against the windshield.
Victor started the engine.
The car moved away from the Malibu mansion.
Sophie looked back through the rear window.
She could barely see her father's house anymore.
“Daddy will find me.”
Victor chuckled.
“I'm counting on it.”
Meanwhile, Ethan Bennett was driving toward Blackthorne Hotel.
His hands were locked tightly around the steering wheel.
Every few seconds, he looked at Vanessa in the passenger seat.
She sat completely still.
Her face was pale.
“You knew Victor was alive,” Ethan said.
“Yes.”
“For three years?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“You should have been afraid of me finding out.”
Vanessa looked out the window.
“I was.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“Then why marry me?”
Vanessa didn't answer.
“Vanessa.”
She finally turned toward him.
“Because I needed protection.”
“From Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“Because Victor had evidence.”
“What evidence?”
She hesitated.
“Evidence that would have put me in prison.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“For what?”
Vanessa looked down.
“For Daniel's death.”
The car became silent.
Ethan stared at the road.
“You said you didn't kill him.”
“I didn't.”
“But you said the evidence could put you in prison.”
“Yes.”
“Then what did you do?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I helped him.”
Ethan frowned.
“Helped who?”
“Victor.”
His grip tightened.
“Do you have any idea how insane this sounds?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“Then start from the beginning.”
She took a shaky breath.
“Three years ago, Daniel discovered that Victor was stealing money from several companies.”
Ethan said nothing.
“Victor had created shell companies. Fake accounts. Offshore transfers. Daniel found everything.”
“And he confronted him?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Victor threatened him.”
“With what?”
“With me.”
Ethan looked at her.
Vanessa continued.
“He knew Daniel loved me. He told Daniel that if he went to the police, I'd disappear.”
“And Daniel believed him?”
“He believed Victor was capable of anything.”
“So what did Daniel do?”
“He came to me.”
Vanessa's voice cracked.
“He asked me to help him escape.”
Ethan stared at her.
“And you did?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he die?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“He never made it out.”
The headlights of Blackthorne Hotel appeared in the distance.
The abandoned building stood on a cliff overlooking the Pacific.
Its windows were broken.
Its walls were blackened from the old fire.
Ethan slowed the car.
“Where is the recording?”
“What?”
“The recording from Daniel.”
“I don't know.”
“You said Victor wanted it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel recorded everything.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“Everything?”
“Everything that happened that night.”
They reached the gates.
The chain was already broken.
Someone had entered recently.
Ethan parked.
Vanessa stared at the building.
“I don't want to go inside.”
“You're going.”
She turned toward him.
“If we go in there, we might not come out.”
Ethan opened the door.
“Then stay in the car.”
Vanessa grabbed his wrist.
“I'll come.”
They stepped into the rain.
The hotel smelled of wet ash and decay.
Ethan pushed open the front doors.
They creaked loudly.
“Victor!”
His voice echoed through the lobby.
No answer.
They moved deeper inside.
Then Ethan noticed something.
A child's drawing was taped to the wall.
A house.
A little girl.
A man.
And a woman.
Underneath the drawing were three words.
FIND ME, DADDY.
Ethan ripped it from the wall.
“That's Sophie's.”
Vanessa stared at it.
“She must have drawn it today.”
“How did Victor get it?”
“I don't know.”
A noise came from upstairs.
Ethan immediately raised his flashlight.
“Victor!”
Silence.
Then a woman's voice echoed through the hallway.
“Ethan…”
Vanessa froze.
The voice sounded exactly like hers.
But Vanessa was standing beside him.
Ethan slowly turned toward her.
“Did you hear that?”
Vanessa nodded.
The voice came again.
“Ethan…”
This time it sounded like Sophie.
“Daddy!”
Ethan ran upstairs.
Vanessa followed.
They reached the third floor.
At the end of the hallway stood a single door.
Light leaked underneath it.
Ethan grabbed the handle.
Locked.
He kicked it.
Once.
Twice.
On the third kick, the door flew open.
Inside was an old bedroom.
A chair stood in the center.
A tape recorder sat on it.
Ethan approached cautiously.
A red light blinked.
Recording.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then Daniel's voice.
