Chapter 4 - THE SECRET BENEATH THE SNOW
Jackson's recovery continued slowly.
The frostbite was painful.
His rib healed gradually.
But the physical injuries were easier to manage than the questions.
Who had betrayed him?
Why had they chosen the forest?
And what had happened to the missing warehouse workers?
Three months earlier, Jackson had received an anonymous letter.
It contained photographs of shipping containers at one of his company's southern warehouses.
Beside them stood several men he didn't recognize.
The letter claimed people were being moved through the facility against their will.
Jackson had dismissed it at first.
His legitimate shipping business handled thousands of containers.
But then another letter arrived.
This one included names.
Dates.
And a warning.
Someone inside your organization is using your routes for something you never approved.
Jackson had ordered a private investigation.
Two days later, one of his accountants disappeared.
Then a dock supervisor.
Then the man who'd arranged the meeting in West Virginia.
Jackson stared at the evidence in his hospital room.
Reed stood beside him.
“You think the disappearances are connected?”
Jackson nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who would do this?”
Jackson looked at him.
“Someone who knows our operations.”
Reed frowned.
“That narrows it to half the company.”
Jackson shook his head.
“Not the private schedules.”
Reed hesitated.
“Jackson, are you accusing me?”
Jackson looked at him.
“No.”
But he wasn't certain.
And Reed could see it.
That evening, Jackson received a call from an unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You should've stayed buried.”
Jackson's blood went cold.
“Who is this?”
The caller laughed.
“You were supposed to disappear quietly.”
Jackson stared at the phone.
Then the voice continued.
“Now you've made things complicated.”
The line went dead.
Jackson called hospital security.
Then Reed.
He ordered the call preserved.
For the first time, he understood something.
Whoever had tried to kill him wasn't finished.
And if they discovered the boy who'd saved him—
Wyatt Morrison could become a target.
Jackson looked at the lucky stone beside his bed.
Then whispered:
“No.”
He reached for his phone.
Called Reed.
“Find out who knows about the rescue.”
Reed hesitated.
“Jackson—”
“Now.”
May you like
That night, Wyatt sat in Harold's cabin watching Titan sleep.
He had no idea that the man he'd rescued was fighting to keep him out of a war he hadn't chosen.
