Chapter 5 - The Witness Who Disappeared
I called Samuel.
His phone went straight to voicemail.
I called again.
Nothing.
I immediately informed Detective Mitchell.
She dispatched officers to the hospital entrance and requested nearby surveillance footage.
Then I asked the security supervisor to preserve every camera recording from the previous hour.
The footage showed Samuel walking out through the west entrance.
Daniel Reeves was waiting beside a black SUV.
Samuel got inside willingly.
That frightened me more than if he'd been dragged.
Why would he leave with the man he had accused of attacking my wife?
Sophia was too weak to answer many questions, so I stayed beside her while Detective Mitchell arranged protection.
By noon, we received a call.
Samuel's backpack had been found near a bus station.
Inside was a bloodstained shirt, a broken phone, and a small notebook.
There was no sign of Samuel.
The notebook contained several dates and addresses.
One address appeared repeatedly.
A property outside the city.
An old residential rehabilitation center that had been closed for years.
I recognized the name.
Hawthorne House.
My father had once funded it.
I called Margaret.
She went silent when I mentioned the address.
“That's where Noah was supposed to be staying before he disappeared.”
I felt my pulse quicken.
“Why?”
“Your father said Noah needed protection.”
“Protection from whom?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Richard.”
Detective Mitchell obtained the necessary authorization to investigate the property.
We arrived with two officers.
The building looked abandoned. Broken windows lined the upper floor, and weeds covered the front entrance.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and damp wood.
We found several old patient records in a locked office.
One folder contained Noah's name.
Another contained Sophia's.
I opened it.
There were medical records, emergency contacts, and a handwritten note.
Patient reports repeated threats from family associate D. Reeves.
The date was twelve years earlier.
I turned toward Mitchell.
“Daniel was threatening Sophia when she was a teenager?”
“Apparently.”
We continued searching.
In a storage room, we found an old metal cabinet with a damaged lock.
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Some showed Noah.
Others showed Richard and Daniel meeting with unfamiliar men.
One photograph was different.
It showed Samuel.
He was much younger, clean-shaven, and wearing a hospital uniform.
On the back, someone had written:
Samuel Price — Night Supervisor.
I stared at the picture.
The homeless stranger had once worked at Hawthorne House.
A door slammed somewhere behind us.
The officers immediately moved toward the hallway.
“Police! Show yourself!”
A man ran through the rear exit.
One officer chased him.
The other stayed with us.
We found a phone on the floor.
Its screen was cracked, but the last message remained visible.
They know the boy is still alive. Move him tonight.
Below it was a contact name.
RICHARD.
Mitchell photographed everything.
Then her phone rang.
She listened for several seconds before her expression darkened.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Your father-in-law just filed an emergency petition for guardianship over Sophia's medical decisions.”
I stared at her.
“He can't do that.”
“He claims you're emotionally unstable and have been threatening family members.”
I laughed once.
It wasn't amusement.
“He's trying to remove me.”
“More importantly,” Mitchell said, “he's trying to control who can access your wife's medical information.”
We returned to the hospital.
Richard was already there.
He stood beside Sophia's bed, holding a folder.
When he saw me, he smiled.
“Ethan. We need to discuss what's best for my daughter.”
I stepped between him and Sophia.
“Get away from her.”
He sighed.
“Still behaving like a soldier.”
“Leave.”
Richard placed the folder on the table.
“You've been making accusations without evidence. I can have you removed from this hospital.”
Sophia stirred.
“Dad...”
He turned toward her.
“My darling.”
Her voice was weak.
“Don't...”
He leaned closer.
“Don't what?”
Sophia looked at me.
Then at the folder.
“Don't let him sign it.”
I picked it up.
It was a medical authorization form.
But the final page contained something else.
A request to transfer Sophia's ownership interest in a property-holding company to Richard.
The company owned our house.
And several properties connected to my grandfather's estate.
I looked at Richard.
“You tried to steal her inheritance.”
His smile disappeared.
“She's not thinking clearly.”
“Neither are you.”
I tore the document in half.
Richard's face turned red.
“You have no idea what you've stepped into.”
“Then explain it.”
He leaned close enough that only I could hear him.
“Your brother should have stayed dead.”
Before I could react, two hospital security officers entered.
Richard had called them.
But Detective Mitchell appeared behind them.
“Mr. Carter,” she said. “You're coming with us.”
For the first time, Richard looked genuinely afraid.
Then he smiled.
“Detective, before you make a mistake, perhaps you should ask your officers who signed the authorization to remove Samuel Price from protective custody.”
Mitchell went still.
“What authorization?”
Richard pulled out his phone.
“Because I never had him arrested.”
He showed her a photograph.
Samuel was standing beside a man in a dark coat.
The man had his arm around Samuel's shoulder.
May you like
And behind them, visible through an open doorway, stood a young man with a scar above his left eyebrow.
Noah.
