Chapter 4 - The Missing Witness
Victor stared at the empty bed.
For three seconds, no one moved.
Then the room exploded into action.
"Lock down the hospital."
"Check cameras."
"Seal every exit."
"Call police."
Victor stood in the middle of it all.
Silent.
Daniel knew that silence.
It meant Victor was furious enough to become dangerous.
"Victor."
No response.
"Victor."
Victor looked at him.
"We're finding him."
"You promised me he was safe."
Daniel absorbed the accusation.
"I know."
Victor looked at the unconscious guards.
"What happened?"
A nurse answered.
"Sedative injection."
"Who administered it?"
"We don't know yet."
Victor turned toward the hallway.
"Then find out."
Security footage showed a woman wearing hospital scrubs entering Sam's floor.
Mask.
Hair covered.
Badge cloned.
She pushed a wheelchair.
Eleven minutes later, she left with someone in the chair beneath a blanket.
Sam.
The woman removed her mask only once.
Inside an elevator.
Isabelle.
Victor watched the frame.
Her expression was completely calm.
That frightened him.
People who panicked made mistakes.
Isabelle was not panicking.
She was executing a plan.
Police traced the vehicle she used to leave.
It had been stolen.
Found thirty minutes later beside an abandoned train depot.
No Sam.
No Isabelle.
Victor stood in the hospital parking garage while detectives worked.
Lily remained upstairs with armed protection.
He refused to move her.
Her condition was improving, but she was still weak.
Daniel approached.
"Vale is awake."
Victor turned.
At the motel, police had transported Dr. Marcus Vale to another secure hospital.
Victor demanded a video call.
Vale appeared bruised.
One eye swollen.
Victor did not waste time.
"Where would Isabelle take Sam?"
Vale shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You worked with her."
"I supplied the drug."
"You helped her nearly bury my daughter."
Vale looked ashamed.
"Yes."
Victor leaned closer to the screen.
"Then you are going to help me save that boy."
Vale swallowed.
"Richard has properties."
"Where?"
"Shell companies. Warehouses. Farmhouses."
Daniel opened a laptop.
"Give us names."
Vale began listing companies.
Most were unfamiliar.
Then one name stopped Victor.
"Northbridge Agricultural."
Daniel looked at him.
"What?"
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"My family owned a farm under that name."
"Where?"
"Forty miles north."
Vale nodded.
"Richard used it."
"When?"
"Two months ago."
Victor turned toward Daniel.
"Get police there."
Within minutes, vehicles were moving.
Victor went with them despite every argument against it.
The farmhouse sat beyond miles of wet forest.
Abandoned fields surrounded it.
Police approached quietly.
No lights.
No sirens.
Victor remained behind the tactical team.
Daniel stayed beside him.
They entered.
Empty kitchen.
Empty bedrooms.
Dust.
Then someone shouted from the basement.
Victor ran.
Daniel grabbed his arm.
"Wait."
Officers cleared the stairs.
At the bottom was a locked room.
Inside, they found Sam.
Alive.
His wrists tied.
But conscious.
Victor rushed to him.
"Sam."
The boy looked up.
"Mr. Hale."
Victor crouched.
"Are you hurt?"
Sam shook his head.
"She left."
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Was Isabelle alone?"
Sam hesitated.
"No."
Victor's eyes hardened.
"Who was with her?"
"A man."
"Doctor Vale?"
"No."
"Older?"
"Yes."
"What did he look like?"
Sam described him.
Victor already knew.
Richard.
His brother.
Sam continued.
"They argued."
"About what?"
"Me."
Victor looked at him.
"The man said she wasn't supposed to take me."
"Then what?"
"She said I knew too much."
Victor felt sick.
"And Richard?"
"He said they needed to leave."
Sam swallowed.
"Then he said Lily should have died at the hospital."
Victor closed his eyes.
For one second.
That was all he allowed himself.
Sam continued.
"I heard them say something about the airport."
Daniel immediately called the police command center.
Victor asked, "Which airport?"
"I don't know."
Sam thought.
"She said the jet would be ready at midnight."
Victor looked at his watch.
10:16 p.m.
"Private airport."
Daniel nodded.
"There are four nearby."
Victor stood.
Then Sam tugged his sleeve.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Isabelle said they needed your signature first."
Victor froze.
"My signature?"
"She said Richard had the papers."
Victor looked at Daniel.
The trust.
If they planned to flee, why did they need Victor's signature?
Then he understood.
They weren't running.
Not yet.
They planned to force him to sign control of the company.
And Sam was leverage.
Possibly Lily too.
Victor's phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone went silent.
Victor answered.
Isabelle spoke.
"Hello, darling."
Victor's face became stone.
"Where are you?"
"You found the boy?"
Victor looked at Sam.
"Yes."
Isabelle sighed.
"Richard will be disappointed."
"Put him on."
A man's voice replaced hers.
"Hello, brother."
Victor had not heard Richard's voice in nine years.
It sounded almost unchanged.
"You tried to kill Lily."
Richard chuckled.
"No. Isabelle handled that part."
"Why?"
"Because you stole everything from me."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"You stole from the company."
"I took what I deserved."
"You almost destroyed thousands of jobs."
"And you destroyed me."
Victor listened.
Richard continued.
"You became the respectable one. The genius. The father. The king."
"This is about jealousy?"
"It's about ownership."
"What do you want?"
Richard laughed.
"You know."
Victor looked at Daniel.
"Say it."
"Sign over controlling voting rights to Hale Industries."
Victor's voice went flat.
"Never."
"Then maybe Lily gets another dose."
Victor went still.
"You're nowhere near Lily."
"Are you sure?"
Victor immediately looked at Daniel.
Daniel made calls.
Hospital guards responded.
Lily was safe.
Richard continued.
"You have until midnight."
"Where?"
"The old Hale airfield."
Victor knew it.
A private strip his father had built decades earlier.
Abandoned now.
"Come alone."
Victor said nothing.
Richard's voice hardened.
"Midnight."
The line went dead.
Daniel shook his head.
"You're not going alone."
Victor looked toward Sam.
The boy was safe.
Lily was safe.
For now.
Victor knew Richard wanted one final confrontation.
He also knew men like Richard made one mistake.
They believed hatred made them stronger.
Victor had learned something different at the cemetery.
Love could make a man far more dangerous.
At 11:48 p.m., Victor drove through the gates of the old airfield.
May you like
Alone.
At least, that was what Richard believed.
