Chapter 7 - My Father’s Other LifeI stared at the phone long after the call ended.
Samuel Cross.
The missing informant.
My father.
Two names.
One man?
It sounded impossible.
And yet, every impossible thing in my life had started becoming evidence.
We found Khloe two hours later.
She had been hiding in an abandoned apartment owned by one of Victor's shell companies.
The police searched it first.
Then Agent Reed found her.
When I saw my sister, she looked completely different.
No designer clothes.
No makeup.
No confident smile.
Just fear.
She hugged me.
“I am so sorry.”
I held her.
“For what?”
“For choosing him.”
“You didn't choose him alone.”
“I did.”
“No.”
“My parents pushed me.”
“That doesn't mean you didn't have a choice.”
She looked at me.
“I thought he loved me.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“He loved what my family had.”
“Which was?”
Khloe looked at Agent Reed.
“Money.”
Agent Reed stepped closer.
“Tell us everything.”
Khloe sat down.
“Victor had been asking questions about Dad's old business records.”
“What kind?”
“He wanted the original shipping logs.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Where were they?”
“In Dad's office.”
“Did he get them?”
Khloe nodded.
“He copied them.”
Trevor asked, “Did you see the files?”
“Yes.”
“What was in them?”
Khloe looked at me.
“Your grandfather's shipments.”
I felt a chill.
Then she said:
“And something else.”
“What?”
“My father's name wasn't Robert Bennett.”
Silence.
“What?”
Khloe pulled out a passport.
The name was:
Samuel Cross.
My heart pounded.
Agent Reed took it.
She stared at the photograph.
Then looked at my father.
The resemblance was undeniable.
“My father was the missing informant.”
Agent Reed nodded slowly.
“But then why did everyone say he died?”
“Because Samuel Cross disappeared after exposing the network.”
“Then why did he come back?”
“He didn't.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Khloe looked at me.
“Our father didn't come back.”
I couldn't breathe.
“He had someone replace him?”
Khloe shook her head.
“No.”
She whispered:
“He was always him.”
The room felt cold.
“My father has been pretending to be Robert Bennett for more than twenty years.”
Agent Reed looked stunned.
“But why?”
Khloe lowered her voice.
“Because he was hiding from the people he betrayed.”
I thought of my childhood.
My father's strange habit of changing phones.
His obsession with closing curtains.
His refusal to travel internationally.
His fear of strangers.
I'd always thought he was paranoid.
Maybe he wasn't.
Maybe he had been running.
But from whom?
Then Khloe told us the last thing she had discovered.
“Victor had a file on Audrey.”
I froze.
“What kind of file?”
“Everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your school records.”
“My medical records.”
“My addresses.”
“Old photographs.”
“Your work history.”
I felt sick.
“Why?”
Khloe swallowed.
“Because he believed Audrey was the only person who could access the inheritance.”
I stared at her.
“What inheritance?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Agent Reed asked, “Did Victor ever mention Daniel Rowe?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Daniel had hidden something from everyone.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“What about the money?”
Khloe looked away.
“There was no money.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The inheritance wasn't cash.”
“Then what was it?”
“A ledger.”
I remembered my grandfather's letter.
The ledger.
My father had taken it.
But where?
Khloe continued.
“Victor believed the ledger contained the identities of everyone involved.”
“That would explain the missing names.”
“Yes.”
“And my grandfather hid it?”
Khloe nodded.
“Then why does Victor need me?”
“Because the ledger was encrypted.”
I stared.
“How?”
“Your grandfather used a family code.”
“What family code?”
Khloe looked at me.
“Your birthday.”
My stomach dropped.
“That sounds ridiculous.”
“It wasn't.”
Agent Reed asked, “What does her birthday unlock?”
“The final page.”
“What is on the final page?”
Khloe shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then someone knocked on the door.
Three times.
Everyone froze.
The police moved into position.
Agent Reed whispered:
“Don't move.”
The knock came again.
Then a voice.
“It's Robert.”
My father.
My heart raced.
Agent Reed signaled the officers.
The door opened.
My father walked inside.
He looked at me.
Then at Khloe.
Then at the agents.
“It's time,” he said.
I stepped toward him.
“Time for what?”
He looked at me with tears in his eyes.
“To tell you why we abandoned your wedding.”
I stared.
“What does that have to do with any of this?”
He swallowed.
“Everything.”
“Why?”
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out a small envelope.
And handed it to me.
“This belonged to your grandfather.”
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My grandfather.
My father.
Daniel Rowe.
And one final person.
A young woman.
I stared at her face.
I knew her.
She had been in every family photograph.
At every holiday.
At every birthday.
She had raised me.
She was my mother.
But the date on the photograph was written across the bottom.
Thirty years before I was born.
May you like
And on the back were five words.
Your mother was there first.
