Chapter 11 - Ethan Runs
Marcus came to Ethan’s foster home without permission.
He waited across the street.
Ethan saw him through the front window.
A black car.
A familiar face.
The man from the park last year.
The man who was Lily’s father.
Marcus lifted one hand.
Ethan’s stomach twisted.
Mrs. Greene was upstairs changing Lily.
Renee had not arrived yet.
Ethan opened the front door.
Marcus did not cross the gate.
“Hey, Ethan.”
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
“I know.”
“I’ll call the police.”
“You can.”
Marcus held up his phone.
“But I thought you should see something first.”
Ethan should have shut the door.
He knew that later.
Instead he walked to the gate.
Marcus played the night-market video.
Daniel’s slap.
Then another clip.
Eight years older.
Daniel shouting at Anna in a parking garage security recording.
Bring my son home.
If you run, I’ll take him from you.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Marcus lowered the phone.
“Daniel didn’t tell you that part, did he?”
“He told me he threatened Mom.”
“But not like this.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
Marcus’s voice softened.
“Your mother was afraid of him.”
“She was afraid of Charles.”
“She was afraid of both.”
“Where is she?”
Marcus looked wounded.
“I’m trying to find her.”
“You picked her up.”
“She asked me to.”
“Then where did she go?”
Marcus leaned toward the gate.
“Your mother made enemies.”
“You.”
Marcus’s expression tightened.
“I loved her.”
Ethan hated how much he wanted to believe any adult who said that.
“She said you betrayed her.”
Marcus looked away.
“People say ugly things when relationships end.”
“What did you do?”
“I made mistakes.”
The same words Daniel used.
Ethan suddenly hated all of them.
Marcus continued.
“Daniel wants you because of the trust shares.”
Ethan frowned.
“He wants control of the company.”
“He already lost control.”
“Exactly.”
Marcus put the phone away.
“You are worth billions of dollars in voting influence, Ethan.”
“I don’t care.”
“Adults do.”
Ethan stepped back.
“Go away.”
Marcus’s face changed.
“Your mother told me you were stubborn.”
“Go away!”
Mrs. Greene opened the upstairs window.
“Ethan?”
Marcus walked back to his car.
Before he left, he said, “If you want the truth about Anna, come to the night market tonight. Blue Lantern stall. Nine.”
Then he drove away.
Ethan told no one.
That was his mistake.
At 8:20 that evening, he slipped through the foster home’s side gate while Mrs. Greene fed Lily.
He took a bus using emergency cash Anna had sewn inside his shoe.
By nine, rain had begun.
The same market glowed under neon signs.
Ethan stood near the place Daniel had slapped him.
He hated himself for being afraid.
Marcus did not appear.
Instead a black SUV stopped at the curb.
Ethan ran.
The door opened.
Daniel stepped out.
Ethan backed away.
“How did you find me?”
“Mrs. Greene called Renee. Renee called me and the police.”
“You tracked me?”
“No.”
Daniel stayed ten feet away.
“Did Marcus tell you to come here?”
Ethan froze.
Daniel understood.
“He came to the foster house.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know Marcus.”
Ethan’s anger exploded.
“You don’t know anybody!”
Daniel said nothing.
“You didn’t know Mom. You didn’t know Charles. You didn’t know Marcus. You didn’t know me!”
“You’re right.”
“Stop saying that!”
People turned.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“I’m not going to argue with you.”
“Then leave.”
“I can’t leave a seven-year-old alone in the street.”
“You did for eight years.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Ethan regretted it immediately.
Then decided he did not.
Daniel nodded slowly.
“That’s fair.”
A man emerged from beneath an awning.
Marcus.
Daniel’s entire body tightened.
Marcus smiled.
“You came too.”
Police were still minutes away.
Daniel moved between Marcus and Ethan.
Marcus said, “Careful. Cameras everywhere.”
Daniel’s jaw flexed.
“I know.”
Marcus laughed.
“Growth.”
“Where is Anna?”
Marcus looked at Ethan.
“Your father thinks everything is a negotiation.”
Daniel said, “Tell me what you want.”
“The storage documents.”
“No.”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
“Then Anna stays where she is.”
Ethan’s face went white.
Daniel did not move.
“You just admitted you know where she is.”
“I said nothing of the kind.”
“You did.”
Marcus looked around.
“No recording.”
Daniel glanced upward.
The Blue Lantern stall had three security cameras.
Public place.
Witnesses everywhere.
Marcus saw his mistake.
He stepped backward.
Daniel said, “You’re not as calm as you think.”
Marcus’s eyes hardened.
“Neither are you.”
Police sirens sounded nearby.
Marcus turned.
Before disappearing into the crowd, he looked at Ethan.
“Ask Anna what happened six years ago.”
Then he was gone.
Ethan stared after him.
Daniel crouched several feet away.
“What happened six years ago?”
Ethan whispered, “I don’t know.”
But when he looked down, something lay near his shoe.
Marcus had dropped a folded napkin.
On it was an address.
May you like
And one sentence.
THE PLACE DANIEL’S MOTHER DIED.
