EPISODE 3:The Man My Father Trusted
1672 Words
The rain fell harder.
And for the first time, I understood something.
The stranger who had warned me wasn't simply a stranger.
He had been watching me before my life fell apart.
He knew my father.
He knew about the investigation.
He knew the people hunting me.
And somehow...
he had known exactly where I would be.
I stepped away from him.
“You're not protecting me.”
His expression remained unreadable.
“Then what are you doing?”
Damian stared at me for several seconds.
Then he said quietly:
“Making sure you survive long enough to learn the truth.”
He got into the driver's seat.
I stood there in the rain.
My mother looked at me.
“Get in, Elena.”
I hesitated.
Then I looked at Damian through the windshield.
For some reason, I felt more afraid of the man sitting inside that car than I had felt of the men with guns.
And yet...
he was the only person who had come for me.
I opened the door.
And got in.
I didn't know where Damian Blackwood was taking me.
I didn't know why my father trusted him.
I didn't know why he had been watching me.
And I certainly didn't know that the moment I entered that car, I had taken the first step toward becoming his wife.
But there was one thing I knew.
My old life was over.
And whatever was waiting for me on the other side of that journey...
was going to change everything.
.....
The doors of the black SUV locked the moment we got inside.
I flinched.
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Rain hammered against the windows, blurring the hotel behind us.
I looked through the glass.
The place where I had planned to get married that morning was already disappearing into the distance.
My wedding.
My fiancé.
My family.
Everything I had believed about my life.
Gone.
I turned toward the man sitting behind the wheel.
Damian Blackwood.
He drove with one hand, his other resting near the gearshift. His face was calm, almost unnaturally calm considering what had just happened.
There was blood on his sleeve.
Not his blood.
I couldn't stop staring at it.
“You killed someone.”
His eyes remained on the road.
“I didn't say that.”
“You shot at them.”
“I did.”
“Then what happened to them?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
He glanced at me through the rearview mirror.
“It will matter more if you stay alive.”
I hated the way he spoke.
As though my life were just another problem he had to solve.
I looked out the window again.
My mother sat beside me, silent.
She had barely spoken since we left the hotel.
I turned toward her.
“Mom.”
She didn't respond.
“Mom, you know him.”
Her fingers tightened around the edge of her handbag.
“I know his family.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
She finally looked at me.
“I knew his father.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Her eyes moved toward Damian.
He said nothing.
“Mom?”
She lowered her voice.
“Your father and the Blackwoods were once business partners.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Many years ago.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because it ended badly.”
I looked at Damian.
He was still driving.
“What happened?”
My mother shook her head.
“Your father never spoke about it.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It was before you were born.”
“Then why does Damian know my father?”
Silence.
I leaned forward.
“Damian.”
He didn't answer.
I raised my voice.
“Damian!”
His eyes met mine in the mirror.
“What?”
“You said my father contacted you last night.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He needed help.”
“Why didn't he contact the police?”
“He didn't trust them.”
“Why did he trust you?”
Damian's expression hardened.
“He didn't.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He didn't trust me.”
“Then why did he ask you to protect me?”
A pause.
“Because he knew I would.”
I stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“It doesn't have to.”
“It does to me.”
His eyes returned to the road.
“You're asking questions you aren't ready to hear the answers to.”
“I think I deserve to know what happened to my family.”
“You will.”
“When?”
“When it's safe.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Safe?”
I looked down at my wedding dress.
“I don't think that word exists anymore.”
For the first time, Damian's expression softened.
Only slightly.
Then it disappeared.
---
The SUV turned off the main road.
I sat up.
“Where are we going?”
Damian didn't answer.
“Where are you taking us?”
“Somewhere they can't find you.”
“Who are they?”
He remained silent.
My patience snapped.
“Stop treating me like a child.”
He glanced at me.
“I don't.”
“You're giving me half answers.”
“Because half answers are better than dead people.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
He slowed the car.
Then he looked at me through the mirror.
“It means whoever destroyed your family isn't finished.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because your father is still alive.”
My entire body went still.
“What?”
My mother gasped.
Damian continued driving.
“You said you didn't know where he was.”
“I don't.”
“But you just said he's alive.”
“I said he was alive when he disappeared.”
I swallowed.
“How do you know?”
“I've been looking for him.”
“Since when?”
“Since last night.”
“Why?”
Damian's jaw tightened.
“Because he asked me to find him.”
I stared at him.
My father was alive.
That single thought pushed every other thought out of my mind.
“Then find him.”
“I will.”
“Now.”
“I am.”
“Then why are we hiding?”
“Because whoever took him expects you to do exactly what you're trying to do.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Go looking.”
I sat back.
He was right.
If someone had taken my father, they might be waiting for us to make a move.
But there was something else.
Something I couldn't ignore.
“You said my father contacted you at 2:13 a.m.”
“Yes.”
“Where was he?”
Damian didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
“Your father's office.”
My heart sank.
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know it was him?”
“Because I have the recording.”
I leaned forward.
“You recorded the call?”
“No.”
He reached toward the center console.
A small black device sat inside.
He picked it up.
Then handed it to me.
“Listen.”
I pressed the button.
Static filled the car.
Then—
A voice.
My father's voice.
“Elena must not know.”
My breath caught.
I looked at Damian.
The recording continued.
“If anything happens to me, keep her away from the Vale files.”
My fingers trembled.
My father's voice became quieter.
“They'll come for her.”
A pause.
Then three words.
“Protect my daughter.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
I couldn't breathe.
My mother covered her mouth.
“That was him.”
I nodded.
Tears filled my eyes.
It was my father's voice.
I knew it.
I had heard that voice every day of my life.
“Why would he say I mustn't know about the Vale files?”
Damian took the device back.
“That's what we're going to find out.”
I wiped my tears.
“What are the Vale files?”
“Financial records.”
“That's all?”
“No.”
“What else?”
“Evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
He looked at me.
“Your father didn't steal billions.”
I stared at him.
“Then what happened?”
“He discovered someone else was stealing it.”
My heart pounded.
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“Not yet.”
“Then how can you say my father is innocent?”
“Because the evidence against him was manufactured.”
I stared at him.
“Manufactured?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“That's what I'm trying to find out.”
I looked down at my hands.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The frozen accounts.
The police.
The news.
My father's disappearance.
Someone had planned this.
Someone had carefully built a case against my father.
And they had done it well enough to make the entire country believe he was guilty.
But why?
What could my father possibly have discovered that was worth destroying an entire family?
I looked at Damian.
“Why are you helping him?”
He didn't answer.
“Damian.”
Nothing.
“You knew my father before last night.”
His eyes hardened.
“Yes.”
“How?”
He kept driving.
“That's complicated.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you everything now, you'll hate me.”
I stared at him.
“Maybe I already do.”
For the first time, his eyes met mine in the mirror.
There was something in them.
Pain.
Just for a second.
Then it was gone.
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