Chapter 5 - the friend at the door)
Ryan slipped the memory card into his pocket.
"Take Lily upstairs."
Claire nodded.
Gavin knocked again.
"Ryan?"
Ryan waited until Claire and Lily disappeared before opening the door.
Gavin stood there holding a paper bag.
"Soup."
Ryan forced a smile.
"I told you not to come."
"You also claimed food poisoning when you clearly sound fine."
Ryan froze for half a second.
Gavin laughed.
"Relax. You are terrible at pretending to be sick."
He walked inside before Ryan could object.
Ryan closed the door.
"Where's Claire?"
"Upstairs."
"Ethan?"
"School."
Gavin placed the bag on the kitchen island.
"I brought chicken soup and some of those crackers you like."
Ryan watched him.
Everything about Gavin looked familiar.
Gray coat.
Expensive watch.
Slight scar beside his right eyebrow from a college hockey accident.
Fourteen years of memories.
None of them matched the suspicion growing in Ryan's chest.
Gavin looked toward the floor.
A breadcrumb remained near the vent.
Ryan saw his eyes pause on it.
Only briefly.
But they paused.
"You renovating?"
Ryan followed his gaze.
"Why?"
Gavin pointed toward the ventilation grille.
"That thing looks loose."
Ryan felt his pulse increase.
"It always looks like that."
Gavin shrugged.
"Never noticed."
Ryan leaned against the island.
"How are things at Northstar?"
The question was deliberately casual.
Gavin's expression did not change.
"Busy."
"Any problems?"
"Always."
"Accounting problems?"
Gavin smiled.
"What kind of question is that?"
"Just curious."
"You hate accounting."
"I hate fraud."
For the first time Gavin's smile faded.
Ryan saw it.
Then it returned.
"You definitely have food poisoning. It's reached your brain."
Gavin picked up his keys.
"I'll leave you alone."
As he walked toward the foyer, he stopped.
"Oh, by the way, security company called me last week."
Ryan felt cold.
"Why?"
"They detected an administrator login from an unrecognized device."
Claire's footsteps stopped on the staircase above them.
Ryan stared at Gavin.
"Did they?"
"Yeah. I changed my password."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Gavin shrugged.
"Forgot."
He opened the front door.
Then glanced back toward the kitchen.
"Check yours too."
After he left, Ryan locked the door.
Claire came downstairs.
"He looked at the vent."
"I saw."
"And he mentioned the security system without you asking."
"I heard."
Ryan took the memory card from his pocket.
"We need to see what's on this."
He retrieved an old laptop from his home office.
They disconnected the Wi-Fi before inserting the card.
At first, nothing appeared.
Then Claire found a hidden folder.
Thirty-seven files.
Bank records.
Emails.
Contracts.
Scanned signatures.
Ryan opened the first spreadsheet.
Millions of dollars had been transferred through companies he had never heard of.
Several payments originated from Northstar Development.
Others came from Carter Architectural Group.
Ryan stared.
"That's impossible."
Claire leaned closer.
"What's impossible?"
"These payments have my authorization code."
"You approved them?"
"No."
Another file contained scanned invoices.
Ryan's digital signature appeared at the bottom.
It was perfect.
But Ryan had never seen the documents.
Someone had been using his identity.
Claire opened an email archive.
Many addresses were encrypted.
One was not.
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
Ryan stopped breathing.
Gavin.
There were hundreds of messages.
Most were financial.
Some discussed specific construction projects.
Others referred to something called Meridian.
Claire clicked a message dated eight months earlier.
Subject: Mitchell concern.
Sarah knows enough to cause trouble.
Do not contact her directly again.
Ryan's hands tightened.
Another message.
She copied the files.
Find the copy before she talks.
Another.
The child may have it.
Claire covered her mouth.
Ryan scrolled.
Then he found a photograph.
Sarah leaving a grocery store.
Lily beside her.
The picture had been taken from across the street.
Ryan stared at his daughter.
His daughter.
The word still felt impossible.
Claire opened another image.
Ryan entering his office.
Another.
Ethan leaving school.
Another.
Claire at a supermarket.
They had all been watched.
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Ryan immediately closed the laptop.
Ethan stood in the hallway.
"Dad?"
Ryan softened his voice.
"What is it?"
Ethan looked frightened.
"Lily says someone is outside."
Ryan moved toward the window.
A black SUV was parked across the street.
Its engine was running.
Claire whispered, "That's the car."
Ryan grabbed his phone.
The SUV pulled away before he could take a photograph.
Then Lily screamed upstairs.
Ryan ran.
May you like
Her bedroom window was open.
And the screen had been cut.
