CHAPTER 4 — THE FATHER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Ryan watched the black screen for several seconds after the video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Even the storm seemed quieter.
His father's face was still burned into his mind.
Older.
Thinner.
Gray hair at the temples.
But unmistakably him.
Daniel Whitmore.
The man Ryan had spent twenty-two years believing was dead.
The man whose funeral he had attended when he was thirteen.
The man whose photograph still sat inside an old wooden frame in his mother's bedroom.
The man whose death had supposedly destroyed Evelyn.
The man Ryan had been taught never to ask about.
Now he had just appeared on his phone.
Alive.
And somehow connected to the nightmare unfolding inside Ryan's house.
Ryan slowly raised his eyes toward his mother.
“You lied to me.”
Evelyn was crying.
She looked nothing like the woman who had stood in the nursery earlier, calmly accusing Maya.
She looked old.
Tired.
Defeated.
But Ryan didn't feel sympathy.
Not anymore.
“You told me he died.”
“I know.”
“You took me to his funeral.”
“I know.”
“You made me believe my father abandoned us.”
“I know.”
Ryan's voice cracked.
“Twenty-two years, Mom.”
Evelyn looked down.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
She didn't answer.
Ryan stepped closer.
“From my father?”
Evelyn whispered:
“From what he became.”
Maya watched them from beside Oliver's crib.
Her expression was confused.
But Ryan barely noticed.
His entire childhood had suddenly become a lie.
He remembered that night.
The phone call.
His mother's screaming.
The police at the house.
The closed casket.
The funeral.
He remembered standing beside his mother while everyone told him to be strong.
He remembered asking where his father had gone.
His mother had held him and said:
“Your father is with the angels now.”
Ryan had believed her.
For twenty-two years.
“Where is he?” Ryan asked.
Evelyn looked toward the window.
“I don't know.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“His vehicle was outside my house.”
“I didn't know he was coming.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I knew, I would have stopped him.”
Ryan stared at her.
“Stopped him from doing what?”
Evelyn's eyes moved toward Oliver.
Ryan followed her gaze.
His blood ran cold.
“You think he's here for Oliver.”
“I know he's here for Oliver.”
Maya stepped forward.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“You need to leave.”
Maya frowned.
“What?”
“You and Oliver need to get somewhere safe.”
Ryan immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“You don't understand.”
“You've been lying to us for years. I'm done listening to warnings.”
Evelyn's voice rose.
“Your father isn't the man you remember!”
“I don't remember him!”
“That is the point!”
The room fell silent.
Evelyn took a shaky breath.
“He didn't disappear because he wanted to leave.”
Ryan stared at her.
“Then why?”
“Because he was dangerous.”
Maya's face tightened.
“Dangerous how?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“He became obsessed with control.”
Ryan frowned.
“That sounds familiar.”
Evelyn flinched.
Ryan immediately regretted the words.
But he didn't take them back.
The front door opened.
The paramedics rushed inside.
“Where's the child?”
Maya pointed toward Oliver.
The paramedics moved quickly.
One checked Oliver's breathing.
Another prepared the oxygen equipment.
Ryan stayed beside his son.
“Is he going to be okay?”
“We need to get him to the hospital.”
Ryan nodded.
“I'll come.”
Maya followed.
Then Ryan stopped.
He looked back at Evelyn.
Two officers were standing beside her.
“You're coming with us.”
Evelyn didn't resist.
She simply stared at Ryan.
“Before you leave, you need to know something.”
Ryan said nothing.
“Your father didn't come back tonight because of me.”
Ryan frowned.
“Then why?”
Evelyn looked directly at Maya.
“Because of her.”
Maya froze.
“What?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know why.”
Ryan stepped between them.
“Don't drag Maya into this.”
“I didn't.”
“You just said he came back because of her.”
“I said I don't know why.”
One officer interrupted.
“We can continue questioning you at the station.”
Evelyn nodded.
But before they led her away, she grabbed Ryan's wrist.
He looked down.
Her fingers were ice cold.
“Ryan.”
“What?”
“Do not trust the messages.”
He stared at her.
“What messages?”
“The ones he sends you.”
Ryan pulled his hand away.
“Why?”
“Because your father knows exactly how to manipulate you.”
She was led toward the door.
Ryan watched her disappear into the rain.
Then he turned toward Maya.
She was standing beside the ambulance stretcher.
Oliver had oxygen over his face.
