Chapter 12 - Someone Was Watching the House
Police surveillance around Michael's mother's house increased overnight.
Two marked patrol cars remained nearby.
An unmarked vehicle watched the back street.
Detective Bennett believed Ethan might still be in danger.
Michael didn't disagree.
At sunrise, Ethan woke quietly.
"Dad?"
Michael smiled despite everything.
"I'm here."
The little boy hugged him tightly.
"I thought you weren't coming home."
"I'll always come home."
Ethan looked toward the window.
"The man isn't outside anymore."
Michael froze.
"What man?"
"The one who watched my room."
His voice remained completely innocent.
"As if this were something normal."
Michael knelt beside him.
"Ethan... how long have you seen him?"
The child thought carefully.
"Sometimes."
"When?"
"Mostly at night."
"What did he do?"
"He just looked."
Michael's heartbeat accelerated.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I did."
"You did?"
"I told Mommy."
"What did she say?"
Ethan lowered his head.
"She said if I talked about him again..."
"...Dad would disappear."
Michael felt physically ill.
Emily had known.
She had known someone was watching the house.
She had deliberately kept Ethan silent.
Not because she didn't believe him.
Because she was afraid.
That afternoon, officers searched Ethan's bedroom.
They found nothing unusual.
Until one young detective noticed tiny scratches beneath the windowsill.
The wood had been cut repeatedly.
As if someone had removed and replaced the window frame dozens of times.
The forensic team carefully dismantled it.
Hidden inside the hollow section of the frame...
They discovered a miniature microphone.
Still active.
Still recording.
The technician followed the signal.
"It isn't transmitting far."
"How far?" Bennett asked.
"Less than two hundred meters."
"So whoever's listening..."
"...is nearby."
Police immediately searched every building surrounding the neighborhood.
Hours later they located the receiver.
It wasn't inside an abandoned house.
Or an empty apartment.
It was hidden beneath the floorboards of a small bookstore directly across the street.
The owner insisted he had never seen it before.
But surveillance footage showed something else.
Just before sunrise...
Someone had entered the bookstore using a key.
The person's face never appeared.
Only one detail stood out.
May you like
They walked with a noticeable limp.
---
