Chapter 4: My Wife Finally Revealed Who Was Really Hunting Us
Chapter 4: My Wife Finally Revealed Who Was Really Hunting Us
I stared at the woman sitting beside me.
“Rachel Mercer died eleven years ago.”
My wife’s words kept repeating inside my head.
Rachel didn’t deny it.
She simply looked out the windshield.
“Daniel,” Emily said through the phone, “you need to get away from her.”
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
“Who is she?”
Emily hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
“You just told me her name isn’t Rachel.”
“I know what I said.”
“Then tell me what her name is.”
“I can’t.”
I almost laughed.
“After everything tonight, that’s your answer?”
“Daniel, please.”
“No.”
My voice cracked.
“You don’t get to keep asking me to trust you while refusing to tell me the truth.”
Silence.
Then Emily whispered,
“Her name is Anna.”
The woman beside me slowly closed her eyes.
“Anna what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Emily.”
“I swear.”
I looked at the woman.
“Is that true?”
She didn’t answer.
“Are you Anna?”
Finally, she nodded.
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why did you use a dead woman’s identity?”
Anna looked at me.
“Because the real me has been dead for a long time.”
I didn’t understand.
“What does that mean?”
Before she could answer, headlights appeared behind us.
A black SUV.
The same kind of vehicle I’d seen earlier.
Anna immediately turned around.
“Drive.”
I started the engine.
“Who is that?”
“Just drive.”
The SUV accelerated.
So did we.
I took the next turn.
It followed.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
“Call Emily.”
Anna shook her head.
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because if they can track her phone, they’ll track yours too.”
I immediately threw my phone into the center console.
“Then what do we do?”
“Get to the river.”
“What?”
“There’s an old parking structure near the waterfront.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to show you something.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
But I kept driving.
After several turns, the SUV disappeared.
I slowed down.
Anna didn’t relax.
“They’re still looking.”
“For us?”
“For the notebook.”
I glanced at the blue notebook on the seat.
“Why is this so important?”
“Because it contains the names of everyone involved.”
“Involved in what?”
She looked at me.
“Your wife’s father’s disappearance.”
I frowned.
“You said he died.”
“That’s what everyone was supposed to believe.”
“So Thomas Carter is alive?”
Anna nodded.
“Yes.”
I felt numb.
“Where?”
“That’s what Emily has been trying to find.”
I pulled into the parking structure.
We stopped on the third level.
Anna got out.
I followed.
The building was almost empty.
She walked toward the far wall.
“There.”
A small metal door was hidden behind a concrete pillar.
She unlocked it.
Inside was a narrow room filled with old boxes.
I stared.
“How long have you known about this place?”
“Six years.”
“Since before I met Emily?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know?”
“Yes.”
That answer hurt more than I expected.
“Then why did she marry me?”
Anna turned toward me.
“Because your wife believed you were the only person who could lead her to her father.”
I shook my head.
“She didn’t even know me.”
“She knew enough.”
I opened the blue notebook again.
“My name was in here before we met.”
“Yes.”
“Who put it there?”
Anna didn’t answer.
“Who?”
“Thomas.”
I felt my throat tighten.
“Why?”
“Because he had been watching you.”
“Why me?”
Anna walked to a box and pulled out a folder.
She handed it to me.
Inside were photographs.
My childhood.
My college years.
My first job.
My apartment.
Then Emily.
Photographs of us together before we’d ever officially met.
I stared at them.
“This is surveillance.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father was connected to Thomas.”
I looked up.
“My father?”
“Daniel, your father wasn’t just a businessman.”
She opened another folder.
Inside was an old newspaper clipping.
The headline had faded, but I could still read enough.
LOCAL ACCOUNTANT VANISHES AFTER FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION.
I stared at the photograph beneath it.
The man was my father.
My hands went numb.
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Six months before you met Emily.”
I looked at her.
“That can’t be right.”
“It is.”
“Then why didn’t I know?”
“Because your mother told everyone he had abandoned the family.”
I couldn’t speak.
The same lie.
The same story.
Different family.
Different generation.
But somehow my wife and I had both been raised on the same kind of deception.
Anna pointed toward the notebook.
“Your father discovered money being transferred through several shell companies.”
“Thomas’s money?”
“Among others.”
“And Emily’s father?”
“He helped move it.”
My mind raced.
“So Thomas wasn’t the victim.”
“No.”
“He was involved?”
“Yes.”
“But then why was he hiding?”
“Because he eventually tried to expose everyone.”
I looked at the photographs again.
“Who is everyone?”
Anna hesitated.
“Your father. Thomas. Emily’s mother. Several executives.”
“And Emily?”
“No.”
“She wasn’t involved?”
“Not originally.”
I closed the folder.
“Then why did she use me?”
Anna looked away.
“Because she thought you knew where the final account was.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Does she?”
Anna nodded.
“She knows now.”
My phone suddenly vibrated from the center console.
I froze.
The screen lit up.
Emily.
I answered.
“Where are you?”
“At the river.”
“Are you with Anna?”
“Yes.”
Emily exhaled.
“Then you found the archive.”
I looked at Anna.
“You knew about this?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I needed to know whether you were actually safe.”
I laughed.
“Safe?”
My voice rose.
“You’ve been watching me for years!”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From your father.”
Silence.
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
Emily continued.
“Daniel, your father is alive.”
I stared at the concrete wall.
Anna looked down.
“You knew?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“He’s alive.”
My wife’s voice trembled.
“He’s the person who has been hunting the notebook.”
I felt sick.
“Why would my father want it?”
“Because it proves what he did.”
“What did he do?”
Emily didn’t answer.
“Emily.”
“He didn’t just steal money.”
She paused.
“He arranged Thomas’s disappearance.”
I stared at Anna.
“And mine?”
Emily whispered,
“No.”
“Then why did he target me?”
“Because he thinks you inherited something from him.”
“What?”
“The access code to the final account.”
I looked at the blue notebook.
“What account?”
“The account containing the money.”
“How much?”
My wife was silent.
Then she said,
“Twenty-eight million dollars.”
My mouth went dry.
Anna suddenly stepped toward me.
“Daniel, we need to leave.”
“Why?”
She pointed toward the entrance.
A shadow had appeared on the wall.
Someone was walking into the parking structure.
Emily’s voice came through the phone.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“What?”
“Don’t let him see you.”
“Who?”
My wife’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Your father.”
The footsteps grew louder.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then a man’s voice echoed through the parking garage.
“Daniel.”
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it every time I thought about my childhood.
A voice I hadn’t heard since I was twelve.
My father’s voice.
“It’s time we talked.”
Anna grabbed my hand.
But I couldn’t move.
Because the man who stepped into the light wasn’t a stranger.
He was the man from the photograph beside Emily.
The man I had believed was dead for eighteen years.
My father looked directly at me.
Then he smiled.
“You finally found the notebook.”
And behind him stood Emily’s father.
Alive.