Chapter 4 - By midnight, half the neighborhood had gone dark.People locked their doors.
Phones stopped answering.
Nobody wanted to talk about what happened.
I did.
I started with Logan.
He was sitting in his father's kitchen, staring at his phone.
For the first time since I'd met him, the boy looked twenty-two.
Not invincible.
Not arrogant.
Just young.
Grant stood beside him.
“Where is Evan?”
Grant didn't answer.
I stepped forward.
“Where is my son?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Grant's jaw tightened.
“You think I kidnapped your son?”
“I think you know more than you're saying.”
Logan looked at his father.
“Dad?”
Grant ignored him.
Daniel entered behind me.
Grant saw him.
His expression changed.
Daniel said, “Victor is moving tonight.”
Grant went pale.
That was confirmation.
I grabbed his collar.
“Where is my son?”
Grant pushed my hand away.
“I swear to God, Claire, I don't know.”
“You said my name.”
He froze.
I stared at him.
“You knew my name before tonight.”
Grant said nothing.
Logan stepped closer.
“Dad?”
Grant finally spoke.
“Your mother told me.”
I looked at Logan.
“Your mother?”
“My wife.”
“Where is she?”
“Europe.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
I stared at him.
“Six months?”
“Yes.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Victor contacted you six months ago.”
Grant looked at him.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand exactly.”
“No.”
Grant's voice cracked.
“You don't understand what Victor does to people who refuse him.”
I leaned closer.
“What did you refuse?”
Grant lowered his head.
“A package.”
“What package?”
“Something my father wanted retrieved.”
“What was inside?”
He looked at Daniel.
Then me.
“The ledger.”
I felt the room grow colder.
“Why was my son taken?”
Grant shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Then find out.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
Logan stepped forward.
“I'll help.”
Everyone turned.
Grant stared at his son.
“You stay out of this.”
“No.”
“Logan.”
“He challenged me.”
He looked at me.
“I thought she was just some retired woman.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“She isn't.”
Logan nodded slowly.
“I know.”
He looked down.
“My father told me never to ask why you moved here.”
I looked at Grant.
“Why did I move here?”
Grant's eyes closed.
“Because someone wanted you close.”
My chest tightened.
“Close to what?”
He whispered:
“To the ledger.”
Silence.
Daniel stared at him.
“Where is it?”
Grant shook his head.
“I don't know.”
I grabbed a chair and slammed it against the wall.
“Enough.”
Logan flinched.
I looked at him.
“You trained every day.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To become better.”
“Better at what?”
“Fighting.”
I nodded.
“Wrong answer.”
He frowned.
“Then what?”
“Surviving.”
He didn't understand.
I did.
I had spent twenty-two years training people to survive battles.
But the enemy in front of me wasn't on a battlefield.
It was inside a neighborhood.
A wealthy family.
A quiet street.
A missing teenager.
And a secret buried two decades ago.
Daniel put a photograph on the table.
“Evan was taken for one reason.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Someone believes he knows where the ledger is.”
“I don't.”
“Maybe you don't.”
Daniel pointed at the photograph.
“Your son might.”
I stared.
Evan's bedroom.
His laptop.
His notebooks.
His camera.
He had spent the last year researching my military career.
I remembered his questions.
Mom, why did you leave the Army?
Mom, why don't you ever talk about Afghanistan?
Mom, why do you still wake up at 4:30 every morning?
Mom, who was Daniel Mercer?
My blood ran cold.
I ran upstairs.
His computer was still there.
Password locked.
I opened his desk drawer.
Nothing.
Then I noticed the bottom looked uneven.
I removed the drawer.
A black flash drive was taped underneath.
I plugged it into the laptop.
One folder.
JH_17
Inside was a single video file.
I clicked.
Evan appeared on screen.
His face was pale.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Mom, if you're watching this, they found me.”
I stopped breathing.
His voice continued.
“I found something in your old Army records.”
My hands shook.
“I don't know who to trust.”
He swallowed.
“There is someone living on Juniper Hollow who isn't who they say they are.”
I looked toward the window.
Across the street, Logan stood outside.
Evan continued.
“The person has been watching our house.”
Then the video suddenly glitched.
A voice came through.
A man's voice.
Low.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Claire.”
I froze.
The screen went black.
Daniel stood behind me.
“What?”
I whispered the name.
“Adrian Cole.”
Daniel's face drained of color.
“That's impossible.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Colonel Cole died nineteen years ago.”
The lights in the house suddenly went out.
May you like
And somewhere downstairs...
a door quietly opened.
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