Chapter 4 - THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Claire couldn't sleep.
Neither could Ivy.
The photograph of Ethan's wedding ring remained on the table.
Luca had arranged security around the house.
Two cars outside.
One officer near the front entrance.
Another on the roof.
Claire hated every second of it.
But she hated the alternative more.
At 3:14 in the morning, Ivy walked into the kitchen.
Luca was already there.
He was standing beside the window with a cup of coffee.
“You don't sleep,” Ivy said.
Luca looked at her.
“Sometimes.”
“You're lying.”
A faint smile appeared.
“You're very observant.”
Ivy climbed onto a chair.
“Are you scared?”
Luca paused.
“Yes.”
She looked surprised.
“Of the bad men?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Luca looked toward the hallway.
“Losing someone.”
Ivy understood that answer.
She looked at the music box.
“Mommy is scared too.”
“I know.”
“She thinks Daddy is alive.”
Luca sat across from her.
“I think your mother is afraid to hope.”
Ivy nodded.
Then she said something that made Luca go still.
“Daddy used to say hope was dangerous.”
“Did he?”
“When I was little.”
Ivy frowned.
“Sometimes I remember things.”
“What things?”
“A blue door.”
Luca leaned forward.
“What else?”
“A man yelling.”
“Do you remember his face?”
“No.”
“Anything else?”
Ivy closed her eyes.
“Daddy had blood on his shirt.”
Luca's expression changed.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“He was protecting me.”
Luca stood.
“From whom?”
Ivy shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Claire entered the kitchen.
“What are you doing awake?”
Ivy looked at her.
“Mommy, I remember Daddy.”
Claire froze.
Luca immediately stepped back.
Claire knelt.
“What do you remember?”
“A blue door.”
Claire's face changed.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Anything else?”
“Daddy had blood on his shirt.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Then she whispered:
“The warehouse.”
Luca looked at her.
“What warehouse?”
“The last place I saw him.”
Claire sat down.
“He came home at 11:30 that night.”
She swallowed.
“He was bleeding.”
Luca listened.
“He told me to pack a bag.”
“What happened?”
“He said people were looking for him.”
Claire's hands shook.
“He told me to take Ivy and go to my mother's house.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
She looked at Ivy.
“She had a fever.”
Claire's eyes filled.
“I told Ethan I wasn't leaving without him.”
“What did he say?”
“He kissed Ivy.”
Claire wiped her cheek.
“Then he walked out.”
Luca stared at her.
“You never saw him again?”
“No.”
“Did he ever call?”
“One time.”
“When?”
“Three days later.”
Claire's voice broke.
“He said only one thing.”
“What?”
“Don't trust the man in the blue house.”
Luca frowned.
“What blue house?”
“I don't know.”
Ivy suddenly whispered:
“The blue door.”
Everyone looked at her.
Claire reached for her.
Ivy looked frightened.
“The blue door.”
Luca crouched.
“Do you remember where it was?”
Ivy closed her eyes.
“Near water.”
Claire stared.
“The old ferry terminal.”
Luca immediately understood.
“There was a private clinic near there.”
Claire stood.
“Where?”
“Closed now.”
They left before sunrise.
The clinic had been abandoned for years.
Broken windows.
Peeling paint.
A faded sign.
Luca found the blue door.
Ivy stopped.
“That one.”
Claire's heart pounded.
Inside, the building smelled of dust and rain.
They found old medical records scattered across the floor.
Luca searched carefully.
Then he stopped.
One file.
ETHAN DOYLE.
Claire covered her mouth.
The record stated that Ethan had been treated for a gunshot wound seven years earlier.
But the final page was missing.
Luca looked at the date.
Three days after Ethan disappeared.
Someone had signed him out.
Name:
Marcus Vale.
Claire frowned.
“Who is Marcus Vale?”
Luca went silent.
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Someone I trusted.”
Claire stared.
“Trusted?”
“Years ago.”
“What happened?”
“He betrayed me.”
Luca looked at the file.
“He vanished.”
Claire's stomach tightened.
“Maybe he took Ethan.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Ivy turned.
Someone was standing behind the broken glass.
A man.
Dark coat.
Gray hair.
Daniel Shaw.
He raised one hand.
Then pointed at Ivy.
Luca moved immediately.
The man ran.
Luca chased him outside.
Claire grabbed Ivy.
A gunshot cracked.
Then another.
Silence.
Claire's heart nearly stopped.
Luca returned alone.
Blood covered his sleeve.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
Luca looked at Ivy.
“Did he say anything?”
Ivy nodded.
“He said Daddy was waiting.”
Claire's knees almost gave way.
“Waiting where?”
Ivy pointed toward the water.
“Japan.”
Luca looked at the harbor.
Then at the medical file.
Ethan hadn't disappeared.
He had been moved.
Protected.
Or imprisoned.
And someone had spent seven years making sure Claire never found him.
Luca turned to Claire.
“We're going to Japan.”
Claire stared.
“Why would Ethan be there?”
Luca held up the medical record.
“Because the man who signed him out disappeared into the same company that tried to poison me tonight.”
Claire looked at Ivy.
Then at the ocean.
“What company?”
May you like
Luca answered quietly.
“Hayashi Maritime.”
