Chapter 7: The People Who Erased My Father
The sound outside grew louder.
Engines.
More than I could count.
The old garage shook as motorcycles and vehicles surrounded the building.
Every person inside moved at once.
The riders who had been laughing and repairing things only minutes before became something else.
Focused.
Alert.
Protective.
Thousands of people who had arrived to help a kid suddenly became the only thing standing between him and whoever had come looking.
Me.
Bear stepped in front of me.
“Stay behind us.””
I looked at him.
“Who are they?””
His jaw tightened.
“The people your father was running from.””
The words didn’t feel real.
I had spent my whole life thinking my biggest enemy was loneliness.
A missing father.
A broken system.
A world that forgot me.
I never imagined there were actual people who wanted me gone.
Adrian stood near the office door, watching everything.
He wasn’t scared.
That bothered me.
Everyone else looked ready for a fight.
He looked like he was waiting for a conversation.
“Why aren’t you afraid?”” I asked.
His eyes moved to me.
“Because fear is what they use.””
“Who are they?””
He looked toward the window.
“The ones who think they own the truth.””
A loud knock hit the garage door.
Everyone went silent.
Three slow knocks.
Not rushed.
Not angry.
Confident.
Bear looked at Adrian.
“You brought them here.””
Adrian shook his head.
“No.””
“Then how did they find us?””
Adrian looked at me.
And that answer made my stomach drop.
“They followed the same thing everyone else did.””
My hand went to the hard drive.
“You?””
He nodded.
“Your father knew someone would eventually find it.””
Bear’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why help us?””
Adrian looked at him.
“Because Marcus was right about one thing.””
“What?””
“He believed people could change.””
A bitter smile crossed Adrian’s face.
“I’m trying to prove him right.””
Before anyone could respond, the garage door opened.
Slowly.
Metal scraping against concrete.
The morning light poured inside.
A group of people stood outside.
Not bikers.
Not ordinary workers.
They wore clean clothes.
Expensive watches.
Cold expressions.
The kind of people who looked like they had never been told no.
At the front stood a woman.
She appeared to be in her fifties.
Perfect hair.
Perfect suit.
Perfect calm.
She looked around the garage.
Then her eyes landed on me.
I hated how quickly she found me.
“Eli.””
Hearing my name from her mouth made my skin crawl.
Bear stepped forward.
“Who are you?””
The woman ignored him.
“My name is Victoria Hale.””
Daniel immediately stepped back.
His face changed.
“You.””
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Daniel.””
The same way Adrian had greeted him.
Like everyone here had a history except me.
I looked at Daniel.
“You know her too?””
He didn’t answer.
That was enough.
Victoria looked at me.
“Your father caused a lot of problems.””
My fists tightened.
“You killed him.””
The entire garage went quiet.
Victoria didn’t react.
“No.””
The answer was too calm.
“I didn’t.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I expect you to understand the truth.””
I laughed.
A small, angry sound.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
Victoria tilted her head.
“You sound exactly like Marcus.””
I froze.
“Don’t say his name.””
Her expression softened slightly.
Not with kindness.
With something worse.
Recognition.
“He was difficult.””
“He was a good person.””
“I didn’t say he wasn’t.””
The answer surprised me.
Victoria looked around the garage.
“At one point, I respected him.””
Bear’s voice was cold.
“Respect doesn’t make you innocent.””
Victoria looked at him.
“You know nothing about what happened.””
Bear stepped closer.
“I know he trusted you.””
A silence followed.
And I noticed something.
Victoria’s face changed.
Only for a second.
But it was there.
A crack.
“You knew him,” I said.
She looked at me.
“Yes.””
“How?””
“Your father worked for my company.””
I frowned.
“What company?””
Victoria smiled slightly.
“Now you’re asking the right questions.””
Bear moved closer.
“Don’t play with him.””
“I’m not.””
She looked at me.
“Marcus was a brilliant engineer. He discovered a problem inside my company.””
“The missing records.””
Her eyes moved to Daniel.
Interesting.
She knew.
“Yes.””
I felt my stomach turn.
“And you wanted him to stop.””
“I wanted him to understand consequences.””
“That’s a nice way to say you threatened him.””
