Chapter 4 - THE HIDDEN WAREHOUSE
The police found no sign of Anna.
No broken window.
No forced door.
No security footage showing anyone entering.
It was as if she had vanished.
But I knew one thing.
Someone had taken her.
And they wanted me distracted.
I drove to the old Harrison warehouse with Daniel and two armed security officers secretly following from a distance.
I carried the black key.
Nothing else.
At exactly midnight, I entered the warehouse.
"Sophie!"
My voice echoed.
No answer.
Then I heard something.
A child's voice.
"Mr. Michael?"
I ran toward it.
Sophie was sitting behind a stack of wooden crates.
She was alone.
I dropped to my knees.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"Where's my mom?"
"I'll find her."
She looked at me.
"You promise?"
I nodded.
"Promise."
She stared at the black key in my hand.
"That's what they wanted."
"What?"
"That little key."
"How do you know?"
"Mom told me never to let them have it."
I froze.
"Who?"
"The bad man."
"Jonathan?"
She nodded.
Suddenly, the warehouse doors slammed shut.
A voice came through the speakers.
"Good evening, Michael."
Jonathan.
I stood.
"Where's Anna?"
"Safe."
"Let me see her."
"You'll see her when you give me the key."
I looked at Sophie.
She whispered,
"Don't."
I stepped toward the speaker.
"You kidnapped a five-year-old child."
Jonathan laughed.
"No, Michael. I protected her."
"From what?"
"From you."
I clenched my fists.
Then every light turned on.
Hundreds of boxes filled the warehouse.
Jonathan appeared on a balcony above us.
Behind him stood three men.
"You've always been your father's favorite," he said.
"Until now."
He held up a folder.
"Your father left a secret."
"What?"
"Evidence."
"Of what?"
"That Harrison Development was built using money stolen from hundreds of families."
I stared at him.
"You're lying."
Jonathan smiled.
"Ask Sophie."
I looked at the child.
She was crying.
"Mom said Dad was a good man."
"Your father was complicated."
"No."
She wiped her eyes.
"Mom said he tried to make things right."
Jonathan's smile disappeared.
"Anna talks too much."
He turned to me.
"Give me the key."
I raised it.
Then threw it across the warehouse.
One of Jonathan's men caught it.
Jonathan smiled.
"Smart."
I smiled back.
"Not really."
He looked confused.
Then Daniel stepped out of the shadows.
"Police!"
Everything exploded into chaos.
Officers rushed through the side doors.
Jonathan's men scattered.
Jonathan ran.
I grabbed Sophie.
We sprinted toward the exit.
But before we reached it, a gunshot cracked through the warehouse.
Sophie screamed.
I dropped to the floor.
Daniel shouted,
"Michael!"
I looked down.
There was blood on my shirt.
But it wasn't mine.
Someone behind us had been shot.
Jonathan was gone.
And on the floor beside the wounded man was a photograph.
My father.
Standing beside a woman I'd never seen before.
May you like
On the back were four words:
She knows everything.
