Chapter 5 - The Friend Who Knew Too Much
"Look behind you."
Those three words echoed through my mind before I even turned around.
Every instinct I had from years in the military screamed at me.
Move.
React.
Protect.
I grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her behind me.
The darkness inside the old facility felt heavier than before.
The phone was still pressed against my ear.
The voice on the other end remained silent.
Waiting.
I slowly turned.
Nothing.
Only the empty room.
The abandoned shelves.
The broken equipment.
The shadows.
But then I saw it.
A small red light blinking near the entrance.
A camera.
Someone had been watching us.
My grip tightened around my phone.
"Who else is there?" I asked.
The man on the phone exhaled.
"Victoria, listen to me."
"No."
My voice became colder.
"You listen to me."
Emily stared at me.
She had never seen this side of me before.
The side that appeared when someone threatened my family.
"You knew Daniel was investigating the Prescotts."
Silence.
"You knew he was in danger."
Another silence.
"Answer me."
Finally, the man spoke.
"I tried to protect him."
I looked around the dark room.
"You failed."
Those words hurt more than I expected.
Because they were true.
Daniel was dead.
My daughter was hurt.
And everyone who claimed to love him had kept secrets.
The man sighed.
"Victoria, you don't understand what Daniel discovered."
"Then explain."
"I can't."
My anger rose.
"Can't?"
"Not over the phone."
I looked at Emily.
Then at the hidden camera.
"Someone is listening."
The man didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
That was my answer.
Someone was listening.
Someone had followed us.
Someone knew we found Daniel's archive.
I ended the call.
Emily looked at me.
"Who was it?"
I hesitated.
Then I said the name.
"Thomas Reed."
Her expression changed.
"Your dad's friend?"
I nodded.
Thomas had been Daniel's closest friend.
They served together.
They trusted each other.
When Daniel died, Thomas was the person who stood beside me at the funeral.
The person who told me:
"Daniel would want you to move forward."
I believed him.
Maybe that was my mistake.
We searched the room again.
This time carefully.
The hidden office had more than the laptop.
There was a small drawer beneath the desk.
Inside were several documents.
One caught my attention immediately.
A bank transfer.
Large amounts of money.
The sender was a company I didn't recognize.
The receiver was:
Prescott Holdings.
The date was three days before Daniel died.
Emily looked over my shoulder.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know yet."
But I did know one thing.
Daniel wasn't investigating random people.
He was following money.
And money always led somewhere.
I opened another file.
This one contained names.
People connected to the Prescott family.
Judges.
Lawyers.
Executives.
Government officials.
Then I saw one name.
I stopped.
Emily noticed.
"Mom?"
I didn't answer.
Because the name on the page wasn't a stranger.
It was someone I knew.
Someone who had been in my house.
Someone who had hugged Emily when she was a child.
The document listed:
Thomas Reed — Special Advisor.
Emily looked confused.
"Why would Dad's best friend be on that list?"
I stared at the page.
I didn't have an answer.
But I knew I needed one.
We left the facility before anyone else arrived.
The drive back was silent.
Emily sat beside me, holding Daniel's notebook.
Neither of us wanted to say what we were thinking.
Because sometimes saying a possibility out loud made it real.
When we reached the hospital parking lot, my phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered immediately.
"Victoria Hart."
A woman's voice responded.
"You need to stop looking."
I recognized the tone.
Calm.
Controlled.
Powerful.
"Margaret Prescott."
No denial.
No surprise.
"Your daughter should have stayed quiet."
My hand tightened around the steering wheel.
"Did you hurt her?"
A pause.
Then:
"You have no idea what you're involved in."
I looked at Emily.
She was listening.
"Tell me the truth."
Margaret laughed softly.
"Your husband thought he could expose us."
My heartbeat changed.
"What happened to Daniel?"
Silence.
Then she said:
"Ask Thomas why he was the last person to see him alive."
The call ended.
Emily looked at me.
"Mom..."
I didn't respond.
Because the name Thomas Reed now carried a completely different meaning.
The man who had comforted me.
The man who had helped with Daniel's funeral.
The man who told me my husband died a hero.
Could he have been lying?
I didn't want to believe it.
But Daniel's message kept repeating in my mind.
The person who betrayed me was someone close.
I spent the next several hours digging through everything Daniel left behind.
Military records.
Old messages.
Photos.
Anything connected to Thomas.
And then I found something.
A photograph.
Taken six years ago.
The night before Daniel died.
Daniel was standing outside a restaurant.
Thomas was beside him.
But they weren't alone.
There was another person in the photo.
Someone standing behind them.
Someone whose face was partially hidden.
I enlarged the image.
My hands went cold.
Because I recognized the person.
Emily saw my expression.
"Who is that?"
I couldn't answer.
Because the person in the photograph was impossible.
They had died years before Daniel.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
I zoomed in again.
The face became clearer.
The same person.
The same eyes.
The same scar near the jaw.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
A message appeared.
From Thomas Reed.
Only five words.
You finally found the truth.
Then another message arrived.
A location.
I stared at the address.
It was not a meeting place.
It was the old military cemetery where Daniel was buried.
Emily looked at me.
"Why would he want you there?"
I grabbed my jacket.
"Because he knows something."
We drove through the night.
When we arrived, the cemetery was empty.
The wind moved through the trees.
The graves stood silently beneath the darkness.
I walked toward Daniel's grave.
And stopped.
Because someone had already been there.
Fresh flowers were placed on top.
Not flowers from a funeral.
A single white rose.
With a note attached.
I picked it up.
Three words were written.
He isn't dead.
My breath stopped.
Emily stepped closer.
"Mom?"
I turned the paper over.
There was more.
A name.
A name that changed everything.
And before I could read the rest, a voice came from behind Daniel's grave.
"Victoria."
May you like
I slowly turned around.
Because the voice belonged to someone I buried six years ago.
