Chapter 7 - NOAH'S SECRET
Nathan couldn't sleep.
He watched Noah through the glass door.
The little boy was drawing.
A rocket.
A planet.
And a strange black symbol.
Nathan opened the photograph from the hospital.
The same symbol appeared on the back.
“What's that?” he asked.
Noah looked up.
“Daddy gave it to me.”
Nathan's heart stopped.
“What daddy?”
Noah shrugged.
“The man in my dream.”
Emma rushed into the room.
“What did he say?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Has Noah ever talked about another father?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
Noah continued drawing.
“He comes when Mommy cries.”
Emma sat beside him.
“Who comes?”
“The tall man.”
Nathan's skin crawled.
“Can you draw him?”
Noah nodded.
He drew a man.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Scar across his cheek.
Nathan recognized him.
It was the man from the school.
The man who had been following them.
Nathan immediately called security.
But the man's identity was already known.
His name was Marcus Vale.
Former Harrison Development security chief.
And he had disappeared four years earlier.
Nathan searched his history.
Marcus had worked directly for Charles.
Then Nathan discovered something worse.
Marcus had been assigned to the hospital the night the twins were born.
Nathan called his attorney.
“Find him.”
Two hours later, they had an address.
A warehouse near the Chicago River.
Nathan went alone.
He entered the building.
Marcus was waiting.
“You finally came.”
Nathan kept his distance.
“Where are you?”
“Who?”
“My sons.”
Marcus laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Marcus removed his coat.
The scar on his face was obvious.
“I was supposed to take Noah.”
Nathan's heart slammed against his ribs.
“Why?”
“Because your father believed Noah carried something.”
“What?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I never knew.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
He pulled out a small envelope.
“Your mother gave this to me.”
Nathan froze.
“My mother?”
“She knew she was dying.”
Marcus handed him the envelope.
Inside was a tiny key.
And a note.
The truth is beneath the first building Nathan ever designed.
Nathan immediately understood.
His first major project.
Harrison Tower.
Downtown Chicago.
But before he could leave, Marcus said,
“There's something else.”
Nathan turned.
“Charles didn't order me to kill Noah.”
“Then what?”
“He ordered me to make Noah disappear.”
Nathan stared.
“Why?”
Marcus looked away.
“Because someone was blackmailing him.”
“Who?”
Marcus whispered,
“Someone inside your company.”
A gunshot shattered the window.
Marcus collapsed.
Nathan ducked behind a pillar.
Another shot.
Then silence.
Nathan crawled toward Marcus.
The man was still breathing.
Barely.
“Who shot you?”
Marcus coughed.
“Look…”
He pointed toward Nathan's phone.
A message had arrived.
YOU KEEP LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.
Then another.
ASK EMMA WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE DIVORCE.
Nathan stared at the screen.
He had thought the divorce was the beginning of the lie.
May you like
Maybe it wasn't.
Maybe the lie had started much earlier.
