Chapter 3 - Daniel stared at his mother.“My wedding?”
She nodded.
“Your father didn't want you alive after tonight.”
The basement seemed to shrink around them.
Daniel's thoughts raced.
Sophia.
His father.
Victor Hale.
The photograph.
The recording.
His supposed dead mother standing beside him.
None of it made sense.
“Where is Sophia?”
His mother looked away.
“That's the question you should be asking yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“She married you for a reason.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“No. Sophia loves me.”
His mother stepped closer.
“Does she?”
“Yes.”
“You've known her for four years.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me what you know about the first four years of her life.”
Daniel opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
His mother watched his face.
“You don't know.”
“She never talks about her childhood.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel's stomach tightened.
A light flashed through the basement window.
Car headlights.
His mother grabbed his arm.
“We need to move.”
She led him through a hidden passage behind a shelf.
The passage was so narrow Daniel had to turn sideways.
“Where does this go?”
“To the street.”
They emerged behind the building.
A black SUV waited nearby.
Daniel froze.
“Whose car?”
His mother shook her head.
“Not theirs.”
The rear door opened.
A man stepped out.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
Victor Hale.
Sophia's father.
He was holding a handgun.
“Daniel.”
Daniel stepped in front of his mother.
Victor raised the weapon.
“I don't want to shoot you.”
Daniel's voice hardened.
“Then put it down.”
Victor looked at the woman behind him.
“I failed to protect you once.”
She stiffened.
Victor continued.
“I won't fail again.”
Daniel frowned.
“You know her?”
Victor looked directly at him.
“I knew your mother before your father did.”
Daniel's mind spun.
“What happened to Michael?”
Victor lowered the gun.
“He's alive.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“What?”
His mother grabbed his hand.
“Don't.”
Victor shook his head.
“He needs to know.”
Daniel stepped toward him.
“Where is my brother?”
Victor looked at the church in the distance.
“Closer than you think.”
Then he handed Daniel a photograph.
It showed a young man standing beside Sophia.
The young man had Daniel's eyes.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“How old is he?”
“Twenty-nine.”
Daniel looked up.
“What's his name?”
Victor's answer came quietly.
“Michael Hale.”
Daniel's blood went cold.
“Hale?”
Victor nodded.
“My son.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Your son?”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“No.”
He pointed toward the photograph.
“Your brother.”
The night seemed to tilt.
Daniel took a step backward.
His mother covered her mouth.
Victor's expression became grim.
“Your father didn't just steal you from your mother.”
“He gave your brother to me.”
Daniel looked from Victor to his mother.
“Why?”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“Because Richard needed a way to control both families.”
Daniel heard another vehicle approaching.
Victor looked toward the street.
“We're out of time.”
His mother grabbed Daniel.
“Come with us.”
“No.”
Daniel pulled free.
“I need answers.”
Victor nodded.
“You'll get them.”
He handed Daniel a folded piece of paper.
“Tomorrow morning. St. Jude Cemetery. Grave 114.”
Daniel opened it.
A name was written there.
EMILY CROSS.
His mother's name.
Daniel looked at her.
“Why would your grave be there?”
She didn't answer.
Victor did.
“Because that's where your father buried the truth.”
A loud explosion shook the street.
The SUV windows shattered.
Victor threw Daniel to the ground.
His mother screamed.
Another burst of gunfire tore through the night.
Victor fired back.
Daniel crawled behind the vehicle.
Someone shouted from across the street.
“TAKE THE SON ALIVE!”
Daniel's blood ran cold.
His mother grabbed him.
They ran.
Behind them, gunfire erupted.
They crossed the alley and burst through a metal gate.
Daniel looked back once.
Victor stood in the middle of the street.
Holding his ground alone.
Then he collapsed.
“Victor!”
Daniel tried to go back.
His mother stopped him.
“He knew this was coming.”
“He's dying!”
“He knew.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You knew too?”
She looked at him through tears.
“I've known for twenty-six years.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Then you're going to tell me everything.”
She nodded.
But before she could speak, Daniel's phone rang.
Sophia.
He answered instantly.
“Where are you?”
Silence.
Then her voice.
Soft.
Terrified.
“Daniel?”
“I'm here.”
A man's voice whispered beside her.
“Tell him.”
Sophia began crying.
“Daniel...”
“Yes?”
“They know you found your mother.”
The call ended.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Then a message arrived from Sophia's number.
RUN. THEY'RE COMING FOR MICHAEL NEXT.
Daniel looked at his mother.
She was already crying.
Because she knew something he didn't.
And he suddenly realized the most terrifying part.
Michael wasn't missing.
May you like
Michael was already in the city.
And someone had just decided to kill him.
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