My Childhood Crush Knocked on My Door After 15 Years… She Was Holding a Letter With My Name On It.
Chapter 6
The hard drive was encrypted.
Ethan spent six hours trying to unlock it.
Nothing worked.
Every password failed.
Claire remembered something.
“Try the date we met.”
Ethan typed it.
Access denied.
“Your birthday?”
Denied.
“Daniel’s birthday?”
Denied.
Then Ethan remembered the photograph.
He entered the date printed on the back.
The screen unlocked.
A folder appeared.
NORTHSTAR — FINAL.
Inside were dozens of files.
Bank records.
Property transfers.
Contracts.
Photographs.
And emails between Robert Bennett and Victor Shaw.
The documents revealed something far worse than financial fraud.
They had been using abandoned properties and fake construction companies to move money through Chicago.
Daniel had discovered everything.
But one folder contained a video.
Ethan clicked it.
Daniel appeared on screen.
He looked exhausted.
“If you’re watching this, I probably couldn’t stop them.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“There are two parts to the Northstar operation. The money is only one.”
He opened another document.
“The second part involves people.”
Ethan leaned closer.
Daniel explained that Robert and Victor had been buying struggling companies and forcing owners into fraudulent deals.
Anyone who resisted was threatened.
Anyone who discovered the truth was silenced.
Then Daniel mentioned Michael.
“Michael found proof that someone inside the police department was helping them.”
Ethan froze.
The video ended.
Claire looked at him.
“That’s why Michael disappeared.”
Ethan nodded.
“We need to find him.”
They searched the internet.
Nothing.
Then Ethan noticed something.
A property document listed a small warehouse in Wisconsin.
The registered owner was a company connected to Victor Shaw.
They drove there the next morning.
The warehouse appeared abandoned.
Inside, however, they found signs someone had been living there.
A mattress.
Food cans.
Medical supplies.
And photographs.
One photograph showed Michael Reyes.
Older.
Gray at the temples.
Alive.
On the back was an address.
Ethan and Claire followed it to a small house near Madison.
An elderly woman answered.
When Ethan said Michael’s name, her face changed.
“He’s not here.”
“Please,” Ethan said. “We aren’t here to hurt him.”
The woman stared at Claire.
“You’re Robert Bennett’s daughter.”
Claire nodded.
The woman stepped aside.
Michael was sitting in the living room.
He looked at Ethan for a long time.
Then he whispered,
“You look like Daniel.”
Ethan sat across from him.
“You knew my brother wasn’t killed by accident.”
Michael looked down.
“I knew he was in danger.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I tried.”
“Then why disappear?”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“Because they came after me.”
He explained that after Daniel’s death, he had tried to give the evidence to the police.
But someone inside the department warned Victor.
Michael’s apartment was searched.
His girlfriend disappeared.
He fled.
“For fifteen years,” he said, “I lived under different names.”
Claire asked, “Why didn’t you contact me?”
Michael looked at her.
“Your father was watching you.”
Claire lowered her eyes.
Michael continued.
“Daniel knew your father would use you against Ethan.”
Ethan’s stomach twisted.
“What does Northstar have to do with us?”
Michael leaned forward.
“Your brother discovered something before he died.”
“What?”
“He found the original ownership documents for a company called Parker Design.”
Ethan frowned.
“That was my father’s company.”
“Yes.”
“My father sold it.”
“No.”
Michael’s voice was firm.
“He was forced out.”
He explained that Robert Bennett had engineered a legal takeover.
Ethan’s father had refused to cooperate.
So Robert framed him for financial misconduct.
The family lost everything.
Ethan had been too young to understand.
Daniel had discovered the truth years later.
But there was one final piece.
“Your father wasn’t the real reason Robert wanted the company,” Michael said.
“Then what was?”
Michael looked directly at Ethan.
“Northstar.”
Ethan waited.
“Parker Design had developed a proprietary construction technology that could identify structural weaknesses in buildings.”
Ethan’s eyes widened.
“Blueprint analysis?”
“More than that.”
Michael explained that the technology could predict failures before they happened.
It could be used to prevent disasters.
Or manipulate them.
Robert wanted it.
Victor wanted it.
Daniel had refused to hand it over.
And Ethan’s father had hidden the final research before he was forced out.
Michael reached into a drawer.
He pulled out an old envelope.
“Daniel gave this to me.”
Ethan recognized the handwriting.
His brother had written only one sentence.
Give this to Ethan when Claire comes back.
Ethan stared at Michael.
Then at Claire.
The entire room became silent.
Claire whispered,
“So Daniel knew we’d find each other again.”
Michael nodded.
“He believed you two were the only people who could finish what he started.”
