Chapter 3 - The Name Hidden Inside the Music Box
I killed the lights.
Elena crouched beside Adrian.
Footsteps crossed the church above us.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone knew we were downstairs.
I texted two men from a private security team Marcus did not control.
Then I heard the click.
The basement door locked.
Smoke began slipping beneath it.
"They're burning the church," Elena whispered.
We carried Adrian through a narrow maintenance corridor.
An old steel exit opened into the alley.
By the time my men arrived, flames were climbing through the church windows.
The attacker was gone.
Adrian survived.
I moved him to a private medical facility under another name.
Then I took Elena home.
Not her apartment.
Mine.
At four in the morning, neither of us could sleep.
We sat in the kitchen while Noah remained upstairs under guard.
"Why would anyone target a three-year-old?" Elena asked.
"In my world?"
I looked at my coffee.
"There are too many answers."
"Your enemies?"
"Maybe."
"Or family?"
I looked up.
She didn't apologize.
I respected that.
The next morning, we examined the music box again.
Elena noticed the velvet lining was loose.
I removed it.
Underneath was a tiny brass key and a strip of paper.
One name.
CALEB.
I knew exactly one Caleb.
Caleb Hale.
My younger brother.
I had not seen him since Hannah's funeral.
He had disappeared after accusing me of causing her death.
I found him that afternoon in Wisconsin under an assumed name.
When I called, he answered without greeting.
"How did you find me?"
"I found Hannah's music box."
Silence.
Then:
"Get Noah out of that house."
"Why?"
"Because Hannah called me the night she died."
My hand tightened.
"What did she say?"
"She said she'd discovered something about your organization."
"What?"
"Money was being moved through children's charities."
I felt sick.
My empire had legitimate businesses.
Some less legitimate.
But children had always been untouchable.
"What does that have to do with Noah?"
"His trust."
Noah had inherited a fortune from Hannah's family.
A trust I had deliberately kept separate from my businesses.
"Someone was using his trust accounts?"
"Someone was trying."
"Who?"
Caleb breathed into the phone.
"I couldn't prove it."
"Try."
"Hannah could."
I looked at Elena.
"Where are you?"
"Don't come."
"Caleb."
"Preston, listen to me. Hannah left evidence."
"Where?"
"Inside something Noah loved."
The line went dead.
I called back.
Nothing.
Then Elena looked toward the music box.
"Noah loved this."
We searched it for another hour.
Nothing.
Finally Noah entered the study.
He walked directly to the box.
He pressed the teddy bear embossed on its side.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a memory card.
Elena and I stared at each other.
I inserted it into an isolated laptop.
There were seventeen files.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Names.
One video.
Hannah appeared on-screen.
Alive.
My heart stopped.
She was sitting in this very study.
"If you're watching this, Preston, then something happened to me."
I couldn't breathe.
"You have a traitor close to you. I don't know how far it goes. I found transfers from Noah's trust connected to companies controlled by people inside your organization."
She looked frightened.
"I need you to understand something. Caleb helped me. Don't blame him."
I closed my eyes.
For three years, I had hated my brother.
Hannah continued.
"And Preston..."
The video glitched.
Her face froze.
Then returned.
"Do not trust—"
The file corrupted.
"No."
I replayed it.
Same place.
Do not trust—
Nothing.
Elena touched my shoulder.
"We have the records."
I opened the first spreadsheet.
Millions.
Shell companies.
Transfers.
One authorization code appeared repeatedly.
MV-17.
Marcus Vale.
My phone rang.
Marcus.
I stared at his name.
Elena whispered, "Don't answer."
I did.
"Yes?"
"Boss, we've got a problem."
"What?"
"Noah's gone."
I was already running.
"What do you mean gone?"
"The guard outside his room was unconscious. Window open."
I reached the stairs.
Elena behind me.
Then Noah's bedroom door came into view.
Open.
Empty.
On his pillow sat Hannah's wedding ring.
May you like
And beneath it was a note.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT YOUR SON BACK.
