After my husband’s funeral, volunteering at the South Camden Outreach Center became the one routine that kept me from unraveling. The quiet tasks—sorting coats, handing out soup, organizing donation bins—were a distraction from the hollow space in my home. My son, Daniel, urged me to move closer to him in Boston, but I wasn’t ready. I needed something that felt like purpose.
That’s when I met Ethan Walsh, a rail-thin homeless man in his late thirties. Every Thursday evening, he waited near the back gate. He rarely took much—sometimes just a sandwich, sometimes socks—but he always thanked me in a low, gentle voice. There was something polite, almost educated, in the way he spoke. I assumed he was simply another man life had chewed up.
Then came that freezing December night.
I was locking the supply shed when Ethan approached. Before I could greet him, his hand shot out, gripping my wrist with surprising strength. I gasped, trying to pull back, but he leaned in, his breath white in the cold.
“Ma’am,” he whispered harshly, “don’t visit your son this Christmas.”
My body stiffened. “What are you talking about?”
“Make an excuse,” he said, eyes darting around the alley. “Tell him you’re sick. Tell him the weather’s bad. Just don’t go. And meet me here Friday night. I need to show you something.”
Fear curled up my spine. “Ethan, you’re scaring me.”
“I know,” he said, voice cracking for the first time. “But it’s worse if you don’t listen.”
He released me and stepped back, trembling. I wanted to demand answers, but he turned and disappeared into the dark, leaving me alone with the echo of his warning.
I spent the entire drive home replaying his words. How did he know about my plans? Why Christmas? Why Daniel? By the time I reached my driveway, my hands were shaking so hard I had to sit in the car just to breathe.
On Friday, I showed up. I didn’t want to. But a mother’s fear is louder than logic.
When I saw Ethan waiting—with a folder clutched to his chest and panic written across his face—I knew my life was about to split into a before and after.
And I wasn’t ready for either.
Ethan pulled me behind the outreach center, where the security lights didn’t reach. His hands shook as he opened the battered folder, revealing photographs, printed emails, and a worn notebook filled with dates.
“This is about your son,” he said.
My knees nearly gave out. “Ethan, if this is some kind of sick—”
“It’s not. I worked in corporate security before…” He gestured vaguely at himself. “Before everything went wrong. Three months ago, I took shelter in a parking garage on West Main. I overheard two men talking about someone named Daniel Pierce. Your son.”
My heartbeat stuttered. “What were they saying?”
“They weren’t planning a robbery or anything like that,” he said. “It was worse. They were talking about leverage… blackmail involving a pharmaceutical company and a research leak. They mentioned using ‘family pressure’ if your son didn’t cooperate.”
I swallowed hard. “This makes no sense. Daniel isn’t involved in anything dangerous. He’s a software consultant.”
“That’s what I thought too,” Ethan said, pulling out a printed email. “But one of the men—the one with the scar—said your son stumbled onto information in a client’s database. Information worth a lot of money.”
I stared at the email, trying to make sense of it. It wasn’t addressed to Daniel, but it mentioned a “data anomaly flagged by Pierce.” My stomach churned.
“You should’ve gone to the police,” I whispered.
He laughed without humor. “A homeless guy shows up claiming he overheard criminals talking about corporate sabotage? They’d toss me out before I finished the sentence.”
“So why tell me?”
His jaw tightened. “Because two nights ago, those same men came back to the garage. They said they ‘knew the mother is visiting for Christmas.’ Meaning you. I think they planned to use you to get to him.”
Cold washed through me. “No… they can’t know who I am.”
“They do,” Ethan said. “And they’re watching him. Probably you too.”
I pressed a hand over my mouth, tears threatening. Daniel had already lost his father. I couldn’t be another target.
“What do I do?” I whispered.
Ethan hesitated, then handed me a slip of paper. “There’s someone in Boston—a journalist I used to work with. She investigates corporate corruption. She can help. But you need to leave town quietly. Tonight.”
The ground beneath me felt unsteady. “You’re asking me to run.”
“I’m asking you to stay alive.”
I drove through the night toward Boston, gripping the steering wheel so tightly my fingers ached. I didn’t call Daniel. I didn’t want to tip off anyone watching him. The highway lights blurred as fear pressed against my chest.
By sunrise, I reached a quiet café in Somerville—the meeting spot Ethan had written down. Sitting at a corner table was a woman in her forties with sharp eyes and a worn leather satchel. Julia Morland, investigative journalist.
“You must be Claire,” she said, standing to shake my trembling hand. “Ethan called me from a borrowed phone. He said it was urgent.”
I slid into the seat and told her everything—my husband’s death, the outreach center, Ethan’s warning, the overheard conversation. Julia listened without interrupting, her expression tightening as she flipped through the documents Ethan had given me.
“This… isn’t nothing,” she murmured. “The company your son works with—Rexlaris Pharma—has been under federal review for a year. Whistleblowers have gone missing. Files ‘accidentally deleted.’ If your son found evidence, even unintentionally, he’d be a liability.”
My throat closed. “So Ethan was right?”
“More right than he knows,” she said. “And if these men plan to use you as leverage… we need to move fast.”
Julia contacted a federal liaison she trusted, someone outside Rexlaris’s influence. While she made arrangements, I stepped outside to call Daniel.
He answered on the second ring. “Mom? Aren’t you supposed to be driving up tomorrow?”
My breath hitched. “Sweetheart, listen to me carefully. Don’t go to work today. Don’t meet with anyone from Rexlaris. Stay home until I—”
A click sounded on the line. Then silence.
“Daniel?” I whispered. “Daniel!”
The call dropped.
I stared at the phone, heart pounding, until Julia rushed out the door. “Claire, we have to go. Now.”
As we sped toward Daniel’s apartment, every worst-case scenario clawed at my mind. Maybe the call failed because of bad service. Maybe he simply walked into another room. Or maybe—
No. I couldn’t think it.
When we reached his street, two unmarked vans were parked near his building.
Julia grabbed my arm. “Claire. Get down.”
My world tilted. My breath vanished.
And that’s where I’ll stop—for now.
If you want Part 4, the confrontation, and the truth about what happened to Daniel, let me know. Your comments help me decide which stories to continue—so tell me if you’re hooked and want more.