Chapter 4 - The Man Across the Street
I watched the footage six times.
Caleb never got out of the car.
He sat less than forty yards from us.
I remembered that night.
Lily had been sick.
I had carried her inside beneath my coat because snow was falling.
Caleb had been there.
Watching.
Not disappearing.
Not dead.
Watching.
Anger replaced shock.
“If he was alive, why didn’t he come to us?”
Roman had no answer.
The footage continued.
Vincent spoke to Caleb.
Caleb became agitated.
Then Vincent grabbed his shoulder.
Caleb shoved his hand away.
Seconds later, their car left.
Roman called the recovery facility.
Disconnected number.
He sent men to the listed address.
Then he did something unexpected.
He ordered food for Lily.
Not through an assistant.
He called the kitchen himself.
Warm milk.
Banana.
Toast.
“You know what toddlers eat?” I asked.
His expression closed.
“I knew one once.”
I didn’t ask.
At 3:14 a.m., Roman’s men reached the facility.
Empty.
Recently emptied.
Beds stripped.
Computers removed.
Security drives missing.
But one thing remained.
A child’s drawing taped inside a cabinet.
A pink stick figure.
A smaller pink figure.
And a black figure standing apart.
Beneath them were three letters.
E.
L.
C.
Emily.
Lily.
Caleb.
I sat down hard.
“He was there.”
Roman nodded.
Someone had kept Caleb alive inside that facility.
But why?
The answer arrived from an unexpected source.
My supervisor.
Marjorie.
Roman summoned her upstairs after discovering I had been hired through an outside cleaning contractor.
She entered trembling.
“Who requested Emily specifically?” Roman asked.
“Nobody.”
Roman slid a document across the desk.
My employment application.
A handwritten note had been added:
Permanent assignment — executive floors.
Marjorie frowned.
“I didn’t write that.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
Roman examined the handwriting.
Then stopped.
He pulled an old birthday card from Caleb’s folder.
Same handwriting.
Caleb had arranged my job.
My knees weakened.
“He put me here?”
Roman looked equally confused.
Why would Caleb secretly place the mother of his child inside his brother’s building?
Protection?
Surveillance?
Or something else?
Then the office phone rang.
Roman answered.
His expression became lethal.
“When?”
He hung up.
“Vincent’s gone.”
“What?”
Two guards had escorted him downstairs.
The elevator stopped between floors.
When it reopened, both guards were unconscious.
Vincent had vanished.
Then another guard rushed inside.
“Boss, you need to see this.”
The wall safe had been opened again.
Nothing appeared missing.
Except Caleb’s black folder.
Roman looked toward me.
But I was looking at Lily’s diaper bag.
Something inside was vibrating.
I reached in.
A phone I had never seen before was hidden beneath her blanket.
One message glowed on its screen.
Emily, if Roman has found you, do not trust him.
May you like
It was signed:
Caleb.
