Chapter 12 - Hannah agreed to meet them in an abandoned train station.She arrived alone.
At least, that was what Everett thought.
The moment she stepped into the light, Claire slapped her.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
Hannah accepted it.
“I had to.”
“You knew Junie was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Lily was alive.”
“Yes.”
Claire began crying.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
Hannah looked at Junie.
“Because every person who knew the truth became a target.”
Everett stepped forward.
“You're going to tell me everything.”
Hannah nodded.
“Richard wasn't the mastermind.”
Silence.
“Who was?”
Hannah looked at Lily.
“Your father.”
Everett froze.
“My father died twenty years ago.”
Hannah shook her head.
“Not that way.”
She pulled out a newspaper clipping.
Everett remembered the story.
His father had supposedly suffered a heart attack while on a fishing trip.
Hannah pointed at the article.
“The fishing trip was staged.”
Everett stared.
“Why?”
“Because your father discovered Richard was stealing from the company.”
“And trafficking people.”
“Yes.”
Everett's jaw tightened.
“So Richard killed him.”
“No.”
Hannah swallowed.
“Your father escaped.”
Lily stared.
“Where?”
Hannah looked toward the darkness.
“Argentina.”
Everett could barely process it.
“My father is alive?”
Hannah nodded.
“Until last year.”
Everett's face fell.
“What happened?”
“He tried to come back.”
Richard found him.
“And?”
“He died protecting the evidence.”
Silence.
Hannah opened a small metal box.
Inside was a cassette tape.
Everett recognized his father's handwriting.
FOR EVERETT.
He inserted it into an old player.
Static.
Then his father's voice.
“Son.”
Everett closed his eyes.
“I know you will think I abandoned you.”
A pause.
“I didn't.”
His father's voice trembled.
“Richard betrayed us.”
Everett listened.
“He built the operation using our family name.”
“The people he hurt were hidden inside companies you would never suspect.”
“Banks.”
“Charities.”
“Hospitals.”
“Even orphanages.”
Everett's hands shook.
Then his father said the words that changed everything.
“The only way to destroy him is to expose the names.”
The recording continued.
“I placed copies of the evidence in three locations.”
“Richard found two.”
“The third is inside the place he hates most.”
Everett frowned.
“What place?”
The recording ended.
Hannah whispered:
“The Knox family cemetery.”
Everett looked up.
“My father's grave?”
“He hid the final key beneath it.”
Lily stood.
“Then let's go.”
They reached the cemetery after midnight.
The wind moved through the trees.
Everett found the grave.
He knelt.
The stone was cold.
He touched his father's name.
Then noticed something.
A small bear carved into the stone.
The same bear as Lily's necklace.
Everett pressed it.
A section of stone moved.
Inside was a metal box.
He opened it.
A single USB drive.
And a photograph.
The photograph showed Richard.
Victor.
Dr. Voss.
Hannah.
And another man.
Everett stared.
His blood ran cold.
“Who's that?”
Lily looked at the picture.
Then whispered:
“My husband.”
Everett turned.
“Your husband?”
Lily nodded.
“The father of Junie.”
Everett looked at her.
“But you said Victor was your fiancé.”
“He was.”
“Then who is this?”
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“He was my husband.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“And he was supposed to be dead.”
Suddenly headlights flooded the cemetery.
Dozens of vehicles entered.
Hannah whispered:
“They found us.”
Everett closed the box.
A voice came from the darkness.
Victor.
“Lily.”
She turned.
Victor stepped forward.
“You really should have stayed buried.”
Then another man emerged beside him.
Junie stared.
“Daddy?”
Everyone froze.
Because the man standing beside Victor…
May you like
was Junie's father.
And he was alive.
