Chapter 7 - THE OFFICE AFTER MIDNIGHT
The old office sat on the top floor of a building Daniel's father had owned before his death.
Police arrived first. Daniel waited outside with Detective Harris until they confirmed the floor was secure.
Ethan's car was parked in the underground garage.
The office door stood open.
Inside, the desk drawers had been emptied. Papers covered the floor. A computer monitor was still on, displaying a folder labeled MERCER TRUST.
Detective Harris moved carefully through the room.
“Don't touch anything.”
Daniel saw a framed photograph on the bookshelf.
He and Ethan at graduation.
Both smiling.
He remembered that day. His father had told them they would do something extraordinary together.
Ethan had promised they would never betray each other.
A police officer called from the conference room.
“Detective. You need to see this.”
On the table lay a passport, two phones, and a printed flight itinerary. Ethan had booked a one-way flight out of the country under another name.
There was also a folder containing copies of Lily's school records, medical information, and photographs of Rachel's apartment.
Daniel's hands curled into fists.
“He was watching all of us.”
Detective Harris nodded.
“Looks that way.”
A computer technician recovered deleted messages. They showed Ethan had contacted a private investigator earlier that evening and instructed him to collect Lily from school the following morning.
The message included a forged authorization letter.
Daniel felt physically sick.
“He was going to take my daughter.”
The detective's expression hardened.
“We're issuing an alert to the school and notifying the relevant officers.”
Then an officer found something else: a small notebook hidden beneath the desk.
Inside were handwritten notes about the trust, the wedding, Olivia's disappearance, and a plan to transfer funds through several shell companies.
The final page contained a date.
Tomorrow.
Beside it were two words.
FINAL MOVE.
Daniel looked at Detective Harris.
“Where is he?”
The detective checked his phone.
“His last known location was the hotel. He may have gone back.”
Daniel stared at the page.
The wedding venue.
The place where everything had started.
“He knows we found the office,” Daniel said. “He'll go somewhere familiar.”
Detective Harris called the hotel security team.
May you like
A few minutes later, an officer reported movement near the ballroom's service entrance.
Ethan had returned.
