Chapter 9: The Brother Nobody Looked For
I hadn't spoken to Daniel Bennett in nearly four years.
The last time I'd heard his voice, he was standing beside Marcus's grave, telling me that if Ava ever needed anything, I should call him.
He had hugged me awkwardly, kissed Ava on the forehead, and promised he'd visit when his work overseas settled down.
Three months later, his phone number stopped working.
His emails went unanswered.
Eventually, I stopped trying.
Grief had taught me that people disappeared for reasons I couldn't always understand.
Now the investigator was telling me that Daniel's name had surfaced in a financial investigation connected to my husband's death.
I sat down.
"Are you certain it's Marcus's brother?""
"We've confirmed the account was registered using identifying information associated with Daniel Bennett. We're still establishing who created and operated it.""
"Is he in the country?""
"We're checking his recent travel and contact records. We don't want to draw conclusions before we've verified the information.""
I thanked him and ended the call.
Renee stood across the kitchen island, watching me.
"Daniel?""
I nodded.
She shook her head.
"No. I remember him. He adored Marcus.""
"That's what I thought.""
"Then somebody could have stolen his identity.""
"Maybe.""
I looked down at the brass key.
It was so small that Ava could have worn it around her neck as a necklace. The blue ribbon had faded almost to gray, and a tiny scratch ran across the metal.
Whatever Marcus had hidden, he'd wanted his daughter to remember where it was.
I called our attorney and explained what the investigator had told me. She advised me not to contact Daniel directly until the authorities had confirmed his whereabouts and determined whether an interview was appropriate.
I agreed.
Then I sat with Ava and asked her to tell me everything she remembered about the treasure hunt.
She described Marcus kneeling beside her bedroom window, helping her lift a loose floorboard. She remembered a blue folder, but she couldn't recall seeing anything inside it.
"Did Daddy ever tell you there was another hiding place?"" I asked.
Ava nodded.
"He said the second treasure wasn't for playing. He said I could open it when I needed to know something important.""
"Did he tell you where it was?""
She shook her head.
"He said the key would help me remember.""
I looked at the brass key.
"What do you think it opens?""
Ava shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe a box.""
I thanked her and let her return to her drawing.
Then I called Paul Whitaker.
When I mentioned Daniel's name, he went quiet.
"Did you know he worked for the construction company?"" I asked.
"Not directly. But I remember Marcus mentioning that Daniel had helped with a financial software project several years earlier.""
"Could he have had access to the accounts?""
"Possibly. Daniel was good with computers. He helped Marcus set up some of his home office equipment, too.""
I glanced toward the hallway.
"Did Marcus trust him?""
"Completely.""
That answer should have reassured me.
Instead, it made my stomach twist.
If Daniel had been involved in the financial investigation, he might have been helping Marcus uncover wrongdoing.
Or someone might have been using his name to hide their own activities.
I couldn't tell which possibility frightened me more.
That afternoon, the investigator called again.
"We've located Daniel," he said.
"He's currently living in Oklahoma. He's agreed to speak with us tomorrow.""
"Does he know why you're contacting him?""
"We've told him his name appears in records connected to the financial investigation. He denies creating the administrator account.""
I held my breath.
"What else did he say?""
"He told us he hasn't spoken to Derek in years.""
I closed my eyes.
"Did he say why?""
"He said Derek approached him shortly before Marcus died, asking questions about the company's payment system. Daniel claims he refused to help.""
I gripped the phone.
"Did he tell you that before?""
"No. We only learned this during our initial contact.""
After the call, I sat motionless for several minutes.
Derek had known Marcus.
Derek had asked questions about the accounts.
Daniel had allegedly refused to help him.
And now someone had registered an administrator account under Daniel's identity.
The investigator had made it clear that none of this established who created the account or whether it had any connection to the accident.
But the pattern was impossible to ignore.
That evening, Ava asked whether she could sleep with the hallway light on.
"Of course," I said.
She looked toward the front window.
"Do you think Derek knows where we are?""
I knelt in front of her.
"The adults helping us are taking precautions. If anything makes you uncomfortable, you tell me or Aunt Renee. You don't have to handle anything by yourself.""
She nodded.
Then she asked a question that nearly broke me.
"Will he ever be nice again?""
I brushed her hair away from her face.
"I don't know what Derek will choose to do. But being nice sometimes doesn't make it okay to hurt someone. You don't have to go back to a person who makes you afraid.""
She considered that.
Then she whispered, "Okay.""
I tucked her into bed and stayed beside her until she fell asleep.
The next morning, I met Daniel at the police station with our attorney present.
He looked older than I remembered. His beard had gone gray at the chin, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.
When he saw me, he stopped in the doorway.
"Aaliyah.""
I stood.
"Daniel.""
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then he stepped forward and hugged me.
I remained stiff in his arms.
When he pulled away, his eyes were wet.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Why did you disappear?""
He lowered his head.
"I thought I was protecting you.""
I stared at him.
"Everyone keeps saying that.""
