Chapter 4 - The Secret Arthur Left Behind
The back exit door opened slowly.
Nobody moved.
Grant Maddox stared at the darkness beyond the doorway.
Emma Carter stood beside him, completely still.
The restaurant was silent.
No footsteps.
No voice.
Just the sound of the city outside.
Grant looked at Emma.
"You knew this would happen."
She shook her head.
"No."
Her voice was barely audible.
"But I knew someone would try."
Grant looked at the open door.
"Then why are you not surprised?"
Emma swallowed.
"Because this is how it started last time."
Those words changed everything.
Grant stepped closer.
"What happened last time?"
Emma looked at him.
For a moment, she looked like she wanted to answer.
Then the sound of a phone ringing interrupted them.
Not Grant's.
Not Emma's.
The old phone inside her bag.
The same cracked phone she had kept hidden for eleven months.
Emma froze.
She slowly pulled it out.
The screen showed one name.
Arthur.
Grant noticed.
"Arthur Vale?"
Emma didn't answer.
The phone continued ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then she pressed accept.
No one spoke.
Only silence.
Emma looked confused.
"Hello?"
A weak voice finally answered.
"Emma."
Her face changed.
Grant saw it immediately.
Because he had never seen her look that afraid before.
"Arthur?"
The voice on the other end breathed heavily.
"I don't have much time."
Grant stepped closer.
Emma turned away.
"Where are you?"
Another pause.
Then Arthur spoke.
"Don't trust anyone."
Emma closed her eyes.
"Arthur, we thought you were dead."
"I know."
The answer was quiet.
"That's why I stayed hidden."
Grant listened carefully.
Every instinct told him this conversation could change everything.
"Who did this to you?" Emma asked.
Arthur didn't answer.
Instead, he said:
"Did you find the drive?"
Emma looked at the USB in Grant's hand.
"Yes."
"Then you found the first layer."
Grant frowned.
First layer?
Arthur continued.
"The files on that drive are not the complete evidence."
Emma looked confused.
"What are you talking about?"
"I separated everything."
"Why?"
"Because I knew they would find me."
Silence.
"Emma..."
Arthur's voice became weaker.
"If they know you have the drive, they will come after you."
Emma looked toward Grant.
"They already know."
A long pause.
Then Arthur asked:
"Who is with you?"
Emma hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Grant noticed.
"Tell him."
Emma looked at him.
Grant spoke directly toward the phone.
"Grant Maddox."
The silence on the other end lasted several seconds.
Then Arthur said something that made Grant freeze.
"No."
Emma looked at the phone.
"What?"
Arthur's voice became urgent.
"Emma, listen to me."
Grant watched her expression change.
"Do not trust him."
The words hit harder than expected.
Emma looked at Grant.
Grant stared back.
Arthur continued.
"He doesn't know what they did with his company."
Grant stepped forward.
"What does that mean?"
No answer.
"Arthur?"
The line crackled.
Then Arthur whispered:
"Grant, if you are hearing this, it means Victor already knows."
Grant's face hardened.
"What does Victor know?"
The phone suddenly went silent.
Emma checked the screen.
The call ended.
"Call him back."
"I can't."
"Why?"
Emma looked at the phone.
"Because Arthur only calls once."
Grant stared.
"That makes no sense."
"It did to him."
Emma put the phone away.
Grant watched her carefully.
"You knew he might still be alive."
Emma didn't answer.
"Emma."
She looked at him.
"I hoped."
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
Her voice cracked slightly.
"It isn't."
For the first time, Grant saw the person behind the controlled woman.
Not the negotiator.
Not the waitress.
A person who had spent months believing someone important to her was gone.
Someone who had carried that pain alone.
Grant softened.
"Tell me everything."
Emma looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because someone is attacking my company."
She said nothing.
"And because someone tried to kill your identity."
Still nothing.
Grant continued.
"And because if Victor Hale is involved..."
He stopped.
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Emma looked down.
"You still want to believe he isn't."
Grant didn't deny it.
She nodded.
"That's why you need to see the truth yourself."
Emma took the USB drive.
"There is a hidden file."
Grant looked at it.
"Why didn't you mention that before?"
"Because I never opened it."
"Why?"
Emma looked at the drive.
"Because Arthur told me not to."
Grant frowned.
"Then why give it to me?"
"Because he said if anything happened, the only person who could expose the truth was someone who had access to Maddox Global."
Grant looked at her.
"Me."
Emma nodded.
They moved to a private office inside the restaurant.
Grant closed the door.
Emma connected the USB to his laptop.
The files appeared.
Hundreds of documents.
Shipping records.
Financial reports.
Encrypted communications.
Grant searched through them.
Everything connected back to his company.
But not directly.
Someone had created a hidden operation inside Maddox Global.
A company within a company.
A secret network using his resources.
Grant opened a file.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Emma asked.
He turned the screen toward her.
It was a list.
Names.
Employees.
Executives.
Partners.
At the bottom was a final name.
Emma saw it.
Her breathing stopped.
"No."
Grant looked at her.
"You know this person?"
Emma stepped back.
Because she did.
The name belonged to someone from her past.
Someone who had promised to protect her.
Someone who had helped her escape.
Someone she believed was dead.
"Who is it?"
Emma couldn't answer.
Grant looked closer.
Then he understood why.
Because beside the name was a photograph.
A photograph of Emma.
Taken eleven months ago.
The night she disappeared.
Grant looked at her.
"Emma."
She didn't respond.
"Who is this?"
Her lips parted.
Finally, she whispered:
"My brother."
The room became silent.
Grant stared.
"You said you had no family."
"I said I disappeared."
"That's not an answer."
Emma looked at the photograph.
"He was the reason I survived."
Grant waited.
"And he was the reason Arthur disappeared."
Before Grant could respond, the laptop screen suddenly went black.
The USB disconnected itself.
A new message appeared.
Not on Grant's computer.
On the screen.
One sentence.
"Emma Carter was never the target."
Grant and Emma stared.
Another line appeared.
"She was the bait."
Emma stepped backward.
Because she understood before Grant did.
The office door handle moved.
Slowly.
Someone was outside.
Then a voice came through the door.
"Emma."
Her face went pale.
Because she recognized the voice.
May you like
And the person outside whispered the name she had not heard in eleven months.
"Your brother is waiting for you."
