Chapter 6 - The Missing FatherThe last thing I heard before losing consciousness was the truth I had spent seventeen years grieving.
I woke up in darkness.
My wrists were tied.
My head hurt.
The air smelled like gasoline.
I heard an engine somewhere nearby.
Then a familiar voice.
Derek.
“Don't move.”
I opened my eyes.
We were inside an abandoned warehouse.
Derek sat across from me.
He looked exhausted.
Blood covered one sleeve.
“Where's my mother?”
“Safe.”
“Thomas?”
“Safe.”
“Who attacked us?”
“My father's men.”
“Why?”
Derek looked down.
“Because my father finally knows what you found.”
I pulled against the rope.
“You kidnapped me.”
“I saved you.”
“From what?”
Derek stepped closer.
“From my father.”
He untied me.
I rubbed my wrists.
“Where are we?”
“Old Kane distribution warehouse.”
“Why bring me here?”
“Because nobody comes here anymore.”
He handed me a bottle of water.
I refused it.
“Tell me about my father.”
Derek sat down.
“Your father worked for Edward Voss.”
I stared.
“He was an investigator.”
“What kind?”
“Internal security.”
“He discovered the money?”
“Yes.”
“And Richard?”
“Richard discovered him.”
Derek told me my father had helped Edward build a case against Richard twelve years ago.
But before they could expose him, Richard caught them.
My father was beaten.
Edward escaped.
My father did not.
Richard arranged the fake accident.
He then threatened my mother.
She disappeared.
And I grew up believing both parents were dead.
“But the photograph…”
“Your father survived.”
“Where is he?”
Derek looked away.
“Hospital.”
My heart stopped.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Why hasn't he contacted me?”
“He couldn't.”
“Why?”
Derek handed me another photograph.
My father was lying in a hospital bed.
His face was badly scarred.
One eye was covered.
But he was alive.
The date was six months earlier.
I couldn't stop staring.
“Richard kept him hidden?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Your father knows where the original evidence is.”
“What evidence?”
Derek didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at the BMW keys in my hand.
“Did you find the compartment?”
“Yes.”
“The flash drive?”
“Yes.”
“Then you're missing one thing.”
“What?”
“The key.”
I looked at him.
“What key?”
Derek smiled without humor.
“The key Richard thinks you don't have.”
I remembered the brass key from Edward's storage unit.
Number 17.
I pulled it out.
Derek's expression changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“Storage unit.”
He stared.
“That unit was supposed to be destroyed.”
“Apparently it wasn't.”
Derek stood.
“You need to understand something.”
He paced.
“The money under the mat wasn't left there for you to find.”
“I know.”
“It was bait.”
“For what?”
“For whoever bought the BMW.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Richard wanted to identify who was still looking for Edward's evidence.”
My stomach tightened.
“You're saying the auction was a trap.”
“Yes.”
“They expected someone to buy the car.”
“They expected you.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
Derek pulled a folder from a cabinet.
Inside was my name.
My address.
My auction registration.
My bidding number.
Everything.
I felt cold.
“Richard knew I would bid?”
“He knew you were desperate.”
“He arranged the auction?”
Derek nodded.
“Someone inside the county system helped him.”
I looked at the folder.
My name was highlighted.
Then I noticed something.
The date.
The file had been created three weeks before the auction.
I looked at Derek.
“Why did my name matter?”
He was silent.
“Derek.”
He finally answered.
“Because Thomas believed you were the only person capable of understanding the evidence.”
“Why?”
“Because three years ago, when Richard fired you…”
He paused.
“You accidentally saved a copy.”
I froze.
“A copy of what?”
Derek pointed to my name.
“The original Kane ledger.”
I stared at him.
“I didn't save anything.”
“You did.”
“How?”
“Your old laptop.”
My mind raced.
Three years ago.
The night before I was fired.
I had backed up my work.
Then my laptop crashed.
I had assumed the files were corrupted.
Derek pulled out a second folder.
Inside was a printed screenshot.
A file directory.
The name jumped out.
MASTER_LEDGER_FINAL.
I stared.
“Where is it?”
Derek smiled.
“That's why my father is terrified.”
Before he could continue, every light in the warehouse turned on.
A loudspeaker crackled.
Richard Kane's voice filled the building.
“Derek.”
My blood turned cold.
“Bring Evan outside.”
Derek reached for his gun.
Richard laughed.
“You never were good at following instructions.”
Then every exit slammed shut.
A timer appeared on the warehouse wall.
10:00.
Derek looked at me.
“Run.”
“What?”
“Because my father just decided to burn the evidence.”
The timer dropped to 9:59.
May you like
9:58.
9:57.
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