Chapter 14 - The CopEverything happened at once.
Daniel pushed me backward.
The officer raised his weapon.
“Stay where you are!”
Another officer entered.
Then another.
Melissa screamed.
“I told you I wasn't with them!”
The first officer looked at her.
“Enough.”
I recognized him.
Detective Warren.
He had handled our original fraud investigation years ago.
My heart dropped.
He had been on our case.
He had access to everything.
He looked at Daniel.
“You should have listened when Richard gave you the warning.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Warren's expression changed.
“You weren't supposed to bring her here.”
I stepped back.
“You work for Richard.”
Warren smiled.
“Not directly.”
That was worse.
“Who do you work for?”
He didn't answer.
A gunshot exploded.
The camera screen shattered.
The warehouse went dark.
Someone had shot from outside.
Warren dropped.
The other officer grabbed Melissa.
Daniel pulled me behind a concrete pillar.
“Stay down!”
More shots.
Then silence.
We waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Finally, the emergency lights flickered on.
Warren was gone.
The other officer was gone.
Melissa was gone.
Only Daniel and I remained.
And Ethan.
His voice came from a small room.
“Mom?”
I ran.
The door was locked.
Daniel kicked it open.
Ethan threw himself into my arms.
I held him so tightly he could barely breathe.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered.
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
He pointed toward the back wall.
“He said you'd come.”
“Who?”
“The man with the ring.”
I froze.
“Richard?”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“Who?”
“Dad.”
I looked at Daniel.
He went pale.
“What do you mean?”
Ethan pointed at the doorway.
“Your dad was here.”
Daniel froze.
“My father?”
Ethan nodded.
“He said you didn't know him.”
Daniel took a step backward.
“My father died twelve years ago.”
Ethan shook his head.
“He wasn't old.”
The room went silent.
I suddenly remembered my mother's photograph.
Richard.
Thomas.
The ring.
Daniel's father.
A family tree I didn't understand.
Then Melissa appeared behind us.
Her clothes were torn.
Her face was bleeding.
She whispered:
“Warren is dead.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What happened?”
“He wasn't working for Richard.”
“Then who?”
Melissa looked at me.
“Your father.”
I felt the blood leave my face.
“My father is dead.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Your biological father was never Thomas.”
I stared at her.
“You told me he was.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard wanted you to believe that.”
“Then who is my father?”
Melissa whispered:
“Daniel's father.”
The silence was absolute.
I looked at Daniel.
Then at Melissa.
Then at Ethan.
Everything I thought I knew about my marriage, my family and my own identity collapsed at once.
Daniel looked horrified.
“That can't be true.”
Melissa stepped closer.
“Ask him where he was twenty-one years ago.”
Daniel stared at her.
“I was eighteen.”
She nodded.
“And Rachel's mother was forty.”
My stomach turned.
Melissa continued:
“Your husband isn't just the man who married you.”
May you like
She looked at Daniel.
“He may be your half-brother.”
