My Childhood Crush Knocked on My Door After 15 Years… She Was Holding a Letter With My Name On It.
Chapter 4
The key had a number engraved on it.
317.
Ethan spent the next morning trying to remember where he had seen that number.
By noon, he had searched every old box in his apartment.
Nothing.
Claire remained with him.
Neither of them slept.
They talked until sunrise about the years they had lost.
Claire told him about Boston, teaching children, and the life she had built after escaping her father’s control.
Ethan told her about architecture school, his first job, his mother’s death, and how he had stopped talking about Claire because eventually everyone assumed he had moved on.
But there was one thing neither of them could explain.
Daniel.
Ethan’s brother had died fifteen years before Claire disappeared.
Their father had always said Daniel’s death was a tragic accident.
A wet road.
A failed brake.
Nothing more.
But now Ethan couldn’t stop thinking about the photograph.
At 8 a.m., he called his mother.
She answered immediately.
“Ethan?”
“Mom, I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“Do you remember Daniel’s old things?”
There was silence.
“Why?”
“I’m looking for something.”
Another silence.
Then his mother asked, “Who told you to look?”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“Ethan, who told you?”
“Mom, what aren’t you telling me?”
Her breathing changed.
“I think you should come home.”
“Why?”
“Because this isn’t something I want to discuss over the phone.”
Ethan looked at Claire.
She was listening.
“I’ll come tonight.”
“No.”
His mother’s voice suddenly became frightened.
“Come now.”
The call ended.
Ethan stared at the phone.
Claire stood.
“Something’s wrong.”
“I know.”
They drove to Michigan together.
Three hours later, Ethan walked into the house where he had grown up.
His mother was waiting in the kitchen.
She looked older than Ethan remembered.
But the fear in her eyes made him feel sixteen again.
She hugged him tightly.
Then she saw Claire.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Finally, she whispered,
“You came back.”
Claire nodded.
“I should have come sooner.”
Ethan’s mother looked at both of them.
“Your father knew.”
Ethan’s heart sank.
“Knew what?”
“About the letter.”
Claire stepped forward.
“He knew my father kept it?”
“No.”
His mother shook her head.
“He knew your father was watching us.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Mom, start from the beginning.”
She sat at the table.
“When Daniel was twenty-one, he discovered financial records connecting your father’s company to several illegal payments.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel found evidence that Robert had been stealing money from business partners.”
Ethan sat down.
“He told me none of this.”
“He tried to protect you.”
His mother wiped her eyes.
“Daniel wanted to expose him. But before he could, he died.”
Ethan’s throat tightened.
“Are you saying his accident wasn’t an accident?”
“I don’t know.”
His mother reached into a cabinet.
She removed an old metal box.
“This was Daniel’s.”
Ethan recognized it.
He had seen it as a child.
His mother placed it on the table.
“The police returned it after the accident.”
Ethan looked at the brass key.
Then at the lock.
His hands trembled as he inserted it.
Click.
The box opened.
Inside were receipts, photographs, a small notebook, and an old cassette tape.
Ethan picked up the notebook.
The first page contained Daniel’s handwriting.
If anything happens to me, don’t trust the story they tell you.
Ethan’s stomach dropped.
He turned the page.
A list of names followed.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Robert Bennett.
Claire covered her mouth.
“My father.”
Ethan kept reading.
Then he found another name.
His own.
Underneath it were four words.
He was the real target.
Ethan slowly looked up.
“Why would I be the target?”
His mother began crying.
“I don’t know.”
Claire stepped closer to the notebook.
“There has to be more.”
Ethan picked up the cassette.
On its label, Daniel had written:
For Ethan. When he’s old enough.
Ethan stared at the words.
His brother had known.
Somehow, Daniel had known there would come a day when Ethan would need to hear this.
He looked at Claire.
“Do you know where we can play this?”
Claire nodded.
“My mother’s house has an old tape player.”
Ethan put the cassette in his pocket.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man’s voice spoke.
“Stop digging.”
Ethan’s blood went cold.
“Who is this?”
The caller hung up.
A second later, Ethan received a text.
Your brother wasn’t the only person who disappeared.
Then another message appeared.
Ask Claire what happened to Daniel’s friend.
Claire looked at Ethan.
“What does it say?”
Ethan slowly showed her.
Her face went white.
“I know who they mean.”
