Chapter 10: The Accident Wasn't an Accident

Liam's POV

I spent the entire night going through the recording.

Every time Pierce's voice mentioned the original plan, my stomach twisted.

A routine medical procedure.

A fake explanation.

A blood draw that Gwen had intended to arrange without my knowledge.

And then, somehow, Andy ended up underneath the wheels of a drunk driver's car.

I couldn't believe it was a coincidence anymore.

The next morning, my lawyer called.

"Liam, we've received the traffic investigation report."

"What did they find?"

"The driver was drunk, but there's a problem. His vehicle had been reported stolen several hours before the accident."

I sat upright.

"Stolen?"

"Yes. And there's more. The vehicle's tracking system was disabled shortly before it was reported stolen."

A cold feeling spread through my chest.

"So someone wanted it to disappear."

"That's what investigators are considering."

I closed my eyes.

Andy hadn't simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Someone might have created the circumstances that put him there.

"Send me the report."

A few minutes later, the file appeared on my phone.

I read it twice.

The accident occurred only twelve minutes after Andy left preschool.

The driver had no prior connection to our neighborhood.

And according to the school's security footage, a black sedan had been following the school bus route that afternoon.

My hands began to shake.

I knew that car.

I'd seen it parked outside our house more than once.

Pierce's car.

I immediately called the investigator.

"I need that vehicle traced."

"We're already working on it."

"And check every phone connected to Pierce Donovan during the two hours before the accident."

There was a pause.

"Mr. Morrison, that's going to require a formal request."

"Then make the request."

For the first time, my voice carried something other than grief.

It carried certainty.

...

Third-Person POV

Gwen was released from questioning that afternoon, but she barely made it through the hospital corridor before Pierce called her.

"Where are you?" he asked nervously.

"I'm coming to see you."

"Don't."

Gwen stopped.

"What?"

"Someone has been asking questions about the blood arrangement."

Her face tightened.

"Who?"

"Liam."

Gwen's fingers tightened around her phone.

"He doesn't know everything."

"Are you sure?"

"He can't prove anything."

Pierce was silent.

Then he whispered, "What if he finds out about the driver?"

Gwen's entire body went rigid.

"What driver?"

Pierce immediately realized he'd said too much.

"Nothing."

"Pierce, what driver?"

"I said nothing!"

He hung up.

Gwen stared at the screen, her heart pounding.

For the first time, she wondered if Pierce had been hiding things from her too.

...

Liam's POV

That evening, I received another call from my lawyer.

"We found the owner of the black sedan."

"Who?"

"A private security company."

I frowned.

"What does that have to do with Pierce?"

"The company has one major client connected to him."

My breathing stopped.

"Who?"

"Gwen Dalton."

I stared at the wall.

My wife had hired a security company.

The same company had a vehicle following Andy's school route.

And that vehicle disappeared from the records shortly before his accident.

There was only one question left.

Why?

My lawyer sent another file.

"There's also surveillance footage from the day of the accident."

I opened it.

The video showed Andy walking out of school holding his teacher's hand.

A black sedan waited across the street.

A few seconds later, it slowly pulled away.

Then another vehicle entered the frame.

It was Pierce's luxury car.

My blood turned cold.

The timestamp was unmistakable.

Twenty-three minutes before Andy was hit.

I stared at the screen until my eyes burned.

This wasn't about an affair anymore.

It wasn't even about money.

Someone had been watching my son.

And now I knew exactly where to start looking.