Ryan rushed to them.
“I'm coming with you.”
Maya nodded.
The paramedics pushed the stretcher outside.
Ryan followed.
Then his phone vibrated again.
Unknown number.
Another message.
He opened it.
SHE'S LYING ABOUT EVERYTHING.
Ryan stopped walking.
A second message appeared.
ASK HER WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BROTHER.
Ryan's face went pale.
His brother.
He had never had a brother.
At least...
That was what he believed.
He looked toward the police car where Evelyn was sitting.
She was staring through the window.
Their eyes met.
Ryan held up the phone.
Evelyn saw the message.
Her entire body froze.
That reaction was different.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Terror.
Ryan walked toward the police car.
An officer stepped out.
“Ryan, you need to go with your son.”
“Just one question.”
The officer hesitated.
Ryan pointed toward his mother.
“Did I have a brother?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Ryan's heart pounded.
“Mom?”
No answer.
“Did I?”
Evelyn finally whispered:
“Yes.”
Ryan felt as if someone had punched him.
The world seemed to tilt.
“What?”
“You had a brother.”
“Where is he?”
Evelyn began crying.
“He died.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
Ryan stared at her.
“Why didn't you ever tell me?”
“Because I couldn't.”
“Couldn't?”
“You were too young.”
“I wasn't even born!”
Evelyn looked at him.
And Ryan suddenly noticed something.
She wasn't crying because of his brother.
She was crying because of something else.
“What's his name?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
“What's his name?”
Finally, she whispered:
“Michael.”
Ryan shook his head.
“I've never heard that name.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
“Why?”
Evelyn looked toward the ambulance.
Then toward Maya.
Then back at Ryan.
“Because Michael wasn't your father's son.”
Ryan stared at her.
“What?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“He was mine.”
Ryan couldn't understand.
“What does that mean?”
“He was born before I met your father.”
Ryan's confusion deepened.
“Then why hide him?”
Evelyn looked down.
“Because Michael was the reason your father left.”
Ryan's phone vibrated again.
He looked at the screen.
Another photograph.
A little boy.
Maybe six years old.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
Standing beside a man Ryan recognized immediately.
His father.
Ryan's breath caught.
The caption read:
MICHAEL WASN'T DEAD.
Ryan stared at the image.
His fingers began shaking.
He looked at Evelyn.
“You said he died.”
“I believed he did.”
“Then who is this?”
Evelyn said nothing.
The officer looked at the photograph.
“Who is the boy?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your brother.”
Ryan's mind raced.
If Michael was alive...
then someone had spent years hiding him.
But why?
And why had his father suddenly appeared now?
Then Ryan noticed something else in the photograph.
Behind Michael was a wall.
On that wall hung a framed picture.
A family portrait.
Ryan zoomed in.
His father was standing beside a woman Ryan had never seen.
And in her arms was a baby.
A baby wearing the same blue blanket Oliver had been wrapped in earlier.
Ryan's blood went cold.
He looked at Maya.
“Where did you get that blanket?”
Maya frowned.
“What?”
“The blue blanket.”
She looked toward the ambulance.
“Oliver's had it since he was born.”
Ryan shook his head.
“No.”
He showed her the photograph.
Maya stared.
Her face slowly lost color.
“That can't be…”
Ryan zoomed in again.
The blanket was unmistakable.
Same faded blue fabric.
Same small white stitching in the corner.
Maya whispered:
“Ryan…”
The ambulance doors began closing.
Oliver was inside.
Ryan looked from his son to the photograph.
Then his phone vibrated one final time.
A video.
No message.
He pressed play.
His father's face appeared.
Daniel Whitmore looked directly into the camera.
This time, he wasn't calm.
He looked terrified.
“Ryan,” he whispered.
“If they have shown you the blanket, then it's already too late.”
Ryan's heart stopped.
Daniel leaned closer to the camera.
“Your mother didn't take Oliver's inhaler because she wanted custody.”
He paused.
“She took it because she was trying to stop someone from killing him.”
The video ended.
Ryan stared at the screen.
Behind him, the ambulance siren suddenly screamed.
And as the vehicle disappeared into the storm, Ryan realized the horrifying possibility:
Maybe Evelyn hadn't been the mastermind.
Maybe she had been trying to stop something far worse.
May you like
And if Daniel was telling the truth...
someone had been planning to kill Ryan's three-year-old son long before the nursery was destroyed.
