Chapter 5 - Arthur drove to the lake house before sunrise.The police followed.
The waitress insisted on coming.
“You saved my son,” Arthur told her.
“I didn't save your son to watch him get kidnapped again.”
Arthur looked at her in the rearview mirror.
“What is your name?”
“Chloe Bennett.”
“Chloe, this could be dangerous.”
“I know.”
She looked at Ethan in the back seat.
“That's why I'm coming.”
Ethan sat quietly beneath a blanket.
Arthur glanced at him.
“You said there was another child.”
“Yes.”
“Did you see her face?”
“Emily?”
He nodded.
“She told me to stay quiet.”
“Why?”
“She said bad people were listening.”
Arthur's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“How did she know about me?”
Ethan looked down.
“She knew your name.”
Arthur's stomach twisted.
“What else?”
“She said Daddy didn't know what Mommy had done.”
Arthur looked at Chloe.
Chloe whispered,
“Your son knew more than you thought.”
The lake house appeared through the trees.
Old.
Dark.
Abandoned.
Arthur parked.
The front door was unlocked.
That was the first warning.
He drew his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
They entered.
Dust covered the furniture.
The blue flower wallpaper from the photograph lined the hallway.
Arthur felt a strange ache in his chest.
Something about the place felt familiar.
Ethan suddenly stopped.
“I've been here.”
Arthur turned.
“What?”
“Mommy brought me here once.”
“When?”
“Before she put me in the wall.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“Why?”
“She showed me a room.”
“Which room?”
Ethan pointed upstairs.
They followed.
The bedroom door was locked.
Chloe noticed scratches near the handle.
Arthur forced it open.
Inside sat an old wooden crib.
Dusty.
Unused.
But inside the crib was a stuffed rabbit.
Freshly cleaned.
Ethan whispered,
“That's hers.”
“Emily's?”
He nodded.
Arthur picked it up.
Something rattled inside.
He opened the stitching.
A small USB drive fell out.
They found a laptop downstairs.
Arthur inserted it.
One video file appeared.
Date:
June 14, Six Years Ago.
Arthur clicked.
The screen showed Isabella.
She looked younger.
Terrified.
Standing inside a hospital room.
A doctor held a newborn baby.
Isabella whispered into the camera.
“I didn't do this because I wanted to.”
The footage cut.
A second clip began.
Arthur's father stood in the same room.
Alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
“If you're seeing this, my son has discovered the truth.”
Arthur stopped breathing.
His father continued.
“Arthur, I need you to understand something. Emily was never dead.”
Arthur stared at the screen.
“She was targeted because of the trust.”
The video continued.
“Your mother created a private inheritance for both of my grandchildren. Whoever controls that trust controls eighteen million dollars.”
Arthur looked at Chloe.
“So they killed her?”
“No,” his father continued from the video.
“They couldn't.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“They decided to manipulate you instead.”
The screen suddenly went black.
Then another file opened automatically.
A recording of Isabella.
Her voice shook.
“Arthur must never know.”
A man's voice replied.
“Then make him believe the girl died.”
Arthur's blood turned cold.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it thousands of times.
His own brother.
Thomas.
Arthur stumbled backward.
“My brother…”
Chloe looked at him.
“Is he alive?”
Arthur nodded slowly.
“He's supposed to be in Europe.”
His phone rang.
Thomas.
Arthur answered.
For several seconds, there was silence.
Then Thomas laughed softly.
“You always were slow, little brother.”
Arthur gripped the phone.
“Where is Emily?”
“I know you found the lake house.”
“Where is she?”
Thomas sighed.
“You should have left her missing.”
Arthur's voice hardened.
“If you touch my daughter—”
“You still don't understand.”
“Tell me.”
Thomas paused.
Then whispered:
“Emily isn't the reason they hid the children.”
Arthur frowned.
“Then what is?”
Thomas answered:
“You are.”
The call ended.
A second later, the laptop screen turned back on.
A live camera feed appeared.
Emily was sitting in a chair.
Her hands were tied.
And standing behind her was a man wearing a black coat.
The man slowly leaned into the camera.
May you like
Arthur recognized him.
Thomas.
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