Chapter 4 - The Person Standing Behind Me
The front door opened slowly.
Nobody moved.
The cold mountain air rushed into the lodge, carrying the smell of snow and pine trees.
Dominic raised his weapon.
Claire stepped backward.
And I turned around.
Because Ethan Cross had not been warning us about someone outside.
He had been warning us about someone already inside.
The doorway was empty.
For a moment, the only thing moving was the curtain near the entrance.
Then a voice came from behind us.
"Looking for someone?"
Every muscle in my body tightened.
Because the voice was not coming from the door.
It was coming from the hallway behind the fireplace.
Dominic immediately turned.
A man stepped out from the shadows.
He was wearing a dark jacket.
Calm.
Relaxed.
Almost like he had been watching us the entire time.
Dominic's face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
"You."
The man smiled slightly.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out."
The room became silent.
I looked at Dominic.
"You know him."
Dominic didn't answer.
That was enough.
The man walked farther into the room.
Nobody stopped him.
Not because they trusted him.
Because everyone was trying to understand why he was still alive.
Dominic lowered his weapon slightly.
"You're supposed to be gone."
The man's smile disappeared.
"So is Claire."
I looked at Claire.
Her expression became cold.
"You were never supposed to be here."
The man looked at her.
"And you were never supposed to bring her."
His eyes moved toward me.
I felt something change.
The way he looked at me was not like a stranger.
It was like he had been waiting.
"You have no idea why you were chosen, do you?"
I said nothing.
Dominic stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The man ignored him.
His attention stayed on me.
"Five years ago, you were investigating a company that didn't exist."
My heart stopped.
Because he knew.
Not rumors.
Not pieces.
The details.
"You know about that case."
He smiled.
"I know everything about that case."
Claire moved closer.
"Don't listen to him."
The man laughed quietly.
"Still protecting her."
Claire's eyes hardened.
"Still lying to everyone."
Dominic looked between them.
"Enough."
His voice filled the room.
"Someone explain what is happening."
Nobody answered.
Because everyone had pieces of the truth.
But nobody had the whole picture.
I looked at the man.
"Who are you?"
He finally answered.
"My name is Victor Kane."
The name meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to Dominic.
I saw it immediately.
A small reaction.
A moment of fear.
"You died."
Victor smiled.
"That's what everyone was supposed to believe."
Dominic stared at him.
"How?"
Victor walked toward the table.
"Because someone needed me gone."
He picked up Ethan's file.
"The same way someone needed Ethan Cross gone."
The room went quiet.
I looked at Dominic.
"Who is he?"
Dominic didn't answer.
Victor did.
"I was the person Dominic trusted before he trusted Ethan."
Dominic's expression changed.
"I never trusted you."
Victor laughed.
"That is the funniest thing about you, Dominic."
He placed the file down.
"You always think you are the one controlling the board."
He looked around the lodge.
"But you never noticed someone else was playing."
I stepped toward the table.
"What does Ethan's disappearance have to do with you?"
Victor looked at me.
"Everything."
He opened Ethan's folder.
Inside was a document I had not seen before.
A contract.
Not a financial document.
Not a business agreement.
A transfer agreement.
Dominic grabbed it.
His face changed as he read.
"What is this?"
Victor answered.
"The reason Ethan disappeared."
Dominic scanned the page.
I watched his eyes move.
Then stop.
"What did you do?"
Victor looked at him calmly.
"I didn't do anything."
He pointed at the signature.
"You did."
Dominic froze.
I moved closer.
The signature at the bottom belonged to Dominic Hale.
But the date was impossible.
It was signed three weeks after Ethan disappeared.
"This is fake."
Dominic's voice was low.
Victor shook his head.
"No."
He looked at me.
"That's why she is here."
I frowned.
"Why me?"
"Because you are the only person who can prove when this document was created."
I looked at the paper.
Then at him.
"What are you saying?"
Victor leaned closer.
"The person who created this knew your investigation methods."
A pause.
"They knew you would eventually find it."
Claire suddenly spoke.
"Stop."
Everyone looked at her.
She looked afraid.
Not nervous.
Afraid.
Victor noticed.
"You didn't tell her."
Claire remained silent.
I turned toward her.
"Tell me what?"
She looked away.
For the first time since I saw her again, Claire looked guilty.
Victor smiled.
"She never told you why she disappeared."
I looked at Claire.
"Why?"
No answer.
"Claire."
Her eyes met mine.
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
Silence.
Then Victor answered.
"From yourself."
The words made no sense.
But Claire looked like she knew exactly what he meant.
I felt anger rising.
"I spent five years believing you abandoned me."
"I know."
"Then explain."
Claire took a breath.
"The night I disappeared, I found something in your investigation files."
"What?"
"Your name."
I stared at her.
"What about my name?"
Claire looked at Victor.
Then back at me.
"You weren't investigating them."
A pause.
"They were investigating you."
The room felt smaller.
The mountain outside disappeared.
Everything narrowed down to that sentence.
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
Claire stepped closer.
"I wish it was."
Dominic looked confused.
"What are you talking about?"
Claire pointed at the file.
"The company she investigated was not covering up crimes."
She looked at me.
"They were collecting information about people who could expose them."
Victor nodded.
"And you were the person they were most interested in."
I looked at the photograph from earlier.
The missing accountant.
The hidden camera.
The message.
Everything connected.
But one question remained.
"Why?"
Victor looked at me.
"Because you found something they spent years hiding."
"What?"
He reached into his jacket.
And pulled out a small envelope.
My name was written on it.
The same handwriting.
The same one from the envelope upstairs.
But this time, I noticed something different.
A date.
Five years ago.
The exact day Claire disappeared.
Victor placed it on the table.
"Your mother wrote this before she died."
I froze.
I had never told anyone about my mother.
Not Dominic.
Not Claire.
Nobody.
My voice became quiet.
"My mother died when I was nineteen."
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
"Then how did she write this?"
Nobody answered.
Because there was only one explanation.
Someone had hidden the truth.
Again.
I reached for the envelope.
But before my fingers touched it, Dominic's phone rang.
Everyone looked at him.
The number on the screen was unknown.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then his face changed.
The color disappeared from his expression.
He slowly lowered the phone.
"What?"
I looked at him.
"Who was it?"
Dominic stared at the screen.
Then he looked directly at me.
"It was Ethan."
The room froze.
Claire whispered:
"That's impossible."
Dominic turned the phone around.
A message had just arrived.
One sentence.
One name.
My name.
May you like
And beneath it were four words:
"She is standing behind you."
