Chapter 7 – The Man in the Shadows
Martin remained perfectly still outside the library door.
Years of serving the Carver family had taught him one lesson above all others:
Sometimes survival depended on saying nothing.
Inside the room, Claire slid the envelope farther across the desk.
The man in the dark suit counted the money without a word.
“This is only the first payment,” Claire said.
“I understand.”
“I don't want another public scene. I don't want Daniel asking questions.”
The man looked up.
“And the woman?”
Claire's expression hardened.
“Hannah Brooks disappears. Permanently.”
Martin's blood ran cold.
The stranger closed the envelope and stood.
“It'll look like an accident.”
“No,” Claire replied. “It has to happen somewhere away from the estate.”
He gave a slight nod before walking toward the door.
Martin quietly slipped around the corner just in time.
The man never realized anyone had been listening.
As soon as the footsteps faded, Martin hurried toward Daniel's office.
Daniel was still reviewing Aaron's files when Martin burst into the room.
“Sir.”
Daniel immediately stood.
“What happened?”
Martin closed the door behind him.
“I just overheard Miss Whitlock.”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“She hired someone.”
“For what?”
Martin hesitated only a second.
“To kill Hannah.”
The room fell silent.
Daniel slowly removed his reading glasses and placed them on the desk.
“Tell me everything.”
Martin repeated every word he had heard.
When he finished, Daniel picked up his phone.
“Victor.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want every entrance to this estate secured immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Double the security around Miss Brooks' room.”
“Understood.”
“And find out who entered this house in the last hour.”
Victor didn't ask questions.
“I'll have a report within twenty minutes.”
Daniel ended the call.
His voice became frighteningly calm.
“She crossed a line.”
Martin had known Daniel for nearly thirty years.
He recognized that tone.
It was the voice Daniel used just before someone's world collapsed.
Upstairs, Hannah sat by the bedroom window while Ben drew pictures beside her.
“What are you drawing?” she asked.
Ben proudly held up the page.
It showed three people holding hands beneath a bright yellow sun.
“One is you,” he explained.
“One is me.”
“And who's the third?”
“The baby.”
Hannah smiled through misty eyes.
“You forgot yourself.”
Ben shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward a tall figure standing beside the family.
“That's Mr. Daniel.”
Hannah stared at the drawing.
“He's protecting us.”
Before she could respond, someone knocked softly.
Daniel entered with Victor close behind.
Victor handed him a small evidence bag.
“We found this hidden under Miss Brooks' car.”
Hannah frowned.
“My car?”
Daniel opened the bag.
Inside was a small black device with blinking lights.
“What is that?”
Victor answered quietly.
“A GPS tracker.”
Hannah's face went pale.
“They've been following me?”
Daniel nodded.
“For quite some time.”
He looked directly at Victor.
“Run the serial number.”
Victor examined it briefly.
His expression changed.
“I've seen this model before.”
“Where?”
“It was used by a private security company owned by Whitlock Shipping.”
Hannah's breathing quickened.
“So Aaron…”
Daniel finished the sentence.
“Your husband may have been watched long before he died.”
Just then, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered immediately.
“What is it?”
Victor's surveillance team leader spoke rapidly on the other end.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Are you certain?”
A pause.
“Don't let him leave.”
He ended the call.
Martin looked at him anxiously.
“What happened?”
Daniel slipped the phone into his pocket.
“The man Claire hired.”
“They found him?”
Daniel nodded.
“He wasn't leaving the estate.”
He looked toward the front gates visible through the bedroom window.
“He was headed here.”
Outside, a black SUV rolled slowly through the iron gates of the Carver mansion.
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The man in the dark suit stepped out, reached inside his jacket...
...and smiled as he looked up toward Hannah's bedroom window.
