Part 2: The Message That Revealed Why Ethan Came To Our House
Part 2: The Message That Revealed Why Ethan Came To Our House
Chapter 2: The Message Claire Never Wanted Me To Read
Claire held her phone between us.
Her hand was trembling.
I looked at the screen.
The message was from Ethan.
It had been sent three nights earlier.
I found the person who has been watching your family.
I looked at Claire.
“What is this?”
She didn’t answer.
I read the next line.
He’s not working alone.
My stomach tightened.
I looked toward the window.
The dark SUV was still parked across the street.
“Is that him?”
Claire shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve seen that vehicle before.”
“Where?”
“Near Lily’s school.”
My blood ran cold.
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t want to scare you.”
I stared at her.
“You should have.”
“I know.”
I took the phone from her.
There were more messages.
Ethan had sent Claire a photograph.
It showed a man standing outside a grocery store.
His face was partially hidden beneath a baseball cap.
I didn’t recognize him.
But I recognized what he was holding.
A photograph.
Of our house.
I looked at Claire.
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“How does Ethan know him?”
“He’s been investigating him.”
“For what?”
Claire hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“For us.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
She took a breath.
“Three months ago, Ethan noticed someone accessing our home security account.”
I frowned.
“Our security account?”
“Yes.”
“Why would Ethan know that?”
“Because I asked him to check it.”
I stepped backward.
“You asked Ethan to investigate our security system?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Claire looked toward the stairs.
“Because Lily started telling me someone was standing outside her bedroom window.”
My heart dropped.
“Lily told you that?”
“Several times.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought it was a nightmare.”
“And then?”
“Then I found footprints.”
The room suddenly felt much colder.
I looked toward the staircase.
“Where?”
“Under Lily’s window.”
I didn’t speak.
Claire continued.
“That was when I called Ethan.”
I looked at her.
“And that’s why he was here?”
She nodded.
“He wasn’t coming here because of me.”
I remembered Lily’s strange comment.
The innocent words.
The confusion.
The way Claire had frozen.
Then I looked at the phone again.
There was another message.
This one was from Ethan.
Don’t tell Daniel yet.
I stared at the words.
My chest tightened.
“Why didn’t he want you to tell me?”
Claire looked away.
“Because he wasn’t sure who we could trust.”
I looked at her sharply.
“Who?”
She didn’t answer.
“Claire.”
She finally whispered:
“Your brother.”
I froze.
“My brother?”
She nodded.
“He knows something.”
I stared at her.
“My brother has been living in another state for four years.”
“I know.”
“So what could he possibly know?”
Claire took the phone back.
“Read the next message.”
I watched as she scrolled.
Ethan had sent another photograph.
This one was taken inside a house.
I recognized the room immediately.
My parents’ old study.
My pulse quickened.
“That house has been empty for years.”
“I know.”
“Then how did Ethan get this?”
“He didn’t.”
Claire’s voice became barely audible.
“He received it from someone.”
I looked at the photograph.
On the desk was an old wooden box.
I remembered that box.
It had belonged to my father.
After his death, my brother had taken it.
I looked at Claire.
“What’s inside?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
I scrolled further.
There was one final message from Ethan.
Your father left something behind. Your brother found it.
Then another.
That’s why someone is watching Lily.
My hands went cold.
I looked toward the stairs.
“Does Lily know anything?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Claire nodded.
“She only knows Ethan as Uncle Ethan.”
I thought about what Lily had said when I came home.
Her innocent question.
Her confusion.
Suddenly, it didn’t sound random anymore.
Someone had been talking around her.
Someone had been saying things she didn’t understand.
And Claire had been terrified that I would ask the wrong question.
I turned toward the window.
The SUV was still there.
Then its headlights switched on.
Claire grabbed my arm.
“Don’t go outside.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
The SUV remained still for several seconds.
Then the driver’s door opened.
A man stepped out.
He looked toward our house.
Then he raised his phone.
A second later, my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
Stop looking at the SUV.
A second message appeared.
Look behind you.
I slowly turned.
Claire was staring at the hallway.
The front door was still locked.
The windows were closed.
Nothing had moved.
Then I heard it.
A soft creak from upstairs.
Claire’s face went white.
“Lily.”
We both looked toward the staircase.
Another creak.
Then a tiny voice called from above.
“Daddy?”
I ran upstairs.
Claire followed.
Lily’s bedroom door was open.
Her night-light was on.
But Lily wasn’t in bed.
I froze.
“Lily?”
No answer.
Then I heard a sound from inside the closet.
A small sniffle.
I opened the door.
Lily was sitting on the floor, hugging her stuffed rabbit.
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
“Daddy…”
I dropped to my knees.
“What happened?”
She pointed toward the window.
“The man came back.”
My heart stopped.
“What man?”
She wiped her face.
“The man Uncle Ethan told Mommy about.”
Claire stood behind me.
She couldn’t move.
I looked at Lily.
“What did he do?”
Lily pointed toward her nightstand.
“He left something.”
A small white envelope sat beside her lamp.
My name was written across the front.
DANIEL.
I picked it up.
Claire whispered:
“Don’t open it.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Ethan told me if we ever found an envelope like that…”
She stopped.
“What?”
Claire stared at the name on the front.
“He said it meant they knew we had discovered the truth.”
I opened the envelope anyway.
Inside was a single photograph.
My father was standing beside a much younger Ethan.
But that wasn’t what made my blood run cold.
Behind them stood my brother.
And between the three men was the same wooden box from the photograph.
On the back of the picture, someone had written four words.
Ask Ethan what happened.
My phone rang.
Ethan.
I answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
There was silence.
Then his voice came through, barely above a whisper.
“Daniel…”
“What happened?”
“Listen to me carefully.”
His breathing was uneven.
“Don’t trust Claire.”
I looked at my wife.
She stared back at me.
Ethan continued:
“She isn’t the person who called me.”
My stomach dropped.
“What are you talking about?”
“The person who hired me to protect your family…”
He paused.
Then whispered:
“Was your brother.”
The call suddenly ended.
I looked at Claire.
She was crying.
But before either of us could speak, headlights swept across Lily’s bedroom wall.
The SUV outside had moved.
It was now parked directly in front of our house.
And someone was getting out.
Holding the same wooden box.
