Chapter 4 - Noah
Caleb felt every muscle in his body lock.
They knew about Noah.
That meant the threat wasn't random.
It wasn't about Maribel alone.
Someone had been studying him.
Studying Seraphina.
Studying both families.
The shooter had disappeared before police arrived.
Daniel was gone.
Gideon survived the gunshot, but the bullet had grazed his shoulder.
Maribel refused to leave Caleb's side.
Seraphina noticed.
She didn't understand it.
But she trusted her daughter.
That night, Caleb made a call.
His sister answered.
“What's wrong?”
“Is Noah with you?”
“Yes.”
“Don't let him leave the house.”
Her voice changed.
“Why?”
“Someone knows about him.”
Silence.
Then:
“Caleb, you promised me—”
“I know.”
“You said the war was over.”
“I was wrong.”
After hanging up, Caleb sat alone on the porch.
Seraphina joined him.
“You heard what they said.”
“Yes.”
“They know about Noah.”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Caleb looked at her.
“My son.”
“I know that.”
“No. You don't.”
He told her about Emily.
His wife.
Her investigation.
Her death.
The classified operation that followed.
The strange coincidences.
The evidence that Emily had discovered before she died.
Seraphina listened quietly.
“She was investigating Blackridge?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“They were laundering money through military contracts.”
“And my family?”
“Your father invested in them.”
Seraphina's face went pale.
“My father?”
Caleb nodded.
“Your father wasn't just a billionaire.”
“I know.”
“He owned security companies.”
She stared at him.
“That can't be true.”
“It is.”
Seraphina remembered the old documents.
The companies her father had sold before his death.
She had never examined them.
She had trusted him.
Just as she had trusted Gideon.
Suddenly, everything became connected.
Blackridge.
Her father's secret.
Daniel's disappearance.
The cameras.
The children.
The threats.
Then Maribel entered the room.
She carried her butterfly notebook.
“Mommy?”
Seraphina smiled.
“What is it?”
Maribel opened the notebook.
On one page, she had drawn three figures.
A woman.
A little girl.
A man.
Above them was a large black bird.
Caleb crouched.
“What's the bird?”
Maribel whispered:
“It's the man who watches.”
Seraphina's blood chilled.
“Have you seen him?”
Maribel nodded.
“When?”
“Before Daddy disappeared.”
Seraphina froze.
Maribel's father had been dead for four years.
Seraphina's late husband had supposedly died in a private plane crash.
She had never allowed Maribel to talk much about that night.
“What did he look like?”
Maribel pointed to the drawing.
“Like Mr. Gideon.”
Caleb looked at Seraphina.
They both understood.
Gideon wasn't merely compromised.
He was connected.
Seraphina turned.
“Where is Gideon?”
A guard rushed in.
“He left the property.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Caleb stood.
“Where's his car?”
“Gone.”
He grabbed his jacket.
Seraphina stopped him.
“Where are you going?”
“To get my son.”
“You don't know where he is.”
Caleb looked at her.
“I do now.”
He showed her his phone.
A location had appeared.
Noah's location.
The signal came from an abandoned Blackridge warehouse.
Seraphina's face hardened.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“My daughter is involved.”
“You're not trained for this.”
“I'm a mother.”
He looked at her.
She stepped closer.
“And apparently, neither of us has much choice anymore.”
Caleb almost smiled.
“Stay behind me.”
“I'll try.”
They reached the warehouse at midnight.
Inside, they found dozens of surveillance monitors.
Photos covered the walls.
Seraphina.
Maribel.
Caleb.
Noah.
And one photograph that made Seraphina's heart stop.
Her own bedroom.
Taken from inside the house.
Someone had been there.
Recently.
Then the lights came on.
Gideon stood on the balcony above them.
He held a gun.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Vale.”
Seraphina stared.
“You betrayed me.”
Gideon smiled.
“No.”
He looked at Caleb.
“I betrayed your father.”
Then he pointed toward a dark hallway.
“And he never forgave me.”
A small boy stepped into the light.
Noah.
Caleb's heart stopped.
“Dad?”
Caleb moved.
Gideon raised the gun.
“Don't.”
Noah looked at his father.
Then at Seraphina.
May you like
And whispered:
“Maribel knows where the real camera is.”
