Chapter 5 - The File Eleanor Found
Police reached Iron Forge within minutes.
Dustin was gone.
So was Ray.
The office had been emptied.
Computer drives removed.
Security system destroyed.
For the first time that night, I wished I'd trusted my instincts less and called authorities sooner.
Cross didn't waste time blaming anyone.
"Ray knows the investigation is closing."
"What does he want with Dustin?" I asked.
"Leverage."
Victor shook his head.
"Dustin isn't leverage against me."
Rebecca looked at him.
"He doesn't know that."
Victor absorbed the cruelty of that truth.
Dustin had spent years telling people his uncle would protect him.
Now someone else believed it.
Eleanor touched my arm.
"Jack."
She held something.
A folded piece of paper.
"I found this inside Evelyn's jacket."
Evelyn frowned.
"I didn't put that there."
Cross opened it.
An address.
Nothing else.
Victor recognized it.
"That's my old warehouse."
Rebecca went pale.
"The one near the river?"
He nodded.
Cross immediately contacted his team.
I knew what came next.
"You're staying here," he told me.
"No."
"Mr. Mercer—"
"My daughter is here because of these people."
"Which is precisely why you're staying."
I looked toward Evelyn.
She was watching me.
Not with admiration.
With fear.
That mattered.
I sat beside her.
Cross looked surprised.
"So you're not going?"
"No."
"Good."
"I spent fifteen years teaching men that charging blindly toward danger isn't courage."
Evelyn squeezed my hand.
"Thank you."
Those two words hit harder than any insult Dustin had thrown at me.
Maybe this wasn't about proving I could protect her.
Maybe it was about allowing her to feel protected without becoming another man who made decisions for her.
Cross left with his team.
Victor remained.
Hours passed.
At 2:13 a.m., Cross called.
They had found the warehouse empty.
But not useless.
Records remained.
So did cameras.
One showed Ray entering with Dustin.
Another showed them leaving forty minutes later in separate vehicles.
Dustin appeared unharmed.
"He's working with him?" I asked.
"We don't know."
At sunrise, Evelyn finally slept.
I stood near the window.
Victor joined me.
"I owe you an apology."
"For what?"
"My family brought this into yours."
"Your nephew did."
"I should've seen what he was becoming."
"Parents and relatives don't control adults."
Victor looked at me.
"You believe that?"
"I'm trying to."
He almost smiled.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Dustin.
I'M SORRY.
Then another.
RAY HAS SOMEONE INSIDE THE HOSPITAL.
I looked up.
At that exact moment, the lights on our floor went out.
Emergency lighting appeared.
Eleanor stood immediately.
Cross had left an officer outside.
I opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
The officer's chair sat overturned.
Not blood.
No sign of violence.
Just empty.
Then the elevator chimed.
Eleanor moved toward Evelyn.
Victor stood beside Rebecca.
The elevator doors opened.
A man stepped out wearing hospital maintenance clothing.
He looked at me.
Then at Evelyn's room.
His hand moved toward his pocket.
I stepped into the hallway.
"Stop."
He did.
For half a second.
Then he turned and ran.
I didn't chase him.
I hit the emergency call button.
Hospital security flooded the floor.
The man disappeared into a stairwell.
Ten minutes later, power returned.
Cross called.
"That wasn't Ray's man."
"What?"
"We caught him downstairs."
"Then who?"
"Private investigator."
Victor frowned.
"Working for whom?"
Cross paused.
"That's what we're trying to determine."
Eleanor suddenly called from Evelyn's room.
"Jack."
Something in her voice brought everyone running.
Evelyn's bed was empty.
The bathroom door stood open.
Her IV had been disconnected properly.
Not torn out.
Her phone lay on the pillow.
Beside it was a handwritten note.
I picked it up.
Dad,
Don't follow me.
Dustin says he can prove who Ray is working for.
I have to end this.
I closed my eyes.
Eleanor whispered, "She left willingly."
Cross entered seconds later.
I handed him the note.
He read it.
"Can you track her?"
"Phone's here."
Maya stepped toward the window.
"Wait."
She pointed down.
A car was leaving the hospital parking structure.
Dustin's car.
Evelyn sat in the passenger seat.
I reached for my keys.
Then stopped.
Cross was already calling his team.
I forced myself to think.
Not react.
Eleanor noticed.
"You want to go."
"More than anything."
"But?"
"But that's what Ray expects."
Cross looked at me.
"Exactly."
Then Rebecca spoke.
"There's another way."
She removed an old phone from her bag.
"I gave Evelyn this three months ago."
A location marker blinked on the screen.
Moving.
Cross smiled.
"Smart girl."
The marker traveled north.
Past downtown.
Past the industrial district.
Then stopped.
Victor looked at the location.
"No."
"What?"
He stared at me.
"That's not Ray's property."
"Whose is it?"
Victor looked toward Rebecca.
She understood before he spoke.
"It's ours."
A house their father had owned decades earlier.
Cross gathered his people.
This time, I stood.
"I'm coming."
He started to object.
Then my phone rang.
Evelyn.
I answered.
No words.
Only breathing.
Then Ray's voice.
"Jack Mercer."
I said nothing.
"I've heard quite a lot about you."
"Where's my daughter?"
"Standing right here."
"Let me hear her."
A pause.
Then Evelyn whispered:
"Dad, don't come."
Ray laughed softly.
"She's very sensible."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"What do you want?"
"Rebecca."
Victor stared at me.
Ray continued.
"Bring her to the old Hale house."
Rebecca shook her head.
"No."
"Come alone," Ray said.
Then another voice entered the call.
Dustin.
"Don't listen to him!"
A crash.
Ray cursed.
The line filled with movement.
Then Evelyn screamed one name.
May you like
"Dustin!"
The call ended.
