Chapter 7 - The Empty Room
Her room was empty.
The new prosthetic was gone.
Her phone remained on the bed.
A single note sat beneath it.
Don't follow me.
I read it twice.
Then I knew.
Annie would never leave willingly.
Someone had taken her.
Daniel checked the security footage.
A black van had entered through the service gate at 6:13 a.m.
The driver wore a maintenance uniform.
Robert had infiltrated the estate.
We tracked the van to an abandoned textile warehouse outside Charlotte.
I went in personally.
Daniel protested.
I ignored him.
We found Annie in a locked office.
She was terrified but conscious.
Robert stood behind her.
“You should have stayed out of this, Ethan.”
I raised my weapon.
“Let her go.”
“She has my money.”
“No.”
His face twisted.
“She has evidence.”
That was the truth.
The twenty-seven million was only leverage.
The real danger was the records.
Annie's father had preserved proof that Robert had stolen millions from the company.
The trust had been created to protect that evidence.
Robert had spent eighteen years trying to erase it.
Annie looked at me.
“Ethan.”
“I’m here.”
Robert laughed.
“You really believe my brother's son will save you?”
Annie looked directly at him.
“No.”
Robert smiled.
“I believe I can save myself.”
She kicked the emergency release beside her.
The lights exploded off.
Daniel's team moved.
Within seconds, Robert was disarmed.
The police arrived minutes later.
For the first time, Robert Graves had nowhere left to run.
As officers escorted him away, he looked at me.
“Your father chose her over his own family.”
I answered quietly.
“No.”
“He chose the truth.”
Robert said nothing.
Annie walked toward me.
Her prosthetic made a soft mechanical sound against the concrete floor.
“You came.”
“I said I would.”
She looked down.
“You could have been hurt.”
“So could you.”
“I was terrified.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
May you like
Then she smiled.
“So was I.”
