Chapter 8: The Man Who Came Looking
Ray immediately stepped in front of me.
The stranger stood at the top of the stairs.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
Like he belonged there.
Diane stared at him.
“You.””
The man slowly walked down.
“Hello, Diane.””
“Get out.””
He smiled.
“You always say that.””
Ray looked at him.
“Who are you?””
The man ignored him.
His eyes stayed on Diane.
“I knew eventually someone would discover the room.””
Diane’s hands shook.
“You followed me.””
“No.””
He looked around.
“I followed Ethan.””
The name changed the entire atmosphere.
Ray stepped forward.
“Where is he?””
The man smiled.
“That’s the question everyone wants answered.””
“Who are you?””
The man finally looked at Ray.
“Marcus Vale.””
He said it like the name should mean something.
It didn’t.
But Diane reacted.
Ray noticed.
“You know him.””
Diane looked away.
“Yes.””
“From where?””
She didn’t answer.
Marcus walked toward the table.
His eyes landed on the hard drive.
“There it is.””
Diane moved quickly.
“No.””
Marcus laughed softly.
“You still don’t understand.””
“I understand enough.””
“No, Diane. You don’t.””
He reached toward the hard drive.
Ray grabbed his arm.
“Don’t touch that.””
For a moment, Marcus looked surprised.
Then amused.
“You really are just a mechanic.””
Ray didn’t let go.
“And you’re someone who breaks into people’s property.””
Marcus pulled his arm away.
“You have no idea what you’re involved in.””
Ray stared at him.
“Then explain.””
Marcus looked at Diane.
“She never told you?””
“No.””
“Of course she didn’t.””
Diane’s face turned red.
“Stop.””
Marcus ignored her.
“Ethan wasn’t running from us.””
Ray frowned.
“What?””
“He was hiding from what he discovered.””
“And you were chasing him.””
Marcus smiled.
“Because he stole something.””
“The files?””
“Yes.””
Diane stepped forward.
“You destroyed his life.””
Marcus looked at her coldly.
“No. Ethan destroyed his own life when he decided he was more important than everyone else.””
Ray noticed something.
Marcus wasn’t searching randomly.
He knew exactly where everything was.
He knew about the room.
The equipment.
The hidden compartment.
This wasn’t his first time there.
“You’ve been here before.””
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Many times.””
Diane whispered:
“You watched me.””
Marcus didn’t deny it.
“I watched the room.””
Ray’s jaw tightened.
“You installed cameras?””
“No.””
Marcus looked toward the monitor.
“She did that herself.””
Diane looked ashamed.
“I thought I was protecting Ethan.””
Marcus laughed.
“You were protecting a memory.””
That sentence hurt her.
Ray noticed.
And that was when he realized something.
Diane wasn’t just hiding a secret.
She was protecting someone she believed was still alive.
The hard drive suddenly made a sound.
A small light turned on.
Everyone looked.
A file had opened automatically.
On the screen appeared one sentence.
*IF THIS FILE OPENS, ETHAN IS ALREADY GONE.*
Marcus’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Ray saw it.
“You didn’t expect that.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“What did it say?””
Ray moved in front of the screen.
“Why?””
Marcus’s calm disappeared.
“Because that file wasn’t supposed to open.””
Diane stared at him.
“You’re afraid.””
Marcus looked at her.
“No.””
But his voice was different.
He was afraid.
The screen continued loading.
A video appeared.
Ethan.
Again.
But this time he wasn’t alone.
Someone was sitting beside him.
Someone whose face was hidden.
Ethan looked into the camera.
“If you found this…”
He paused.
“Then Marcus knows.””
Marcus stepped backward.
For the first time, he looked worried.
Ethan continued:
“The person you should fear isn’t the one looking for me.””
The video glitched.
Then Ethan said the final words:
“It’s the one who helped me disappear.””
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Then Diane slowly turned toward Marcus.
Because she knew something Ray and I didn’t.
May you like
Someone had helped Ethan vanish.
And that person was standing in the room with them.
