Chapter 3 - The Man Jackson Trusted
Marcus Hale had protected Jackson for eleven years.
He had taken bullets for him.
He knew the codes to Jackson's homes, the routes of his cars, and the names of every person Jackson trusted.
Now Emily was accusing him of attempted murder.
Marcus stared at her.
“That's impossible.”
Emily backed away.
“I saw you.”
Marcus looked at Jackson.
“She’s confused.”
“No,” Emily said. “I'm not.”
Jackson said nothing.
That frightened Marcus more than shouting would have.
“Jackson, think.”
“I am.”
Marcus lowered his hands.
“Three years ago, I was the one who reached the hospital after your accident.”
Emily's eyes flashed.
“Exactly.”
Jackson turned toward her.
“Tell me everything.”
Emily's breathing became uneven.
She explained that she had been driving home through heavy rain when she saw Jackson's car lose control.
It struck the barrier.
She stopped.
When she reached him, he was barely conscious.
She pulled him from the driver's seat.
Then another vehicle stopped farther down the road.
Two men emerged.
One was Marcus.
Emily had assumed they were coming to help.
Instead, she heard one man say:
“He wasn't supposed to survive.”
Marcus shook his head.
“She's lying.”
Emily continued.
“I hid behind the barrier with you until they left.”
“Why didn't you tell the police?”
“I tried.”
Her expression broke.
“The next morning, someone came to my apartment.”
Jackson felt his chest tighten.
“They had photographs of my mother. My younger brother. They knew where everyone lived.”
Marcus said quietly, “Convenient story.”
Emily looked directly at him.
“You told me to disappear.”
Marcus's face remained still.
But Jackson saw it.
A tiny flicker in his eyes.
Recognition.
Jackson stepped between them.
“Marcus.”
“Jackson—”
“Give me your gun.”
Marcus stared at him.
“You can't be serious.”
“Gun.”
Several seconds passed.
Marcus slowly removed his weapon and placed it on a shelf.
Jackson took it.
“Now your phone.”
Marcus handed it over.
Jackson searched recent calls.
Nothing obvious.
Then Emily pointed at the flash drive.
“The proof is there.”
Jackson inserted it into a laptop in the hotel security office.
A video appeared.
Rain.
A highway.
Jackson's destroyed car.
The footage had been recorded from Emily's phone.
Two figures were visible.
One resembled Marcus.
But the image was too dark to confirm.
Then came a voice.
“Check the car.”
Another voice answered.
“If Reed survives, we're all finished.”
Jackson froze.
He knew the second voice.
Not Marcus.
Someone far more powerful.
Someone Jackson had trusted since childhood.
His father's business partner.
Victor Langford.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Jackson turned toward him.
“You knew.”
Marcus whispered, “Yes.”
Emily gasped.
Jackson's hand tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Victor threatened my family.”
Jackson stared at him.
“So you helped him?”
“No.”
Marcus looked up.
“I pretended to.”
Emily frowned.
Marcus explained that Victor had recruited him months before the crash. Marcus had secretly tried to gather evidence.
“But that night everything went wrong.”
“You let them believe I was dead?”
“Yes.”
“And Emily?”
“I told her to disappear.”
Emily stared at him.
“You?”
Marcus nodded.
“The threats against you were real. But I was trying to keep you alive.”
Jackson felt the room tilt beneath him.
Enemies had become protectors.
Friends had become suspects.
Nothing was what it seemed.
Then Marcus's phone rang.
The screen displayed:
VICTOR LANGFORD.
Nobody moved.
Jackson answered.
“Hello, Victor.”
Silence.
Then laughter.
“Jackson.”
Victor sounded almost pleased.
“So she finally found you.”
Jackson glanced at Emily.
“What do you want?”
“The same thing I've wanted for three years.”
“What?”
Victor's answer came calmly.
“The evidence your father left behind.”
Jackson's blood ran cold.
“My father is dead.”
“Yes.”
May you like
Victor paused.
“And now you're finally going to learn why.”
