Chapter 7 - Ethan Was Gone
Daniel ran back inside.
“Ethan!”
The booth was empty.
Brenner was gone too.
Carol rushed toward him.
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“The cop. Brenner.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“Where?”
“Front door. He said he was taking the boy downtown.”
Daniel looked through the window.
The patrol car was already pulling away.
He ran outside.
Too late.
Carol followed him.
“Daniel!”
He turned.
She held something in her hand.
A blue backpack.
“Kid dropped this.”
Daniel grabbed it.
Inside were school papers.
A broken pencil.
A candy wrapper.
A small plastic dinosaur.
And an envelope.
His name was written across the front.
DANIEL HAYES.
Daniel stared at it.
“What the hell?”
He ripped it open.
There was one photograph.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
Five years old.
A team of six men standing beside an armored truck somewhere overseas.
Daniel.
Michael Cole.
Four others.
Two were dead.
One was missing.
One had vanished after the mission.
On the back, Michael had written:
If anything happens to me, find the man who took this photo.
Daniel turned the photograph over again.
He remembered that day.
Remembered who had been holding the camera.
Victor Shaw.
His commanding officer.
The man who told Daniel Michael Cole had died.
Daniel felt sick.
A phone inside the backpack began vibrating.
Daniel pulled it out.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No hello.
Just Ethan crying.
“Daniel?”
“I’m here.”
“Please help me.”
Daniel heard a door slam in the background.
Then Brenner’s voice.
“Give me the phone.”
Ethan screamed.
The call went dead.
Daniel lowered the phone.
Carol stared at him.
“What are you going to do?”
Daniel looked down at the photograph.
Victor Shaw.
A ghost from his past.
A man Daniel had trusted with his life.
Then another message appeared on Ethan’s phone.
A location.
And four words.
COME ALONE OR HE DIES.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Carol whispered:
“Daniel, that’s a trap.”
He put on his jacket.
“I know.”
And walked into the rain.
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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