“If you're hearing this, I'm already gone.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“Vanessa isn't the person you think she is.”
Ethan looked at her.
Her eyes filled with tears.
The recording continued.
“But she isn't the person Victor thinks she is either.”
Ethan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel's voice became quieter.
“Vanessa tried to save me.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I knew it,” she whispered.
Ethan stared at her.
Daniel continued.
“She helped me get out of the hotel.”
A pause.
“Then Victor caught us.”
The recording crackled.
A man's voice could be heard in the background.
Victor.
“You're not leaving.”
Then Daniel screamed.
The recording abruptly ended.
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
“You helped him escape.”
“Yes.”
“But he was caught.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You were there!”
“I ran.”
“You left him?”
“I had no choice!”
Ethan's voice exploded.
“You left him to die!”
Vanessa collapsed into the chair.
“I thought he was dead.”
A sound came from behind them.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Slow applause.
Ethan spun around.
A man stood in the doorway.
Victor.
He wore a dark coat.
His face was older than Ethan remembered from Vanessa's photographs.
But unmistakably alive.
He smiled.
“Finally.”
Ethan stepped in front of Vanessa.
“Where is my daughter?”
Victor's smile widened.
“Straight to the point.”
“Where is Sophie?”
“Safe.”
“Bring her here.”
“No.”
Ethan took a step forward.
Victor pulled a gun.
Vanessa screamed.
“Ethan, don't!”
Victor aimed at him.
“You've been asking the wrong questions.”
Ethan stared at the weapon.
“What do you want?”
Victor looked at Vanessa.
“I want my sister to tell you the truth.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Victor, please.”
“Tell him.”
“Tell me what?”
Victor laughed.
“You really don't know.”
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
“What don't I know?”
Victor slowly lowered the gun.
“Daniel Cross wasn't your wife's first husband.”
Ethan froze.
Victor continued.
“He wasn't even the first man Vanessa tried to kill.”
Vanessa's face went white.
“That's not true.”
Victor smiled.
“Tell him about Michael.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“Who is Michael?”
Vanessa couldn't speak.
Victor stepped backward into the darkness.
“You'll find out.”
“Victor!”
But he was gone.
Ethan ran after him.
The hallway was empty.
Only a small envelope remained on the floor.
Ethan picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
A young Vanessa stood beside a man Ethan had never seen.
On the back was a handwritten message:
HE WAS HER FIRST HUSBAND.
Ethan stared at the photograph.
Then he slowly turned toward Vanessa.
“You told me Daniel was your first husband.”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I lied.”
Ethan's voice dropped.
“How many husbands have you had?”
Vanessa looked toward the broken window.
“Three.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“And Daniel was number two.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Then who was number three?”
She didn't answer.
A phone rang from inside Ethan's pocket.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A child's frightened voice whispered:
“Daddy…”
“Sophie?”
“Daddy, please come get me.”
Ethan's heart shattered.
“Where are you?”
There was a pause.
Then Sophie whispered:
“I'm with the man Mommy was scared of.”
The call ended.
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
She was staring at him in horror.
“What did she say?”
Ethan slowly lowered the phone.
“She said she's with the man you were afraid of.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“That can't be.”
“Why?”
Vanessa's lips trembled.
“Because Victor isn't the man I'm afraid of.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Then who are you afraid of?”
Vanessa looked toward the doorway.
Her voice became barely audible.
“Michael.”
At that exact moment, somewhere beneath Blackthorne Hotel, a locked door opened.
A man stepped into the basement.
He placed a photograph on a wooden table.
It showed Ethan.
Vanessa.
Sophie.
And Daniel.
The man touched Daniel's face.
Then smiled.
“Ethan has finally started asking questions.”
He picked up a phone.
“Bring Sophie to the second location.”
A voice answered.
“And Vanessa?”
The man paused.
“Don't kill her.”
“Why?”
He smiled.
“Because she still doesn't know the truth.”
He hung up.
Then he turned the photograph over.
Written on the back were three words:
MICHAEL BENNETT.
Ethan's father.
A man officially declared dead twenty-five years earlier.
May you like
And according to the photograph...
he was alive.