Daniel looked toward the investigator.
"Can we sit down?""
We took our seats.
The investigator began by asking about Daniel's connection to the company. Daniel explained that he'd helped develop a small software tool for tracking vendor records but had never worked directly in the accounting department.
He denied creating the secondary administrator account.
"I never had permission to approve payments," he said.
"I would never have risked Marcus's job like that.""
"Did you know Derek?"" the investigator asked.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Yes.""
"How well?""
"Well enough to know I didn't trust him.""
I stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
Daniel looked at me with an expression I couldn't decipher.
"Because Marcus asked me not to.""
The room went silent.
"What?""
Daniel rubbed his hands together.
"Marcus discovered that Derek was asking questions about his financial investigation. He thought Derek might be trying to identify the person helping him trace the payments.""
"Was that you?""
"I helped Marcus check a few things. I didn't know everything he was investigating.""
"Why did you leave after he died?""
Daniel swallowed.
"Because someone sent me a message saying that if I talked to the police, you'd be next.""
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"Who sent it?""
"I don't know. The message came from an anonymous account. It included a photograph of you leaving work and another of Ava outside school.""
I gripped the table.
The threats hadn't started with me.
They'd been happening for years.
"Why didn't you tell me?"" I demanded.
"Because I was afraid they'd hurt you. And because I thought if I disappeared, whoever was threatening me would leave you alone.""
"Instead, you left me wondering why Marcus's family wanted nothing to do with us.""
Daniel's eyes filled.
"I know. I was wrong.""
I wanted to shout at him.
I wanted to demand that he explain every lost birthday, every unanswered message, every night I'd wondered whether he was alive.
But I also saw the fear in his face.
He had made a choice out of fear, just as Victor had. Just as I'd ignored Ava's warnings because I wanted to believe our family was fine.
Fear didn't excuse the damage.
But it explained how silence had spread through all of us.
The investigator asked Daniel about the administrator account.
He provided information about the software he'd worked on and agreed to help establish whether someone had misused his identity.
Then I took the brass key from my handbag.
"Do you recognize this?""
Daniel stared at it.
His face went pale.
"Where did you get that?""
"Ava found it in her jewelry box. Marcus left it for her.""
Daniel leaned closer but didn't touch it.
"That's the key to Marcus's old document case.""
My heart began pounding.
"What document case?""
"He kept it in his home office. It was a small metal case with a combination lock. He told me there was something important inside, but he never showed me what it was.""
"Where is it now?""
Daniel looked toward the investigator.
"After Marcus died, I went back to his house once. I searched his office because I thought I could find evidence of whoever had threatened him.""
"And?""
"The case was gone.""
I stared at the key.
"Did you tell the police?""
"No. I was afraid the person threatening me would know I'd looked for it.""
The investigator immediately asked Daniel to provide a detailed account of the visit and its timing.
Daniel agreed.
Then he turned to me.
"Aaliyah, there's something else you need to know.""
I waited.
"The last time I spoke to Marcus, he told me he'd figured out who was using the financial system. He said he was going to meet that person and try to get a confession.""
My hands went cold.
"Who did he say it was?""
Daniel swallowed.
"He didn't give me a name. But he said it was someone he trusted enough to let into his home.""
I thought of Derek.
I thought of the photograph.
I thought of the recording.
Then Daniel added, "He also said he was afraid the person had already met you.""
I couldn't speak.
The investigator asked Daniel whether he could provide anything else that might help establish the identity of the account operator.
Daniel shook his head.
But as we stood to leave, he reached into his coat pocket and removed a folded sheet of paper.
"I kept this after Marcus died," he said.
"I was supposed to destroy it, but I couldn't.""
He handed it to the investigator.
It was a printed message dated two days before the accident.
The sender's address was unfamiliar.
The message contained one sentence.
*The folder is only the beginning. If Marcus talks, all three of us are finished.*
Below it were three initials.
*D.B. — D.H. — D.M.*
Daniel looked at me.
"Marcus told me those initials stood for the three people he believed were involved.""
My stomach twisted.
"Who are they?""
Daniel's voice broke.
"Daniel Bennett. Derek Hale. And someone named David Mercer.""
The investigator took the paper for examination.
I stared at the final name.
David Mercer.
I had never heard it before.
But when I returned to Renee's house, I searched through Marcus's old photographs once more.
I found the picture of him standing outside the restaurant with Derek and Victor.
Then I looked at the handwritten number on the back.
417.
Something about it suddenly seemed familiar.
I opened Marcus's old address book and searched the pages until I found an entry he'd written years earlier.
*David Mercer — Unit 417.*
Beneath the name was a phone number and the address of a building in Austin.
I stared at the page.
Marcus had known David Mercer.
And whatever connected those three men, Marcus had believed it was dangerous enough to threaten the entire family.
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message appeared.
You found Daniel. Good.
A second followed.
Now find David Mercer before Derek does.
May you like
Then the final message arrived.
Because David is the only person still alive who knows what really happened that night.
