Chapter 14 - The Night Daniel’s Father DiedDaniel couldn’t move.
Marcus looked at him.
“I didn't murder him.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“Your father was working with NorthStar.”
“I know.”
“He wanted out.”
Daniel stared.
“Why?”
“Because he discovered the same thing Rachel later discovered.”
“What?”
“The network wasn’t about money.”
Daniel waited.
“It was about control.”
Marcus opened an old case file.
People had been blackmailed.
Businesses destroyed.
Politicians manipulated.
Witnesses disappeared.
All of it controlled through financial records.
Your father had collected evidence.
“Where is it?”
Marcus pointed at the laptop.
“That’s what Rachel found.”
Daniel suddenly understood.
The forty million dollars wasn’t the real prize.
It was leverage.
Control over people.
Rachel had tried to destroy the system.
And someone had killed her.
Daniel turned to Marcus.
“So who killed her?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Your father.”
Daniel’s face went pale.
“My father was dead before Rachel.”
“No.”
Marcus shook his head.
“He died after he helped her escape.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“Your father faked his death.”
Daniel felt dizzy.
“Then who was buried?”
Marcus lowered his head.
“A stranger.”
Daniel couldn’t speak.
His entire life was built on a lie.
His father was alive.
He had disappeared.
Rachel knew.
Michael knew.
Marcus knew.
Everyone knew except Daniel.
Then Marcus said:
“Your father is the man who has been hunting Maya.”
Daniel looked at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Marcus handed him an address.
A cabin in Vermont.
Daniel drove through the night.
When he arrived, a light was on.
He entered.
An older man stood by the fireplace.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Daniel stopped.
“Dad?”
The man turned.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he said:
“I prayed you would never find me.”
Daniel’s voice trembled.
“Why?”
“Because the moment you did, they would find you too.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“You let me grieve.”
“I know.”
“Rachel knew.”
“Yes.”
“Michael knew.”
“Yes.”
“Marcus knew.”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s anger exploded.
“Everyone knew except me!”
His father lowered his head.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
He looked at Daniel.
“From myself.”
Daniel stared.
His father pulled out a folder.
Inside were photographs of Rachel, Maya, Lily, Emma.
And one photograph that made Daniel’s blood run cold.
A man standing beside Rachel.
The man from the original photograph.
Thomas Vale.
But the date was impossible.
It had been taken two weeks after Thomas was supposedly killed.
Daniel looked at his father.
“Thomas is alive.”
His father shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who is this?”
His father whispered:
“My brother.”
Daniel froze.
“You had a brother?”
“Yes.”
“What was his name?”
The old man looked toward the window.
“Michael Mercer.”
Daniel stared.
His father’s brother.
Michael.
The man Daniel had known as Michael Voss.
Not Rachel’s brother.
Not Lily’s father.
Someone else entirely.
Then his father said:
“He is the man who killed Rachel.”
Daniel’s phone rang.
A text appeared.
YOUR FATHER IS LYING.
Another message followed.
COME HOME.
May you like
Then:
EMMA IS WITH ME.
