Chương 7
“Yes.”
“He cannot answer.”
“That is the problem.”
She gave him a small smile.
It disappeared quickly.
They drove without turning on the radio.
Daniel sat in the passenger seat with his phone off.
Marcus noticed.
“You turned it off.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I do not know who can reach it.”
That answer should have made Marcus feel better.
Instead, it reminded him how far trust had already fallen.
After twenty minutes, Elena spoke from the back seat.
“Do you always work like this?”
Marcus looked at her in the mirror.
“Like what?”
“Like every problem is something you can isolate.”
He kept his eyes on the road.
“It usually works.”
“And when it does not?”
He did not answer.
The silence was enough.
Elena looked out the window.
“I used to think being prepared meant nothing could surprise me.”
Marcus glanced at her.
“What changed?”
“My son.”
The answer was simple.
She did not elaborate.
Marcus respected that.
A few minutes later, they passed a small grocery store.
A man stood outside loading bags into his truck.
A teenager leaned against the wall scrolling through his phone.
A dog pulled against a leash.
Normal things.
The kind of things Marcus had stopped noticing when his life became meetings and deadlines.
He wondered how much ordinary life he had missed while convincing himself he was building one.
Daniel’s phone, despite being turned off, lit up.
All three of them saw it.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel picked it up carefully.
The screen showed a notification.
No sender.
No message.
Just one line.
You should have stayed away.
Daniel looked pale.
Marcus pulled the car over.
“Did you open it?”
“No.”
“Do not.”
Elena leaned forward.
“Why?”
Marcus looked at the phone.
“Because if someone sent this knowing where we are, I want to know what they think they are revealing.”
Daniel stared at him.
“That is risky.”
“Yes.”
“You just said we need to be careful.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Careful does not mean afraid.”
The words sounded like something he would have said years ago.
But this time, he believed them less.
Daniel put the phone in a plastic evidence bag from the glove compartment.
Elena raised an eyebrow.
“You carry those?”
“I have employees who travel with confidential documents.”
“Of course you do.”
They continued driving.
The house appeared exactly like the photograph.
That made Marcus more nervous.
Nothing was hidden.
No security.
No obvious warning.
Just a quiet neighborhood where people watered lawns and collected mail.
He parked two houses away.
Nobody moved.
“What now?” Daniel asked.
Marcus looked at the house.
“I go first.”
“No,” Elena said.
Marcus turned.
“I was not asking.”
“I know.”
She opened the door.
“I am still saying no.”
Daniel looked between them.
“You two argue like people who have known each other longer than one day.”
Neither answered.
They walked toward the house together.
Marcus knocked.
No response.
He knocked again.
The curtain moved slightly.
Someone was inside.
Then the door opened.
Rachel Kim stood there.
She was older than Marcus expected.
Her hair was shorter.
Her face carried the kind of tiredness that came from years of staying alert.
When she saw Daniel, the color left her face.
When she saw Marcus, she took one step backward.
“You should not have come here.”
Marcus kept his voice steady.
“We need answers.”
Rachel looked past him.
At Noah.
Her expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Fear.
“You brought him.”
Marcus felt a cold feeling move through him.
“You know Noah?”
Rachel’s eyes filled with something close to regret.
“I know what he means.”
She looked at Marcus.
“And if you are here, then Claire failed.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“What does that mean?”
Rachel looked toward the street.
Then back at them.
“It means she ran out of time.”
Before Marcus could respond, Rachel grabbed the door handle tighter.
“Get inside.”
Her voice dropped.
“Because whoever sent you that picture already knows you found me.”
Marcus looked around the quiet neighborhood.
Nothing moved.
Nothing looked wrong.
Then Rachel whispered the words that made him understand they had arrived too late.
“They are not coming for Noah.”
She looked directly at him.
“They are coming to make sure you never learn why Claire chose you.”
Rachel stepped away from the doorway only after Marcus moved Noah’s carrier inside.
She did not invite them further.
She did not offer them a place to sit.
She simply watched the street through the narrow gap beside the curtain as if expecting a car to appear.
The house smelled like coffee, old books, and the faint scent of laundry detergent.
It was an ordinary smell.
That made the fear in Rachel’s face harder to understand.
“You have about five minutes,” she said.
Marcus closed the door.
“Why?”
“Because that is how long it took them to find me last time.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Who?”
Rachel gave him a tired look.
“You still ask questions like you are trying to solve a business problem.”
Daniel looked away.
Marcus noticed.
Rachel noticed too.
“Some things never change.”
Marcus kept his voice controlled.
“You know who is after Noah.”
Rachel looked at the carrier.
Her expression softened for half a second.
Then it disappeared.
“I know why they want him.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
She walked toward the kitchen.
“That is worse.”
Marcus followed.
“Elaborate.”
Rachel stopped near the counter.
“You still talk like everything has a solution if you collect enough information.”
“And you still talk like fear is an answer.”
The words came out sharper than he intended.
Rachel looked at him.
For a moment, she seemed almost relieved.
“There you are.”
Marcus frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Claire was right.”
His expression changed.
“Do not bring her into this unless you are going to tell me the truth.”
Rachel looked toward Noah again.
“She knew you would say that.”
Marcus felt the irritation rise.
May you like
“Knew what?”
“That you would be angry before you were afraid.”
