Chapter 7 - The Man in Ethan’s House Knew Rex’s Old CommandsEthan turned slowly.
The man in the hallway wore a baseball cap low over his face.
Average height.
Heavy build.
Dark jacket despite the summer heat.
His right hand remained inside his pocket.
Ethan didn't know whether he held a weapon.
He didn't intend to find out.
Lauren's voice came through the phone.
"Ethan?"
The stranger glanced at it.
"Hang up."
Ethan didn't.
"Who are you?"
"You know what you need to do."
"Enlighten me."
"Stop digging."
Ethan almost laughed.
Three years earlier, threats frightened him.
Prison had changed the scale.
"You broke into the wrong house."
The stranger's expression didn't change.
"No. You broke into the wrong house last night."
That confirmed the connection.
Ethan shifted his weight.
"Grant send you?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Nolan?"
A flicker.
Tiny.
But Ethan saw it.
Security work had taught him that people often answered questions before speaking.
"You work for Nolan."
The man's jaw tightened.
Lauren was still listening.
"Ethan, call the police."
The stranger moved.
Fast.
Ethan threw the phone onto the couch and stepped sideways as the man lunged.
A metal object flashed in his hand.
Not a gun.
A collapsible baton.
It struck Ethan's shoulder instead of his head.
Pain exploded down his arm.
Ethan drove forward.
They crashed into the kitchen wall.
The stranger was strong.
Ethan was angrier.
He trapped the man's wrist and slammed it against the counter until the baton fell.
The man head-butted him.
White light burst across Ethan's vision.
He stumbled.
The stranger ran for the back door.
Ethan chased him outside.
A motorcycle waited beside the alley.
The man jumped on.
Ethan reached him a second too late.
The motorcycle roared away.
Ethan stood in the road breathing hard.
Something lay on the pavement.
A key card.
It must have fallen from the stranger's jacket.
Ethan picked it up.
No company logo.
Only a serial number.
And one word.
WEXLER.
He photographed it.
Then Lauren shouted from his phone inside the house.
"Ethan!"
He returned.
"I'm here."
"What happened?"
"He's gone."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
That was a lie.
His shoulder already throbbed.
"Who was he?"
"I don't know."
"You said Nolan."
"I said he reacted to Nolan's name."
Lauren became quiet.
"Nolan works for my father."
"He worked for your father before Caleb died."
"He still does."
Ethan sat.
"Tell me everything you know about him."
"Nolan runs security for three Whitmore properties. He comes to the mansion twice a week."
"Does he handle Rex?"
"Sometimes."
"Does Rex obey him?"
"Yes."
That mattered.
Rex had been trained using a mixture of verbal and hand commands Ethan developed himself.
Caleb knew them.
Lauren knew a few.
Nolan had watched Ethan train Rex for months.
Enough to imitate him.
"Could Nolan have locked Rex in the garage?"
"Yes."
Ethan picked up the key card.
"Wexler mean anything to you?"
"No."
"Think."
"I am."
He heard typing.
Lauren had apparently opened her laptop.
Thirty seconds later, she inhaled sharply.
"What?"
"Wexler Restoration."
"Company?"
"They handled emergency work at the mansion."
"When?"
"The week Caleb died."
Ethan sat straighter.
"The pool?"
"I'm looking."
Another pause.
"Yes."
His pulse quickened.
"Send me everything."
"Ethan, there's something else."
"What?"
"Mason used Wexler too."
"For what?"
"I found an invoice after he died. He paid them twelve thousand dollars."
"When?"
"Three weeks before his accident."
The connection tightened.
"What did he hire them for?"
"The invoice just says structural inspection."
"Where?"
"It doesn't say."
Ethan rubbed his jaw.
Caleb discovers something beneath the pool house.
Wexler performs emergency construction immediately after Caleb dies.
Years later, Mason starts investigating.
Mason pays Wexler.
Mason dies.
Too many coincidences.
"Do you know anyone at the company?"
"No."
"Find someone."
"How?"
"You're a Whitmore. People answer when you call."
"That isn't as useful as you think."
"Today it is."
Lauren exhaled.
"Fine."
Ethan looked again at the key card.
"Someone wanted this back badly enough to break into my house."
"How do you know that's why he came?"
"I don't."
And that bothered him.
The man hadn't searched anything.
He had come straight to Ethan.
Maybe intimidation was the goal.
Or maybe the real objective was hidden elsewhere.
Ethan walked into his bedroom.
Drawers untouched.
Closet untouched.
Back to the kitchen.
The architectural documents remained on the table.
Except—
He counted.
One page was missing.
The filtration diagram.
Ethan's stomach tightened.
The intruder had taken the exact document showing the old pool layout.
He immediately called Lauren back.
"Did you keep another copy?"
"Of what?"
"The pool plan."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Storage unit."
"Move it."
"Ethan—"
"Now."
"Why?"
"The guy took mine."
Lauren went silent.
Then Ethan heard a sound on her end.
A dog barking.
Not Rex.
The second guard dog.
Kane.
"Lauren?"
No answer.
"Lauren?"
Her breathing changed.
"Ethan…"
"What?"
"I'm at the mansion."
He stood.
"I thought you left."
"I came back to get something from my room."
"Get out."
"I can't."
"Why?"
Kane barked again.
Then Rex joined him.
Both dogs were downstairs.
Lauren whispered, "My father just came home."
"So?"
"He wasn't supposed to."
A door closed in the background.
A man's footsteps moved closer.
Lauren lowered her voice.
"He's with Nolan."
Ethan's pulse jumped.
"Do not confront them."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Leave."
"I told you, I can't."
"Why not?"
Lauren was silent for two seconds.
May you like
Then she whispered:
"Because Nolan just put Caleb's red baseball cap on my father's desk."
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