Chapter 15: The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
Nobody spoke.
Daniel stared at the photograph like it was something impossible.
Like it was proof of a nightmare he had spent years avoiding.
“Explain,” I said.
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Now.””
He looked away.
“I can’t.””
My anger exploded.
“You can’t?””
I held up the phone.
“You have spent days telling me everyone else is hiding things.””
I stepped closer.
“And now you’re doing the same.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
The silence lasted too long.
Then he said:
“Your father was alive after the accident.””
The words hit like a physical blow.
I stared.
“What?””
Nia covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“The accident report was fake.””
My heart pounded.
“My father survived?””
“For a short time.””
“What does that mean?””
Daniel looked at the floor.
“He was taken somewhere.””
“By who?””
“I don’t know.””
“Then how do you know?””
“Because I was there.””
The room became silent.
I couldn’t breathe.
“You were there.””
“Yes.””
“After he died?””
Daniel nodded.
“I saw him.””
I felt dizzy.
“You let me believe he was dead.””
Daniel looked at me.
“I believed he was dead too.””
“Then explain the photo.””
He didn’t answer.
Nia stepped closer.
“Marcus…”
“No.””
I looked at Daniel.
“I want the truth.””
Finally, he nodded.
“The person in the photograph was your father.””
“Alive?””
“Yes.””
“After the accident?””
“Yes.””
My hands shook.
“Why didn’t he come home?””
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“Because he was protecting you.””
I laughed.
A broken laugh.
“Everyone uses that excuse.””
Daniel looked at me.
“This time it’s true.””
He reached into his jacket.
Pulled out a small key.
“My father gave me this.””
I froze.
“Your father?””
Daniel nodded.
“He left instructions.””
“What instructions?””
“To wait until you were ready.””
I stared at the key.
“Ready for what?””
Daniel placed it in my hand.
“The truth.””
The key had a number engraved on it.
A storage unit.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A message.
*Stop looking for your father.*
Then another.
*He is not the man you think he is.*
Then a final message.
A photograph.
My father.
Alive.
Standing beside someone.
Someone I recognized.
My mother.
But the date on the photo was impossible.
Taken three years after his death.
I looked at Evelyn’s picture.
Then at Daniel.
Then at Nia.
And I realized something terrifying.
May you like
The biggest mystery was no longer who killed my father.
It was whether my father had been hiding from me… or hiding from himself. :::
