Chapter 5 - THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS
Daniel switched on his flashlight.
The beam cut through the darkness.
Nobody stood in the hallway.
Victor moved Matthew behind him.
“Hannah, stay with my son.”
She nodded.
The footsteps stopped.
Then came the sound of glass breaking downstairs.
Daniel ran toward it.
Victor followed.
Hannah remained with Matthew.
The boy was trembling.
“It's okay,” she whispered.
“He's here.”
“Who?”
Matthew looked toward the staircase.
“Uncle David.”
Hannah's blood ran cold.
“You know him?”
Matthew nodded.
“He used to visit Mom.”
“Was he nice?”
Matthew shook his head.
“He smiled when he was angry.”
Hannah pulled him closer.
A few seconds later, Daniel returned.
“He's gone.”
Victor looked furious.
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
“But he was here.”
Daniel nodded.
“He wanted us to know he could get inside.”
They returned to New York before sunrise.
The flash drive was immediately handed to a forensic specialist.
The results were disturbing.
It contained financial records.
Bank transfers.
Property documents.
Names.
Companies.
Payments.
And hundreds of transactions connecting David Davis to a network of shell corporations.
But one name appeared repeatedly.
Victor Davis.
Hannah stared at the screen.
“Why would David pay you?”
Victor's face was grim.
“He wasn't paying me.”
Daniel zoomed in.
“These transfers were made using forged signatures.”
Victor leaned closer.
Someone had spent years stealing money through companies connected to Victor.
And Eleanor had discovered it.
That's why she had been killed.
Not officially.
But the evidence suggested something far darker.
Matthew had witnessed part of it.
That explained his silence.
That explained the fear.
That explained the red door.
Then Hannah noticed something.
“Wait.”
She pointed at the screen.
“What?”
“This company.”
Daniel looked.
“What's wrong with it?”
“My mother used to work for them.”
Everyone turned toward Hannah.
She swallowed.
“Years ago.”
Victor stared at her.
“What was your mother's job?”
“Accounting.”
Daniel quickly searched the company records.
Then his expression changed.
“Hannah.”
“What?”
“Your mother wasn't just an employee.”
He turned the screen toward her.
“She was the original accountant for one of David's companies.”
Hannah felt dizzy.
“That can't be.”
Daniel pointed to an old signature.
It belonged to her mother.
“She resigned six months before Eleanor died.”
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
Hannah called her mother.
No answer.
She called again.
Still nothing.
Panic rose inside her chest.
“I need to go home.”
Victor grabbed his coat.
“I'll take you.”
“No.”
“Hannah.”
“I said no.”
Victor stopped.
She looked at him.
“I can't keep depending on you every time something happens.”
His expression softened.
“You don't have to.”
“Then let me handle this.”
Victor nodded.
“All right.”
It was the first time he had respected her decision without argument.
That mattered.
When Hannah arrived at her mother's apartment, the front door was unlocked.
Her heart dropped.
“Mom?”
No answer.
The apartment was empty.
A cup of tea sat on the kitchen table.
Still warm.
Hannah's hands began to shake.
Then she noticed something on the wall.
A photograph had been turned face down.
She picked it up.
It showed her mother standing beside Eleanor Davis.
On the back was a handwritten message.
YOUR MOTHER KNEW THE TRUTH.
Hannah stumbled backward.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice whispered.
“You should have stayed away.”
“Where is my mother?”
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“Where is she?”
The man laughed softly.
“The right question is why your mother helped Eleanor.”
The call ended.
Hannah immediately called Victor.
He answered on the first ring.
“What happened?”
“My mother is missing.”
Victor went silent.
Then his voice became calm.
“I'm coming.”
Within twenty minutes, Victor arrived.
He didn't touch Hannah.
He simply stood beside her.
“We'll find her.”
Hannah looked at him.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I've been looking for answers for three years.”
He paused.
“And now I have someone worth finding them for.”
Hannah looked away.
Neither noticed Matthew standing in the hallway.
The boy was holding the old drawing.
He walked toward Hannah.
Then he pointed at the man standing beside the red door in his picture.
“I remember him.”
Hannah looked.
“You remember who?”
Matthew raised his eyes.
“David.”
May you like
Then he whispered the words that changed everything.
“He was the one driving the car.”
