I Was Dared to Dance With the Quiet Girl—Then She Whispered Something Unforgettable

Chapter 9

The contract was hidden somewhere in our hometown.

My father had concealed it before disappearing.

He had left clues.

The first was the Blue House.

We returned home.

The Blue House was an abandoned property near the river.

Inside, we found a loose floorboard.

Beneath it was a metal box.

Inside was the original contract.

But there was more.

A second document listed every payment made by Richard Morgan.

Including payments to the detective.

Including payments to a judge.

Including payments to a city councilman.

And then we saw one final name.

My mother.

I stared.

“She was paid?”

My father shook his head.

“No.”

The entry beside her name wasn’t a payment.

It was a threat.

Emily understood immediately.

“Richard threatened her.”

My father nodded.

“He told her that if she testified, Ethan would disappear too.”

I sat down.

Everything I had believed about my mother’s silence changed.

Then my phone rang.

It was my mother.

“Ethan?”

“Mom.”

Her voice trembled.

“Where are you?”

“At the Blue House.”

Silence.

Then she whispered:

“Leave.”

“Why?”

“Because Richard knows.”

A gunshot cracked somewhere outside.

The window shattered.

My father grabbed me.

“Down!”

Another shot.

We crawled behind the wall.

Emily called the police.

Jake sent the documents to a reporter he trusted.

Then the shooting stopped.

A car sped away.

We waited.

Finally, sirens approached.

But before we left, my father found something carved beneath the window frame.

A small symbol.

Three circles connected by a line.

“What’s that?” I asked.

He stared at it.

“It’s not Richard’s symbol.”

“Then whose is it?”

My father didn’t answer.

His face had gone pale.

“There was another man.”