Chapter 4: The Target Behind the Wheel
I stared at the photograph until the edges began to blur.
It showed my car moments before the crash.
The rain was heavy.
The streetlights reflected across the wet pavement.
And behind my vehicle, barely visible in the darkness, was another car.
A black SUV.
The same SUV that disappeared before the police arrived.
For six months, I had convinced myself the accident was just that.
An accident.
A terrible moment.
A piece of bad luck.
But the photograph in my hand told me something different.
Someone had been watching me.
Daniel stood near the door, waiting.
“Mr. Vance?””
I looked up.
“Who delivered this?””
He shook his head.
“No name. The receptionist said a man left it and walked away before anyone could ask questions.””
Brooke wiped her tears.
“Ethan, you have to believe me.””
I looked at her.
The old version of me wanted to believe her.
The man who loved her would have searched for any excuse.
But that man disappeared the night I woke up alone in the hospital.
“Why should I believe you now?””
Her lips trembled.
“Because I never wanted you hurt.””
I held up the photograph.
“But you knew someone wanted something from me.””
She looked down.
“Yes.””
Chad cursed quietly.
“Brooke, stop talking.””
I turned toward him.
“Still giving orders?””
He stepped closer.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.””
“Then tell me.””
His eyes narrowed.
“You think this is some dramatic story where you’re the hero and everyone else is evil.””
“No,” I said.
I placed the photograph on the table.
“I think this is a story where I was the only person who didn’t know the truth.””
The room became silent.
Chad looked away.
That reaction told me more than any confession.
I picked up my phone.
There was one person I needed to call.
Someone who had warned me months ago that the accident seemed suspicious.
My private investigator.
Marcus Hale.
The call connected after two rings.
“Ethan?””
“Marcus, I need you to come to the gala.””
A pause.
“Did something happen?””
I looked at Brooke and Chad.
“Everything happened.””
Twenty minutes later, Marcus walked into the office carrying a leather folder.
He was in his forties, with tired eyes and the kind of calm expression that came from seeing too many secrets.
He looked at everyone in the room.
Then he looked at me.
“You finally found out.””
Those words made my stomach tighten.
“You knew?””
Marcus sighed.
“I suspected.””
“Suspected what?””
He placed his folder on the table.
“That your accident wasn’t random.””
Brooke covered her mouth.
Chad became completely still.
Marcus opened the folder.
“Three weeks before the crash, someone accessed confidential information about Vance Hospitality Group.””
I frowned.
“From where?””
“Inside.””
The word hung in the air.
“Someone inside my company?””
Marcus nodded.
“Someone knew your schedule. Your route. Your private meetings.””
I looked at Chad.
He noticed.
“You think it was me?””
“I think you’re standing here with more answers than you’ve given.””
Chad laughed.
“This is ridiculous.””
Marcus ignored him.
“There’s more.””
He pulled out a document.
“The truck driver involved in the accident was not drunk. His brakes were intentionally damaged.””
Brooke gasped.
I felt my hands go cold.
The hospital.
The surgeries.
The months of learning how to live again.
All because someone made a decision.
“Did he survive?”” I asked.
Marcus looked at me.
“No.””
The room went quiet.
“He died three weeks later.””
I closed my eyes.
Another life destroyed.
Another person who never got answers.
Marcus placed one final paper on the table.
“This is why I believe you weren’t the main target.””
I opened my eyes.
“What does that mean?””
He pointed to a name.
A name I recognized.
A name that made my heart stop.
*Vance Foundation Chairman: Richard Vance.*
My uncle.
Marcus spoke quietly.
“Your accident happened the same week your uncle planned to announce his resignation.””
I stared at the paper.
My uncle had been running the foundation for fifteen years.
He was the person who taught me business.
The person who helped build my company.
“Why would someone target him?””
Marcus looked at me.
“Because before he resigned, he planned to expose someone.””
“Who?””
Marcus didn’t answer immediately.
Then he slid another file across the table.
Inside was a photograph of my uncle meeting someone in secret.
A woman.
Brooke looked at it.
And her face turned pale.
May you like
Because she recognized her.
“It’s my mother,” she whispered.
