Chapter 3 - The Man Who Saved MeThe hospital discharged me nine days later.
I walked out slowly, sunglasses covering the bruising around my eye.
My balance wasn't normal.
Neither was my memory.
But one thought had become painfully clear.
Someone had been trying to destroy me before Dylan ever picked up that monitor.
The question was why.
Rachel told me to take medical leave.
I refused.
“Daniel, you were nearly killed.”
“I know.”
“You need rest.”
“I'll rest when I know who's doing this.”
She sighed.
“You're still the most stubborn man I've ever hired.”
I almost smiled.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
Check your father's financial disclosures.
No name.
No explanation.
Just a file.
I opened it.
Several transfers appeared.
Large amounts.
My father's consulting company had received money from three companies that also happened to be clients of Halcyon Systems.
I stared at the figures.
Then I remembered something.
During the architecture rebuild two years earlier, I had discovered irregular vendor contracts.
I'd reported them.
The issue vanished.
I had assumed someone had fixed it.
Now I realized perhaps they hadn't.
Perhaps someone had buried it.
I went home.
Within an hour, my front door opened.
My father walked in.
He didn't knock.
“You need to stop digging.”
I turned.
“How did you get in?”
“You gave me a key.”
“Give it back.”
He ignored me.
“Dylan is under enough pressure.”
I stared at him.
“He belongs in prison.”
“He made a mistake.”
“He nearly killed me.”
“He's your brother.”
That sentence carried the weight of a lifetime.
You're family.
Forgive him.
Protect him.
Stay quiet.
I had heard it since childhood.
I stepped closer.
“You've always protected him.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“I protected both my sons.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You protected Dylan.”
His face hardened.
“Watch yourself.”
“You helped him.”
He went silent.
That silence was enough.
“You deleted the footage.”
“I didn't.”
“You had access.”
“So did dozens of people.”
“But you knew about the missing footage before I asked.”
He didn't answer.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“Do you really want your memories back?”
I froze.
“What?”
“You think remembering everything will help you?”
He stepped closer.
“There are things you saw that night that you may be better off forgetting.”
I stared at him.
“What did I see?”
His expression changed.
Fear.
For the first time in my life, I saw genuine fear in my father's eyes.
Then he turned and walked out.
I stood there shaking.
My phone rang.
Detective Ortiz.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“A backup security server.”
My heart jumped.
“The deleted footage was mirrored automatically.”
“Can you access it?”
“We did.”
I sat down.
“What does it show?”
There was a pause.
“That's why I'm calling you.”
“Tell me.”
“You weren't alone in the office.”
I closed my eyes.
“Who else was there?”
“Your brother entered at 10:37.”
I swallowed.
“What time did he leave?”
“He didn't.”
My stomach turned.
“What do you mean?”
Ortiz's voice dropped.
“The camera shows Dylan leaving at 10:51.”
“That matches the attack.”
“No.”
Her next sentence changed everything.
“There are seven minutes missing from the recording.”
I stood.
“Seven minutes?”
“Yes.”
“Can you recover them?”
“We're trying.”
Then I heard something in her voice.
“What?”
“The video before the gap.”
“What about it?”
“Your father appears on camera.”
My chest tightened.
“My father was there?”
“Yes.”
“At my office?”
“Yes.”
“And Dylan?”
“He was already inside.”
I couldn't speak.
Then Ortiz said:
“Your father handed Dylan something.”
“What?”
“We couldn't see clearly.”
“Zoom in.”
“We did.”
“What was it?”
May you like
Ortiz took a breath.
“It was a set of your office keys.”