Victoria didn’t deny it.
“Marcus made choices.””
“He chose his son.””
Her expression changed.
“Yes.””
A pause.
“That was his greatest weakness.””
The words made something inside me snap.
“No.””
Everyone looked at me.
I stepped forward.
“That was his greatest strength.””
Victoria studied me.
For the first time, she looked uncertain.
“You sound like him.””
“Good.””
I surprised myself.
Because I meant it.
“I spent years thinking he abandoned me.””
My voice shook.
“But if he was fighting for me…”
I looked at the hard drive.
“…then I’m not going to be ashamed of him.””
Nobody spoke.
Even Bear looked at me differently.
Like he was seeing something.
Not a scared kid.
Not an orphan.
Someone else.
Victoria sighed.
“You don’t understand what you’re holding.””
“Then explain.””
She looked at the hard drive.
“That contains information that can destroy people.””
“People like you?””
“Yes.””
The honesty shocked me.
“But also people you don’t know.””
“What does that mean?””
Victoria looked away.
For a moment, she looked tired.
Not evil.
Just tired.
“There are systems bigger than one company.””
I stepped closer.
“Did my father die because of this?””
Her eyes met mine.
“Yes.””
The answer was quiet.
But it destroyed something in me.
I wanted her to lie.
I wanted her to deny it.
Because hatred was easier.
But she didn’t.
“Yes,” she repeated.
“Marcus knew too much.””
Bear’s hands tightened.
“You admit it?””
“I admit he was targeted.””
“By who?””
Victoria looked at Adrian.
Then Daniel.
Then me.
“Not by one person.””
A pause.
“By everyone who had something to lose.””
The garage went silent.
Then Daniel spoke.
“You were part of it.””
Victoria looked at him.
“I was trying to contain it.””
“You let him die.””
Her expression hardened.
“And you ran.””
The words hit Daniel.
He looked down.
I looked between them.
“What happened that night?””
Nobody answered.
Victoria stepped closer.
“Ask him.””
She pointed at Daniel.
“He was there.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Daniel?””
He didn’t speak.
“Tell me.””
His voice came out barely above a whisper.
“Marcus called me.””
“What did he say?””
“He said he had proof.””
“What happened?””
Daniel swallowed.
“He told me to take you and leave.””
My heart stopped.
“Take me?””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
“Anywhere safe.””
“Did you?””
Daniel looked broken.
“No.””
The answer was immediate.
“No.””
The anger returned.
“You didn’t.””
“I tried.””
“You said that already.””
“I tried to get to you.””
“Then why wasn’t I with you?””
Silence.
The kind of silence that answers before words do.
Daniel looked at the ground.
“Because I was too late.””
My breathing became heavier.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel looked at me.
“The night Marcus disappeared…”
His voice cracked.
“I saw your father for the last time.””
A pause.
“He wasn’t alone.””
My heart raced.
“Who was with him?””
Daniel looked toward Victoria.
Then toward Adrian.
Then back at me.
“He was with someone he trusted.””
I waited.
“Someone who knew where you were.””
A cold feeling spread through me.
“Who?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Because the answer came from behind me.
A voice.
Quiet.
Broken.
“I did.””
Everyone turned.
I froze.
Because the person standing at the garage entrance wasn’t Victoria.
Wasn’t Adrian.
Wasn’t one of the strangers outside.
It was someone from the foster home.
Someone I had seen almost every day.
Mrs. Carter.
My breath disappeared.
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“I knew your father.””
I couldn’t speak.
Bear stepped forward.
“Carter…”
She looked at him.
“I didn’t have a choice.””
My voice finally returned.
“You knew?””
She looked at me.
“I knew your father before you ever came to the foster home.””
The room spun.
The woman who had watched me grow up.
The woman who had watched me wait.
The woman who had never told me anything.
She stepped forward.
And whispered:
“Eli…”
She looked at the hard drive.
“Your father didn’t leave you at the foster home.””
A pause.
“He put you there.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because the foster home was the only place they couldn’t legally touch you.””
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then Mrs. Carter said the sentence that changed everything I believed about my childhood:
“Eli, you weren’t abandoned.””
May you like
She looked at me.
“You were hidden.””
