Chapter 15 - What Happened to Daniel
Daniel left work at 8:40 p.m. the night he disappeared.
He had copies of the inspection discrepancies.
He planned to meet Martin the next morning and then outside counsel.
Instead, Ryan called.
“Mom’s sick.”
Daniel believed him.
Margaret had a history of cardiac arrhythmia.
Daniel drove toward her house.
Ryan intercepted him near the industrial access road.
According to Daniel, Ryan stood beside his disabled vehicle.
Daniel stopped.
That part was simple.
Family stops for family.
They argued.
Ryan demanded the audit files.
Daniel refused.
The confrontation became physical.
Daniel remembered striking the steering wheel.
Then waking inside the warehouse.
His ankle had been injured.
His personal phone was gone.
Ryan visited.
So did Margaret.
That was the part Daniel had not wanted to believe even while it happened.
His mother stood outside the locked storage room.
“Just give Ryan time to fix the records.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You know I’m locked in here?”
“You’re not being hurt.”
“I am locked in a room.”
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“You always make things sound worse.”
That sentence destroyed something in him.
