A Single Dad Used an Old Pilot Call Sign—The CEO Suddenly Realized Who He Really Was
Chapter 5
They returned to Atlanta without telling anyone what they had found.
Elizabeth instructed her assistant to say the trip had been personal.
Marcus went back to his ordinary routine.
He picked Noah up from school.
He cooked dinner.
He helped with homework.
But his mind remained inside that metal case.
That night, Noah noticed.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you worried?”
Marcus smiled.
“A little.”
“About your new job?”
Marcus paused.
“Something like that.”
Noah looked at him.
“You always tell me not to worry alone.”
Marcus smiled.
“You’re right.”
He hugged his son.
“I’m okay.”
But he wasn’t.
The next morning, Elizabeth called.
“Someone accessed my father’s archived files.”
Marcus sat upright.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Who?”
“Security doesn’t know.”
Marcus frowned.
“Did they access anything else?”
“Yes.”
“The accident records.”
Marcus felt a cold wave pass through him.
“Someone knows.”
Elizabeth was silent.
“What do we do?”
“Don’t tell the board.”
“I won’t.”
“And don’t trust your security team.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever accessed the files knew exactly where to look.”
Elizabeth understood.
“Someone inside.”
“Yes.”
Marcus arrived at headquarters within thirty minutes.
They reviewed security footage.
At 2:13 a.m., a man entered the restricted archive.
His face was obscured.
But Marcus noticed something.
The man walked with a slight limp.
He stopped at one camera.
Looked directly at it.
Then continued.
Marcus rewound the footage.
Again.
Again.
Elizabeth watched.
“You recognize him?”
“No.”
Marcus paused.
“He wants us to think we don’t.”
“What does that mean?”
Marcus pointed.
“Look at his left hand.”
A silver ring.
Three intersecting lines.
The same symbol.
Elizabeth’s expression changed.
“That’s my father’s symbol.”
Marcus nodded.
The man had deliberately shown it.
Someone wanted them to know.
A message appeared on Elizabeth’s computer.
STOP LOOKING.
She stared at the screen.
Marcus immediately disconnected the network.
Then another message appeared on her phone.
A photograph.
Noah walking home from school.
Marcus’s blood ran cold.
The message beneath it was simple.
You have something we want.
Marcus stood immediately.
“Where is Noah?”
Elizabeth looked at him.
“School.”
Marcus grabbed his jacket.
“We’re going.”
They reached the school.
Noah was safe inside.
Marcus picked him up personally.
He didn’t tell him what had happened.
But he understood something.
This wasn’t about an old accident anymore.
Someone had found him.
And they knew exactly where to hurt him.
Elizabeth drove behind them.
At a secure location, Marcus finally told her.
“They threatened my son.”
Elizabeth looked devastated.
“I’m sorry.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Don’t be.”
“What will you do?”
Marcus looked at Noah sleeping in the back seat.
“Finish this.”
Elizabeth nodded.
They needed the evidence.
But they also needed to know who was behind the threat.
And there was only one person who had access to everything.
Arthur Vale.
