Chapter 4 - The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
I stared at the name on my phone.
A name I had not seen in fifteen years.
A name I never expected to see again.
Thomas Vale.
My former Marine teammate.
My closest friend.
The man who died during a mission overseas.
At least, that was what I had been told.
My fingers went numb.
I read the message again.
The location was an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city.
Underneath it was only one sentence.
"You want your daughter back? Come alone."
I should have called Jack.
I should have called the police.
I should have done what any reasonable person would do.
But I wasn't thinking like a reasonable person.
I was thinking like a father.
My daughter was missing.
And someone had taken her.
I drove there immediately.
The entire way, one thought kept repeating in my head.
Thomas Vale was dead.
I had watched the funeral.
I had stood beside his family.
I had carried the weight of losing a brother.
So why was his name on my phone?
When I reached the warehouse, I parked a distance away.
Old habits never leave you.
I checked the surroundings.
No movement.
No obvious cameras.
No vehicles nearby.
But that didn't mean I was alone.
I entered through a broken side door.
The inside was dark.
Empty.
Dust covered the floor.
Then I heard a voice.
"You still walk like a Marine."
I stopped.
Every muscle in my body tightened.
Because I knew that voice.
I turned slowly.
A man stepped out from the shadows.
Older.
Different.
But impossible to mistake.
Thomas Vale.
Alive.
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
He looked at me calmly.
Like he had been waiting years for this exact moment.
"You're dead."
He gave a small smile.
"That's what they wanted you to believe."
My anger came before my shock.
I moved closer.
"What happened?"
Thomas looked away.
"Not here."
I grabbed his arm.
"My daughter is missing."
His expression changed immediately.
Not fear.
Concern.
"Marcy?"
I froze.
"How do you know her name?"
Thomas looked at me.
"Because I've been watching."
That answer made my stomach turn.
"You've been watching my family?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"I've been protecting them."
I almost laughed.
"Protecting them?"
I stepped closer.
"My daughter was beaten. She ended up in a hospital. Someone took her."
Thomas looked down.
And for the first time, I saw guilt.
"I know."
Those two words made me angry.
"You know?"
My voice became louder.
"You knew this was happening?"
He didn't defend himself.
"I knew Dustin was dangerous."
"Then why didn't you stop him?"
Silence.
The kind of silence that carries years of secrets.
Finally, Thomas spoke.
"Because Dustin was never the real problem."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
Thomas walked toward an old table.
On it was a file folder.
He opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Names.
My daughter's name.
My blood went cold.
"What is this?"
Thomas looked at me.
"Dustin was being used."
"By who?"
He placed another picture on the table.
A man standing beside Dustin.
I recognized him.
The logo on his jacket.
The same logo from the hospital picture.
"Private security contractor."
Thomas nodded.
"They don't just protect people."
He paused.
"They control situations."
I looked through the documents.
There were reports.
Payments.
Photos.
Dustin had been monitored for months.
Someone had been tracking him.
Someone had been tracking Marcy.
"Why my daughter?"
Thomas didn't answer immediately.
That scared me more than anything.
"Because she found something."
"The phone."
He nodded.
"The hidden phone."
I looked up.
"What was on it?"
Thomas leaned back.
"A video."
My chest tightened.
"What kind of video?"
"A video that proves Dustin wasn't acting alone."
The warehouse suddenly felt colder.
"Who was with him?"
Thomas looked directly at me.
"The person who ordered everything."
Before I could ask another question, a sound echoed through the building.
A door closing.
Thomas immediately changed.
The calm disappeared.
"Someone followed you."
I turned toward the entrance.
"I came alone."
"No."
He shook his head.
"You came alone."
A pause.
"But someone followed you here."
I reached for my phone.
No signal.
Thomas grabbed the file.
"We need to move."
"Where is my daughter?"
His expression became serious.
"She's alive."
That was the first good thing I had heard.
"But we don't have much time."
"Why?"
Thomas looked toward the dark hallway.
"Because the people who took her already know you found me."
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One new message.
I opened it.
It was a picture.
A live picture.
My daughter was sitting in a chair.
Her hands were tied.
And standing behind her was the one person I never expected to see.
Thomas looked at the screen.
His face changed.
Because he recognized the person standing behind Marcy.
Then he whispered one sentence.
"No..."
I looked at him.
"Who is that?"
Thomas stepped back.
"The person who ordered me to disappear."
May you like
The warehouse lights suddenly turned off.
And from the darkness behind us, someone said my name.
