Chapter 3 - PROJECT ORPHEUS The gunshots outside Locker 317 had not been aimed at Daniel.
That became clear once Detective Reed’s backup secured the storage facility.
The bullets had destroyed two exterior cameras and the electrical control panel. Whoever fired them wanted darkness, confusion, and fear—not bodies.
It was a warning.
Daniel hated warnings.
Threats were designed to create hesitation.
Instead, Rachel’s video gave him something he had not possessed for eleven months.
Direction.
The next morning, Sophie slept in Daniel’s bed while he sat in a chair beside her.
She looked smaller when she slept.
Daniel watched her breathe.
Every few minutes he remembered the pool.
Her pink dress twisting underwater.
Her hands fighting Vanessa.
Her voice.
Dad. Dad.
He would hear that voice for the rest of his life.
Claire entered quietly.
“She’s okay.”
Daniel nodded.
“She almost wasn’t.”
“You came home.”
“I should never have left her with Vanessa.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
Claire sat opposite him.
“That’s grief talking.”
“No.”
Daniel looked toward Sophie.
“That’s a father realizing his daughter was trying to tell him something and he kept explaining it away.”
He remembered Sophie refusing to sit beside Vanessa.
Nightmares.
Questions about Rachel.
The drawing of the black car.
Daniel had called it trauma.
Maybe some of it was.
But children often spoke through behavior long before adults allowed themselves to hear the words.
Daniel stood.
“I’m going to find Rachel.”
Claire stared.
“You think she’s alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“I have to believe evidence, not hope.”
A pause.
“But the evidence says somebody is still afraid of what she knows.”
Project Orpheus led them to the Cole Foundation.
Rachel had flagged seventeen international relief transfers.
Each appeared legitimate.
Medical equipment.
Food.
Emergency shelters.
But the receiving organizations shared something strange.
They all used the same logistics contractor.
A company called Meridian Global.
Daniel knew Meridian.
So did Marcus.
Meridian handled private security for several Cole Foundation projects.
Its CEO was Adrian Cross.
Daniel’s oldest friend.
Best man at his wedding.
Sophie’s godfather.
Daniel stared at Adrian’s name on the screen.
“No.”
Reed remained cautious.
“Connection isn’t guilt.”
Daniel nodded.
He appreciated that.
They needed facts.
Not another emotionally convenient villain.
Marcus opened Rachel’s notebook.
One line had been underlined twice.
A.C. says Orpheus protects witnesses. Financials say otherwise.
“A.C.,” Marcus said.
Daniel looked at him.
“Adrian Cross.”
The room became quiet.
Daniel called Adrian.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Claire entered holding Sophie’s tablet.
“You need to see this.”
A video call had arrived.
Unknown account.
Claire had not answered.
But the caller left a message.
Daniel played it.
Vanessa appeared.
Not in police custody.
Daniel stared.
“What the hell?”
Reed immediately called the station.
Vanessa had been transferred for questioning that morning.
The transport vehicle was intercepted.
One officer injured.
Vanessa gone.
Onscreen Vanessa looked terrified.
“Daniel, listen carefully.”
He increased the volume.
“They’re going to tell you I escaped because I’m guilty.”
She looked over her shoulder.
“I am guilty of what I did to Sophie.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“But I didn’t make Rachel disappear.”
Vanessa moved closer to the camera.
“Project Orpheus wasn’t created to steal money.”
Daniel waited.
“It was created to hide people.”
His heart stopped.
Vanessa whispered:
“Rachel found out because she found the list.”
“What list?” Daniel whispered.
As if hearing him, Vanessa answered.
“The names of people who were supposed to be dead.”
The message ended.
Daniel stared.
Reed slowly sat down.
Marcus opened Rachel’s notebook again.
Hide people.
Witnesses.
False deaths.
Daniel suddenly understood Rachel’s sentence.
Whatever they tell you, do not believe I left you.
“What if Rachel wasn’t killed?”
Claire asked.
Daniel looked at her.
“What if she was hidden?”
Reed frowned.
“Against her will?”
Marcus answered.
“Or to keep her alive.”
Daniel stood.
“Then why hasn’t she come home?”
Nobody answered.
His phone rang.
Adrian Cross.
Daniel answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
Adrian’s voice sounded exhausted.
“Daniel.”
“Where is Rachel?”
Silence.
That silence answered too much.
Daniel’s hand tightened around the phone.
“You know.”
Adrian exhaled.
“Yes.”
Daniel almost dropped the phone.
“Is she alive?”
Another pause.
“Adrian.”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s knees weakened.
Claire covered her mouth.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Daniel could barely speak.
“Where?”
“I can’t tell you over the phone.”
“Eleven months.”
“I know.”
“ELEVEN MONTHS!”
Sophie stirred upstairs.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“You let my daughter believe her mother was dead.”
“I kept her mother alive.”
Daniel stopped.
Adrian continued.
“Rachel uncovered people who could reach witnesses inside federal protection. She discovered a compromised law-enforcement network. Orpheus was an unauthorized emergency extraction system.”
“You hid her.”
“She agreed.”
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“She agreed?”
“She had forty minutes to decide.”
Daniel struggled to breathe.
“She chose to leave us?”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice hardened.
“She chose to keep Sophie alive.”
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
Adrian continued.
“They threatened your daughter.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“They told Rachel if she contacted you, Sophie died.”
Everything suddenly connected.
The photographs.
The school.
Vanessa.
The pool.
Rachel had disappeared to protect Sophie.
And eleven months later, Sophie’s questions had nearly gotten her killed anyway.
Daniel whispered:
“Take me to my wife.”
Adrian answered:
“I will.”
A pause.
“But Daniel…”
“What?”
“Rachel isn’t alone.”
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She found the person who ordered her disappearance.”
Daniel went still.
“And that person knows you opened Locker 317.”
A car engine roared outside.
Marcus moved to the window.
His face changed.
“Daniel.”
Three black SUVs were entering the driveway.
Not police.
Not friends.
Adrian spoke urgently through the phone.
“You need to get Sophie out of that house.”
May you like
Daniel stared toward the front doors.
“Now.”
Related Stories
