CHAPTER 6: THE TRUTH BURIED UNDER EIGHT YEARS
CHAPTER 6: THE TRUTH BURIED UNDER EIGHT YEARS
The old car engine struggled to start.
For a terrifying moment, Olivia Harper thought they wouldn't escape.
The black sedan sat there like a ghost from the past.
A reminder of everything that had been stolen from Noah.
His mother.
His childhood.
His trust.
"Come on..."
Olivia turned the key again.
The engine coughed.
Then finally came alive.
Noah sat in the passenger seat.
Silent.
Too silent.
The boy who had spent weeks screaming that something was alive inside his cast was now completely quiet.
And somehow that scared Olivia more.
"Are you okay?"
Noah stared through the windshield.
"No."
The answer was honest.
Simple.
Painfully honest.
Olivia gripped the steering wheel.
"I know this is a lot."
"No."
Noah shook his head.
"You don't know."
His voice cracked.
"You still have your mom."
The words hit harder than Olivia expected.
Because he was right.
She had been trying to protect him.
Comfort him.
But she couldn't understand what it felt like to discover your entire life was built on a lie.
"I don't know what it feels like."
She paused.
"But I know you deserve the truth."
Noah looked down.
"My dad lied."
Olivia didn't answer.
"Vanessa lied."
Silence.
"Grandpa lied."
His eyes filled.
"Who didn't lie?"
That question had no easy answer.
The car moved through the dark streets.
Behind them, the house disappeared.
But Olivia knew the danger had not.
Not even close.
After several minutes, Noah noticed something.
"The phone."
Olivia looked at him.
"What?"
"The phone from the car."
The old phone from Emily.
The one containing the message.
Olivia reached into her pocket.
It was still there.
The screen was cracked.
But the recording remained.
She pressed the button.
Static filled the car.
Then Emily's voice appeared again.
"If anything happens to me..."
The recording continued.
But this time, Olivia noticed something.
A background sound.
Very faint.
A ticking noise.
Like a clock.
She turned the volume higher.
"Wait."
Noah looked at her.
"What?"
"Listen."
They sat silently.
The ticking continued.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Olivia frowned.
"This isn't just a recording."
"What do you mean?"
"Your mother was trying to tell someone where she was."
Noah looked confused.
"How?"
"The background."
Olivia listened carefully.
"Every place has a sound."
Noah looked at the phone.
"So the ticking means something?"
"Maybe."
They listened again.
Then Emily's voice became clearer.
"If you're hearing this..."
A pause.
"I'm probably already gone."
Noah's eyes filled.
"Mom..."
The recording continued.
"But if Noah is safe..."
Everyone froze.
Because Emily said his name.
Not "the child."
Not "my son."
Noah.
She knew he would hear it one day.
"I need him to know something."
A long pause.
Then:
"The person who betrayed me wasn't trying to kill me."
Olivia's breath stopped.
"What?"
The recording continued.
"They were trying to take Noah."
The car became silent.
Noah looked terrified.
"Me?"
Olivia stared ahead.
Emily's voice continued.
"Richard wanted my research."
Research?
Olivia frowned.
"What research?"
The recording crackled.
Emily sounded weaker.
"He believed Noah inherited something from me."
Noah looked confused.
"I don't understand."
Neither did Olivia.
"Your mother was a scientist?"
Noah shook his head.
"I thought she worked at a hospital."
The recording continued.
"Richard doesn't know the truth."
A pause.
"The real reason Noah is important."
Olivia leaned closer.
Then Emily whispered:
"Because of the experiment."
The recording stopped.
The car kept moving.
But neither of them spoke.
Finally Noah whispered:
"Experiment?"
Olivia didn't know what to say.
Because suddenly the story had changed.
This wasn't just about money.
Or family.
Or revenge.
There was something bigger.
Something hidden.
Something Noah was connected to.
A strange sound came from the back seat.
Both turned.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
Then the phone screen lit up.
A new message appeared.
From an unknown number.
Olivia stared.
How?
The phone wasn't connected.
The message contained only three words.
Don't trust Olivia.
Her heart dropped.
Noah saw it.
His face changed.
For one horrible second...
he looked afraid of her.
"Olivia?"
She immediately shook her head.
"No."
She turned toward him.
"Noah, listen to me."
The boy didn't answer.
The message remained glowing between them.
Don't trust Olivia.
Then another message appeared.
She knows more than she says.
Olivia felt cold.
Because there was one terrible problem.
The message was true.
She did know more.
But not about Noah.
About herself.
Something she had never told anyone.
Something from eight years ago.
Something connected to Emily.
A memory she had tried to forget.
The night before she became Noah's babysitter.
The night she first saw his family name.
Bennett.
She remembered.
Eight years earlier.
She was fourteen.
Her father had worked as a driver.
For the Bennett family.
And one night...
he disappeared.
Everyone said he ran away.
Everyone except Olivia.
Because before he vanished, he left her a message.
A message she never understood.
Until now.
She reached into her bag.
Pulled out an old envelope.
Noah stared.
"What is that?"
Olivia looked at it.
Her hands shaking.
"I was going to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
She opened the envelope.
Inside was an old photograph.
A photograph of her father.
Standing beside Emily Bennett.
And Richard Bennett.
Eight years ago.
Noah looked at it.
"Your dad knew my mom?"
Olivia nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
Because she had been afraid.
Because she thought it was unrelated.
Because she never imagined the past would come back.
But now...
everything was connected.
"My father disappeared the same night your mother had the accident."
Noah stared at her.
"What?"
Olivia looked away.
"I spent years trying to find out what happened."
"And?"
Her voice became quiet.
"I found one clue."
"What clue?"
She looked at him.
"The last thing my father wrote before he disappeared."
Noah waited.
Olivia whispered:
"Protect the Bennett boy."
The words made both of them freeze.
Because suddenly they understood.
Olivia wasn't randomly brought into Noah's life.
She wasn't just the babysitter who happened to listen.
Someone had chosen her.
Someone had placed her there.
Someone had been watching.
The phone lit up again.
One final message appeared.
This time, from the same unknown number.
Now you know why Noah's cast was never the real mystery.
Olivia stared.
A second line appeared.
The real mystery is who has been protecting him all these years.
Then the phone went black.
And behind them...
a car appeared in the distance.
Following.
Watching.
Waiting.
Olivia pressed the accelerator.
But the car behind them moved faster.
May you like
Because whoever was chasing them...
already knew where they were going.
