CHAPTER 7 — THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
CHAPTER 7 — THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The rehabilitation center was located two hours outside Seattle.
A small building surrounded by tall pine trees.
The kind of place people went when they wanted to disappear.
When Ethan told us the address, Noah didn't speak for almost a minute.
He just stared at the paper.
At the name.
At the impossible truth.
Marcus Hill.
His best friend.
His partner.
The man who was supposed to have died three years ago.
The man whose funeral Noah attended.
The man whose name was engraved on a memorial wall.
Alive.
Hidden.
And somehow connected to everything.
"I don't understand."
Noah's voice was barely audible.
"He died."
Ethan looked at him.
"Are you sure?"
Noah looked angry.
Not at Ethan.
At the world.
"I identified him."
The room became quiet.
"I stood there."
His hands tightened.
"I watched them close the coffin."
I looked at him carefully.
"Was the body ever shown to you?"
Noah froze.
A terrible realization crossed his face.
"No."
The word came slowly.
"No, it wasn't."
The drive was silent.
Noah sat in the passenger seat.
Ethan drove.
I sat in the back, one hand resting over my stomach.
My son moved occasionally.
Every movement reminded me why I couldn't stop.
Why I couldn't simply walk away from this nightmare.
Because someone had already tried to hurt him once.
I wasn't going to let them try again.
After almost two hours, we reached the rehabilitation center.
A nurse at the front desk looked suspicious when we asked for Marcus Hill.
"Are you family?"
Noah stepped forward.
"I'm his friend."
The nurse looked at him for several seconds.
Then her expression changed.
"You must be Noah Carter."
Noah froze.
"You know me?"
She looked uncomfortable.
"Mr. Hill asked about you every week."
My heart tightened.
"Why?"
The nurse looked toward the hallway.
"He said one day you would come looking for the truth."
Marcus was in a private room.
The door was slightly open.
Noah stopped before entering.
For the first time since I met him...
He looked afraid.
Not afraid of danger.
Afraid of the truth.
Then he pushed the door open.
The man sitting by the window turned around.
Older.
Thinner.
Scar across his face.
But the eyes were the same.
Noah's eyes filled instantly.
"Marcus..."
The man looked at him.
And whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Noah couldn't move.
Neither could I.
Because there was no surprise.
No confusion.
Only guilt.
Marcus knew.
He knew exactly why Noah was there.
"You were alive."
Noah's voice broke.
Marcus looked down.
"Yes."
"You let me bury you."
"I had no choice."
"No choice?"
Noah stepped forward.
"I mourned you."
His voice became louder.
"I blamed myself."
Marcus closed his eyes.
"I know."
"No."
Noah shook his head.
"You don't know."
A tear fell.
"I carried your name on my uniform."
Silence.
"I told your family I would never forget you."
Marcus looked destroyed.
"And I never forgot you."
After several minutes, Marcus finally explained.
Three years earlier, he and Noah had discovered the corruption inside the department.
But they found something much bigger than stolen contracts.
They found evidence of a network.
A group of people who manipulated emergencies, insurance claims, and rescue reports.
They had influence everywhere.
"Someone inside the department was helping them."
Marcus said.
Noah looked at him.
"Who?"
Marcus hesitated.
Then:
"Adrian."
The room went silent.
I looked at Noah.
His face changed.
"No."
Marcus nodded.
"Yes."
"No."
"Noah..."
"Adrian saved my life."
Marcus looked at him sadly.
"That's why he was dangerous."
Marcus explained everything.
Adrian wasn't just Noah's friend.
He was the person who helped build the corruption network.
He gained access to emergency systems.
He manipulated information.
He knew how rescue teams operated.
And when Marcus discovered the truth...
He became a threat.
"They tried to kill me."
Marcus touched the scar on his face.
"The fire wasn't an accident."
Noah went pale.
"The apartment fire?"
Marcus nodded.
"They wanted you to believe Lucas's disappearance was connected to Natalie."
My breathing stopped.
"What?"
Marcus looked at me.
"The night Lucas disappeared wasn't random."
Noah stepped closer.
"What are you saying?"
Marcus looked at him.
"I'm saying Natalie wasn't the only person involved."
The room felt smaller.
Like the elevator all over again.
Only this time...
The walls were made of secrets.
"Where is Lucas?"
Noah asked.
His voice broke.
Marcus looked away.
"I don't know."
Noah's face collapsed.
"But you know something."
Marcus was silent.
Then:
"Lucas was taken because of what he saw."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"A seven-year-old child saw something?"
Marcus nodded.
"He saw Adrian."
Nobody spoke.
The name hung in the air.
Adrian.
The man who had smiled at our dinner table.
The man who joked about teaching my son baseball.
The man who was now connected to a missing child.
"I don't understand."
Noah shook his head.
"Why would Adrian take Lucas?"
Marcus looked at him.
"Because Lucas was the only person who could identify him."
Noah covered his mouth.
A painful sound escaped.
A father's grief.
A father's regret.
"I should have protected him."
I watched Noah.
And for the first time, I saw the weight he had carried.
Not because I forgave him.
But because I understood.
He had spent years believing he failed his first son.
And now...
He was terrified of failing his second.
Before we left, Marcus grabbed Noah's arm.
"There's something else."
Noah turned.
"What?"
Marcus looked at me.
Then at my stomach.
His expression changed.
"They know about your baby."
My blood went cold.
"Who?"
Marcus whispered:
"The same people who took Lucas."
Noah stepped forward.
"How?"
Marcus's voice lowered.
"Because someone inside your house has been giving them information."
Silence.
My heart started racing.
"Inside our house?"
Marcus nodded.
"Someone close to you."
I looked at Noah.
He looked at me.
Both of us thinking the same thing.
Natalie.
But then Marcus said something that made everything worse.
"It isn't Natalie."
I froze.
"What?"
Marcus looked directly at me.
"The person feeding information is someone you trust more."
My chest tightened.
"Who?"
Marcus opened his mouth.
But before he could answer...
The lights in the building suddenly went out.
Darkness filled the room.
A second later...
The sound of glass breaking came from the hallway.
Someone screamed.
Ethan immediately reached for his phone.
Noah moved in front of me.
Protecting me.
The way he should have done in the elevator.
Then a voice echoed from the darkness.
A calm voice.
A familiar voice.
"Looking for answers, Noah?"
Everyone froze.
Because we knew that voice.
The lights flickered back on.
Standing at the end of the hallway...
Was Adrian Cole.
Smiling.
Holding a gun.
And beside him...
Was a person nobody expected.
A young man.
Older now.
Confused.
Terrified.
But alive.
Noah stopped breathing.
Because the person standing beside Adrian...
May you like
was the son he had spent seven years searching for.
Lucas.
