Chapter 6 - The Man Who Never Left
"Emily."
I stopped breathing.
The voice was older.
Weaker.
But I knew it.
I knew it before my mind could accept it.
Before my heart could protect itself.
My father.
Daniel Reed.
Alive.
Sitting in the darkness.
Looking at me like he had been waiting for this moment for years.
My hand covered my mouth.
No words came out.
Twelve years.
Twelve years of searching.
Twelve years of unanswered questions.
Twelve years of pretending I was okay with a goodbye I never received.
And now he was sitting ten feet away from me.
Older.
Changed.
But alive.
"Emily..."
He tried to stand.
His body failed him.
Adrian moved forward immediately.
I noticed something I had never seen before.
Adrian Voss was afraid.
Not of Daniel.
For him.
"Don’t move."
My father looked at Adrian.
A small, tired smile appeared on his face.
"Still giving orders."
Adrian stopped.
For a moment, they weren’t enemies.
They were two people who had survived something together.
Then I saw the anger.
The pain.
The years they had lost.
"You were alive."
My voice finally worked.
My father looked at me.
And tears filled his eyes.
"I know."
I shook my head.
"No."
My voice became louder.
"You don’t get to say that."
Everyone went silent.
I stepped closer.
"You don’t get to sit here and say you know."
My father lowered his eyes.
"I thought you were dead."
His face broke.
"I know."
"I waited for you."
"I know."
"I thought you left me."
That was the sentence that hurt the most.
Not because it was angry.
Because it was true.
My father closed his eyes.
"I never left you."
I laughed softly.
But there was no happiness in it.
"Then where were you?"
He looked around the hidden room.
At the walls.
At the old files.
At the life he had hidden away.
"Trying to keep you alive."
I stared at him.
"Everyone says that."
Adrian looked away.
Marcus stayed silent.
Everyone had the same excuse.
Protection.
Safety.
A reason to lie.
I was tired of being protected from the truth.
My father slowly reached into his jacket.
He pulled out something small.
A necklace.
My necklace.
The one I lost when I was fourteen.
The one I thought was gone forever.
I froze.
"I kept this."
My fingers trembled as I took it.
"You had this?"
He nodded.
"The night I disappeared, I wanted to come back for you."
"Then why didn't you?"
His eyes filled with regret.
"Because they were watching you."
The room became quiet.
"Who?"
My father looked at Adrian.
Then Marcus.
Then back at me.
"The people who controlled everything."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Tell her."
My father looked at him.
"You still think she can handle it?"
Adrian’s expression hardened.
"She already has."
My father looked at me.
Then he nodded.
"The organization my father worked for wasn't just a criminal empire."
He paused.
"It was a network."
I listened.
"They controlled businesses. Police. Politicians. Judges."
My stomach turned.
"And your father found evidence."
Daniel nodded.
"He found proof that powerful people were using the organization to erase anyone who threatened them."
"Like you."
"Like me."
"And like Adrian?"
My father looked at him.
"Especially Adrian."
Adrian said nothing.
That answer surprised me.
Because I had spent the entire night wondering if Adrian was the villain in this story.
But nobody looked at him like one.
Not even my father.
"What happened the night you disappeared?"
My father looked down.
"I was supposed to meet Adrian."
Adrian nodded slowly.
"We were going to release the evidence."
Marcus looked away.
"But someone betrayed the plan."
I looked at him.
My father noticed.
"Marcus wasn't the one who betrayed me."
Marcus looked surprised.
Adrian turned sharply.
"What?"
Daniel continued.
"He thought he was helping."
Marcus swallowed.
"I made a mistake."
My father nodded.
"You trusted someone you shouldn't have."
The room went quiet.
I looked at Marcus.
"Then who betrayed you?"
My father didn't answer immediately.
That frightened me.
Because I realized something.
The person who hurt my father was still alive.
Still somewhere.
Still powerful.
Then the hidden room shook.
A deep sound echoed through the walls.
Someone was forcing their way inside the mansion.
Adrian immediately moved.
"We need to go."
My father looked at him.
"No."
Adrian stared.
"They know she's here."
Daniel looked at me.
"They were always going to find her."
I felt cold.
"What do you mean?"
My father looked at Titan.
The dog stood beside me.
Watching him.
"Because Titan wasn't just protecting the room."
I frowned.
"What?"
Daniel looked at the dog.
"He was protecting you."
I looked at Titan.
The giant pit bull that everyone feared.
The animal that trusted me from the first moment.
My father continued.
"When I knew I couldn't escape, I made one final decision."
"What?"
"I hid something inside Titan's collar."
Adrian immediately looked at the dog.
"The message."
Daniel nodded.
"The one only she could unlock."
I touched Titan's collar.
"What message?"
My father looked at me.
"The truth about who ordered my disappearance."
Before I could ask another question, the mansion alarm started.
Red lights flashed through the hidden passage.
Adrian grabbed a weapon.
Marcus moved toward the exit.
My father tried to stand again.
This time, Adrian helped him.
The sight shocked me.
Because the most feared man in Baltimore was helping the man everyone thought was dead.
Then Adrian stopped.
He looked toward the hallway.
Everyone heard it.
Footsteps.
Many footsteps.
Someone was approaching.
Not searching.
Coming directly toward us.
My father’s face changed.
He knew those footsteps.
"No."
Adrian looked at him.
"Who is it?"
Daniel whispered.
"The person who started all of this."
The hidden door behind us suddenly opened.
A woman stepped into the passage.
Elegant.
Calm.
Not holding a weapon.
She didn’t need one.
Everyone in the room froze.
Because Adrian recognized her.
Marcus recognized her.
My father looked like he had seen a ghost.
And then she smiled at me.
"Hello, Emily."
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Because I knew that voice.
She was the last person my father ever trusted.
