chapter twenty three
461 Words
The Hidden Witness
The sound echoed through the warehouse.
Everyone froze.
Ethan raised a hand.
"No one moves."
The security team quietly spread out, their flashlights sweeping across the dark upper floor.
Another noise.
Footsteps.
Running.
"Upstairs!" Ryan shouted.
Two guards rushed toward the metal staircase.
Ethan grabbed Maya's hand.
"Stay behind me."
She nodded.
Together, they climbed the creaking stairs.
The footsteps suddenly stopped.
Silence.
The hallway ahead was lined with abandoned offices.
One door stood slightly open.
Ryan signaled to a guard.
The guard pushed the door open.
Empty.
But the window was wide open.
Whoever had been there had escaped.
"Search the building!" Ethan ordered.
The guards scattered.
As Maya looked around the dusty office, something caught her eye.
"Ethan..."
She knelt beside an old filing cabinet.
One drawer wasn't fully closed.
Inside was a small flash drive.
She carefully picked it up.
"I think someone left this here."
Ryan examined it.
"It looks new."
Ethan frowned.
"They wanted us to find it."
Just then, one of the guards called out.
"Sir! We found another room."
The team followed him down a narrow corridor.
At the end was a heavy steel door.
It was unlocked.
Ethan pushed it open.
The room inside was surprisingly clean.
A desk.
A laptop.
A wall covered with photographs.
Maya gasped.
Every photo was of the Carter family.
Ethan.
His father.
Board members.
Business partners.
Even Maya.
Some pictures had clearly been taken only days earlier.
Someone had been watching them.
For a long time.
Ryan's expression darkened.
"This isn't just surveillance."
"It's preparation."
Ethan stepped closer to the wall.
In the center was one large photograph of him.
Across it, written in red marker, were the words:
HE WILL LOSE EVERYTHING.
Maya felt a chill.
"This is personal."
Before Ethan could answer, Ryan connected the flash drive to the laptop.
The screen flickered to life.
A video file appeared.
Without hesitation, Ethan pressed play.
The screen showed a dimly lit room.
Then...
Sophia Bennett walked into view.
She looked directly at the camera.
"If you're watching this, Ethan..."
"...then I've run out of time."
She took a shaky breath.
"Everything you believed about me running away was a lie."
"There is someone inside Carter Group."
"Someone your father trusted more than anyone."
"They're the reason I'm still running."
Sophia looked over her shoulder as if she had heard someone approaching.
She turned back to the camera.
"You can't trust—"
The video suddenly cut to black.
"No!" Maya exclaimed.
Ryan checked the file.
"It's been corrupted."
Ethan stood motionless.
One sentence echoed in his mind.
Someone your father trusted more than anyone.
If Sophia was telling the truth...
The enemy wasn't outside the Carter family.
The enemy was already inside it.
- Writer
