The Accident Chad Needed
Chapter 04 - The Accident Chad Needed
The collision had happened on a rainy stretch of Route 41. Ethan's company vehicle had been struck when an SUV crossed the centerline. The SUV driver fled on foot after the impact and was never identified. Investigators had attributed the crash to reckless driving, with questions still open about the missing driver.
In the weeks afterward, Chad approached Ethan's board members one by one. He insisted the company needed stability. He showed executives an edited presentation portraying Ethan's rehabilitation schedule as evidence that he could not lead. He conveniently omitted that Ethan had continued approving budgets and managing projects remotely.
“People don't want uncertainty,” Chad had told him during one hospital visit. “Sign the proxy. Let me handle everything.”
Ethan declined. Chad stopped visiting.
Now Naomi reviewed the original collision records beside Ethan's home office window. “You suspect a connection between Chad and the accident,” she said. “Suspicion isn't evidence. We need records, witnesses and police cooperation.”
“I know.”
Ethan had learned to hate people making dramatic claims about his life without listening to him. He wouldn't do that to someone else, even Chad.
That afternoon he attended physical rehabilitation, working on transfers, shoulder strength and pain management. His therapist, Dr. Lynn Mercer, asked about the gala.
“Did they make you want to hide?”
“For about a minute.”
“And after that?”
“I wanted to take my life back.”
She smiled. “Good. Remember it was always yours.”
May you like
That evening, a former Whitmore Logistics dispatcher contacted Naomi. He remembered a company SUV being withdrawn from service immediately after Ethan's crash. The maintenance database listed it as sold for parts, but the paperwork contained inconsistent dates.
Naomi arranged to preserve the records and forward the relevant lead to investigators. Ethan stared at the registration number and realized he'd seen the same digits on a security photograph from the roadway. There was finally a lead that didn't depend on anyone's memory of a necklace.
