Chapter 11 - The Father Nobody BuriedThe Dead Man Was Still Alive
The first thing we did was verify my father's death certificate.
There was one.
But it contained an irregularity.
The date of death had been certified by a doctor who had never worked at the hospital listed.
Rachel checked the medical records.
Nothing.
No admission.
No body.
No autopsy.
My father had legally died.
But there was no evidence he'd physically died.
He had simply disappeared.
We traced his last known bank activity.
A dormant account had received one deposit fourteen years later.
$5,000.
Sender:
R.P.
Robert Price.
My father's business partner.
Robert Hale's middle name.
Rachel looked at me.
“Your father wasn't dead.”
I felt dizzy.
“Then why?”
“To protect someone.”
“Who?”
“Maybe you.”
The final transaction led to a small property in Maine.
We drove there overnight.
The house was hidden among trees.
Old.
Quiet.
A single light burned inside.
I knocked.
Nothing.
Then the door opened.
An older man stood there.
White hair.
Thin face.
Eyes that looked exactly like mine.
I stopped breathing.
“Dad?”
The man closed his eyes.
For a few seconds, he looked like he might collapse.
Then he whispered,
“Claire.”
I couldn't move.
He reached for me.
I stepped back.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You had fifteen years.”
“I know.”
“You let me grow up without you.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I thought staying away was the only way to keep you alive.”
I wanted to hate him.
Instead, I cried.
He told us everything.
He had discovered Robert Hale's criminal network while running Bennett & Price.
Robert had been siphoning client funds through shell companies.
When my father threatened to expose him, Robert threatened my mother.
Then they staged my father's disappearance.
He escaped.
My mother kept investigating.
She was killed before she could finish.
My father had spent years gathering evidence.
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“Robert owned the police officer.”
He looked at Rachel.
“Every system has a price when enough money is involved.”
Then he showed us a box.
Inside were documents.
Names.
Photographs.
Bank records.
And a list titled NORTH STAR.
Thirty-two names.
Judges.
Officials.
Police.
Witnesses.
Everything Vanessa had told us.
My father pointed to the final page.
“Daniel is number thirty-two.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He was placed on the list after he tried to leave.”
“Leave what?”
“The family.”
My father explained.
Daniel had discovered that Robert planned to eliminate anyone who threatened the network.
Daniel stole money because he intended to escape.
But instead of exposing the network, he became part of it.
“He wanted freedom,” my father said.
“So he married me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To access the trust.”
I felt numb.
“Did he ever love me?”
My father hesitated.
That hesitation hurt more than any answer.
“I don't know.”
Then the front door slammed.
We all turned.
Cars were stopping outside.
My father looked through the curtain.
His face changed.
“They found us.”
“How?”
He looked at me.
“Your husband.”
Rachel grabbed the documents.
“How many?”
“Four cars.”
My father looked at me.
“There is one way out.”
We followed him downstairs.
Before we reached the tunnel, my phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered.
His voice was shaking.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Your father.”
I froze.
“You know he's alive.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I've known for years.”
My blood went cold.
“You were never trying to protect me.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He whispered,
“I was trying to get to him.”
I didn't understand.
Then he said,
“Claire, listen carefully.”
A pause.
“You think my father is the monster.”
I looked at my father.
Daniel continued.
“He isn't.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then who is?”
His voice cracked.
“You've never met the real owner of Northlake.”
The call ended.
I looked at my father.
He was pale.
“Who is the owner?” I asked.
He didn't answer.
May you like
Then the lights in the basement went out.
And someone above us started shooting.
