Chapter 4 - MY FATHER'S SECRET
We returned to Carter Industrial Systems after midnight.
The building was empty.
I still had executive access.
Daniel monitored the security system while Elena remained in the car.
I entered my father's old office.
Everything had been preserved.
His desk.
His books.
His old leather chair.
A framed photograph of our family.
I stared at it.
My father.
My mother.
Lucas.
Me.
A perfect family.
Or at least that's what the photograph suggested.
I opened his desk.
Nothing.
I checked the drawers.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something.
My father had taught me as a child:
"Whenever you hide something valuable, don't hide it where everyone expects."
I looked at the wall.
Behind the painting.
Nothing.
Under the desk.
Nothing.
Then I noticed a slight difference in the floorboards.
I pulled one up.
A small metal box was hidden beneath it.
Inside was a USB drive.
And a handwritten note.
Michael, if you ever find this, trust no one. Not even your mother.
I stopped breathing.
I plugged the drive into my secure laptop.
A video appeared.
My father's face filled the screen.
He looked exhausted.
"Michael."
His voice shook.
"If you're watching this, something happened to me."
I leaned closer.
"Your mother knows about the account."
My chest tightened.
"She believes she is protecting the family."
My father paused.
"But she doesn't understand who she's protecting us from."
A document appeared.
A government contract.
Carter Industrial Systems had secretly supplied equipment to a defense contractor.
Millions of dollars were involved.
But someone had been diverting funds.
My father had discovered it.
The person responsible?
Lawrence Reed.
I stared.
Our CFO had been stealing money for years.
But there was more.
My father continued:
"Lawrence isn't working alone."
The video paused.
Then he said the words that shattered everything.
"Lucas knows."
I closed my eyes.
My brother.
My father's favorite.
The man who had stood in the foyer recording my pregnant wife being humiliated.
He had known.
The video ended.
Daniel entered.
"You found something."
I turned the laptop toward him.
He watched silently.
Then said:
"We need to get Elena somewhere safe."
I nodded.
But before we could leave, the building's lights turned on.
Every light.
At once.
Daniel reached for his weapon.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Someone was coming.
I pulled Elena's location tracker from my pocket.
Her signal had moved.
She was no longer in the car.
My blood froze.
"Where is she?"
We ran outside.
The car was empty.
Her phone lay on the seat.
A message appeared on my screen.
IF YOU WANT YOUR WIFE AND YOUR CHILD ALIVE, COME ALONE.
Then another.
BRING THE USB.
I stared at the message.
Daniel said quietly:
"It's a trap."
"I know."
"You're not going alone."
I looked at him.
"No."
May you like
I put the USB in my pocket.
"I'm taking everyone."
