Chapter 4: The Man We Buried
I couldn’t move.
The underground room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
Harris reached toward the communications console.
“Don’t touch anything.””
But I barely heard him.
The voice had already dragged me six years into the past.
A hospital room.
A covered body.
My mother sobbing against my shoulder.
A funeral under freezing rain.
A coffin lowered into the ground.
My father, Richard Bennett, had been declared dead after a private plane crashed near the Canadian border.
“Dad?”” I whispered.
The speaker went silent.
Then the man laughed softly.
“Still stubborn enough to recognize me.””
My knees weakened.
Elena grabbed my arm.
“Mark.””
I looked at her.
“You knew?””
“I suspected.””
“For how long?””
“Since before I disappeared.””
The betrayal hit hard.
“You knew my father might be alive and never told me?””
“I tried.””
“When?””
“The night I vanished.””
Vanessa spoke from the staircase.
“That’s why she had to disappear.””
Harris turned sharply.
“So you admit it?””
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“I admit I stopped her from getting Mark killed.””
Elena stepped forward.
“You imprisoned me.””
“I kept you alive!””
“You kept me from my daughter!””
Vanessa’s expression cracked.
“And if I hadn’t, Lily might not have a mother at all!””
The speaker came alive again.
“Vanessa.””
She froze.
The single word changed her completely.
Her shoulders stiffened.
Her face drained of color.
“Yes, sir.””
My blood ran cold.
Sir.
Harris noticed it too.
“Richard Bennett,” he said toward the console, “this is Detective Samuel Harris. If that is actually you, identify your location.””
My father chuckled.
“You were never very good at asking the right questions, Detective.””
Harris stared at the speaker.
“You know me?””
“I know everyone who searched for Elena.””
The monitors flickered.
One by one, new images appeared.
Photographs.
Harris entering our house months earlier.
Police vehicles outside.
Lily leaving school.
Me meeting Vanessa at a restaurant.
Elena inside the locked room.
I turned away from the screen.
“You watched her?””
My father answered immediately.
“I watched all of you.””
Rage replaced shock.
“You let me believe Elena was dead!””
“I needed you desperate.””
“Why?””
“Desperate men reveal who they trust.””
I looked at Vanessa.
She lowered her eyes.
The answer became obvious.
“You were testing her.””
“No,” Elena whispered.
I turned.
She was staring at the desk.
“He was testing you.””
A folder lay beneath an old lamp.
My name was written across the front.
MARK BENNETT.
I reached for it.
Harris stopped me.
“Gloves.””
He opened the folder himself.
Inside were photographs, financial statements, copies of passports, and pages covered in handwritten notes.
My childhood.
My college years.
My marriage.
Lily’s birth.
Every important moment of my life documented by someone.
Then Harris found a legal document.
He read the first page.
His expression changed.
“What?””
He looked at me.
“According to this, your father transferred controlling ownership of Bennett Global Holdings six years ago.””
“To whom?””
Harris slowly raised his eyes.
“Lily.””
I stared at my daughter.
“That’s impossible.””
Lily was sitting upstairs with an officer.
She was eight years old.
“She would have been two.””
Elena stepped closer.
“That was the secret I found.””
My father’s voice came through the speaker.
“Your daughter inherited more than money.””
I slammed my hand against the desk.
“She is a child!””
“She is a Bennett.””
“She has nothing to do with this!””
“She has everything to do with it.””
Vanessa began crying.
“Richard, please. Leave Lily out of this.””
“Interesting.””
My father sounded amused.
“You finally grew a conscience.””
Vanessa stared at the floor.
Harris continued searching.
He found three passports bearing Vanessa’s photograph.
Three different names.
“Who are you?””
She didn’t answer.
Harris held one passport toward her.
“Vanessa Cole doesn’t exist, does she?””
Her silence was enough.
Elena spoke.
“Her real name is Rebecca Shaw.””
Vanessa looked at her.
“How did you know?””
“I found the employment file.””
“What employment file?”” I asked.
Elena’s eyes met mine.
“She worked for your father before we ever met her.””
My stomach turned.
“How long?””
“Fourteen years.””
I thought about every supposedly accidental encounter with Vanessa.
The charity gala where we met.
The coffee she “accidentally” spilled near me.
Her friendship with Elena.
The way she appeared after Elena vanished.
None of it had been accidental.
“You were planted in our lives.””
Vanessa began shaking her head.
“At first.””
“At first?””
“I was supposed to watch Elena.””
“Then you locked her away.””
“She discovered the trust documents. Richard ordered me to contain the problem.””
Elena stepped toward her.
“You could have helped me.””
“I tried!””
“You lied to Mark!””
“Because Richard had people everywhere!””
Harris interrupted.
“Where is Richard now?””
Vanessa looked toward the speaker.
“I don’t know.””
“Then how does he contact you?””
“He contacts me.””
A sudden electronic beep came from the console.
Every monitor went black.
Then white letters appeared across the center screen.
A countdown.
10:00.
9:59.
9:58.
Harris leaned closer.
“What is that?””
Vanessa’s face transformed.
Pure panic.
“We need to get Lily out of this house.””
“Why?””
“Now!””
She fought against her handcuffs.
“Take Elena. Take Mark. Take everyone!””
Harris grabbed his radio.
“All units, evacuate the residence.””
Footsteps thundered overhead.
I started toward the stairs.
Then one monitor flickered back on.
The camera showed Lily upstairs.
She was standing alone in the hallway.
“Where’s the officer?”” I shouted.
The image shifted.
A tall man in a dark coat appeared behind her.
Lily turned.
The man crouched and opened his arms.
Even through the grainy security feed, I recognized his face.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
My father.
Lily stared at him.
“Who are you?””
Richard smiled.
Then the basement speaker crackled.
“Come upstairs, Mark.””
I ran for the stairs.
May you like
His final words followed me into the darkness.
“It’s time you learned why Elena was really chosen to become your wife.””
