[CHAPTER 6]
I stared at Daniel’s photograph until his face blurred.
“No.”
Detective Ruiz did not argue.
“The prints are a match.”
“He wouldn’t hurt Emily.”
“You believed he was dead yesterday.”
That shut me up.
Thomas stood near the window.
He had heard everything.
“Dad used those syringes.”
My heart cracked.
“On you?”
He shook his head quickly.
“No.”
I exhaled.
“Then what?”
“He threw them away.”
Ruiz leaned forward.
“Explain.”
Thomas sat.
“One time Grandma was going to give me medicine because I kept asking to call Mom.”
I swallowed hard.
“Dad came.”
“What happened?”
“They yelled.”
Thomas rubbed his wrist.
“Dad took the syringe from her and threw it in the kitchen trash.”
“Did he touch it with bare hands?”
“Yes.”
Ruiz nodded slowly.
“That could explain the prints.”
Hope arrived.
I did not trust it.
“Why would Vivian carry the same syringe?”
“She may have recovered it.”
“After all this time?”
Thomas shook his head.
“No. Dad touched lots of them.”
The room chilled.
“Why?”
“He used to check the labels.”
“What was he checking for?”
“I don’t know.”
Ruiz wrote everything down.
Then Thomas said, “Dad was trying to help me.”
I looked at him.
“Why didn’t he bring you home?”
His eyes filled with something harder than sadness.
“Ask him.”
“I would if I knew where he was.”
A voice came from the doorway.
“You can.”
I turned.
Daniel stood there.
For one insane second, the room disappeared.
He looked older than the photographs.
Gray threaded his beard.
A scar crossed his left temple.
His shoulders were thinner.
But it was him.
The man I had buried without a body.
The man whose clothes I had packed into boxes while crying into his shirts.
The father of my children.
Alive.
Emily screamed, “Dad?”
Daniel broke.
He covered his mouth.
“My baby.”
She started toward him.
I grabbed her.
“Wait.”
The pain in his face was immediate.
But I did not care.
“Hands where I can see them,” Ruiz ordered.
Daniel raised them.
“I came voluntarily.”
“Against the wall.”
He obeyed.
They searched him.
No weapon.
He carried identification under the name David Bell.
Ruiz handcuffed him anyway.
Thomas whispered, “Dad.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Tommy.”
Thomas crossed the room before I could stop him.
He hugged Daniel.
My anger became almost unbearable.
Daniel could hug our son because he had known our son was alive.
I had kissed a coffin.
Thomas pulled back.
“You said you’d find Mom.”
“I know.”
“You said soon.”
“I know.”
“You lied.”
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“Yes.”
I stood.
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Sarah.”
“Don’t say my name like that.”
“I can explain.”
“Six years.”
“I know.”
“Six years, Daniel.”
He looked destroyed.
Good.
“I watched them lower our son into the ground.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
I slapped him.
The sound snapped through the room.
Ruiz stepped between us.
I did not apologize.
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“I deserved that.”
“You deserve worse.”
“Probably.”
“Why?”
He sat after Ruiz allowed it.
Then he started talking.
Eleven months before Thomas’s accident, Daniel discovered financial irregularities tied to my mother.
My father’s company accounts.
Insurance accounts.
Trust assets.
He confronted Vivian.
She threatened to accuse him of stealing.
He thought she was bluffing.
Then invoices appeared with his forged signature.
Money was transferred into an account under his name.
Police began asking questions.
Daniel panicked.
He planned to tell me everything.
Vivian got to him first.
“She said if I stayed, you’d be implicated.”
“How?”
“She transferred money through the joint account.”
My stomach dropped.
“She made it look like I was involved?”
“Yes.”
“So you ran?”
“I intended to disappear for two weeks while I collected evidence.”
“You let me believe you died.”
“I did not plan that.”
He leaned forward.
“There was a fire at the site where I had been working. One man died. Vivian bribed someone to connect my identification to the remains.”
I stared at him.
“When did you find out?”
“Three days later.”
“And you didn’t come home?”
“She sent me a photograph of you outside Emily’s preschool.”
My anger weakened beneath fear.
“She said if I returned, she would have you arrested and take the kids.”
“You believed her?”
“I had already watched her manufacture evidence against me.”
He looked at Thomas.
“Then the crash happened.”
I felt sick.
“How did you learn he survived?”
“Vivian contacted me.”
“Why?”
“She needed help moving him.”
I stood so quickly my chair fell.
“You helped her.”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“She demanded help. I refused.”
“Then how did she keep him?”
“She told me Thomas had been placed with a private family while she arranged documents.”
Thomas shook his head.
“She kept me.”
“I learned that later.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I tried to get you out.”
“You visited.”
“Yes.”
“So you knew where I was.”
“Sometimes. Vivian moved you every time I pushed too hard.”
I wanted to scream.
“You could have called police.”
“With what name? I was legally dead and wanted under evidence Vivian created.”
“You could have called me.”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
That answer hurt most.
“Yes, I could have.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Cowardice.”
Silence.
He did not excuse it.
“I kept telling myself I needed one more document. One more recording. One more piece strong enough to destroy her.”
“And while you collected evidence, our son grew up in captivity.”
Daniel cried.
“Yes.”
Thomas looked at the floor.
I hated Daniel.
I loved the memory of him.
I did not know what to do with the man in front of me.
Detective Ruiz asked, “Why come now?”
“Thomas disappeared from Vivian three nights ago.”
Thomas looked at me.
“You ran away?”
He nodded.
“I heard Grandma say she was moving me again.”
Daniel continued.
“I gave Thomas the storage key during my last visit. I told him to find Sarah if he could.”
I turned on him.
“You made a thirteen-year-old do what you were afraid to do.”
His face twisted.
“Yes.”
At least he understood.
Ruiz asked whether he would provide evidence.
“Everything.”
“Even if it implicates you?”
“Yes.”
“Were you involved in fraud?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then answered.
“I signed documents.”
My heart sank.
“What documents?”
“Custody papers.”
Thomas stared at him.
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“Papers that allowed Vivian to keep Thomas.”
I could barely breathe.
“Why?”
“She said she would kill Sarah’s reputation, take Emily, and make sure I went to prison.”
I stepped away.
“That doesn’t make what you did right.”
“I know.”
Ruiz stood.
“Daniel Bennett, you’re coming with me.”
Thomas moved forward.
“Are you arresting him?”
“I’m detaining him while we verify his statement.”
Daniel looked at Thomas.
“Listen to your mother.”
Then he looked at me.
“There’s one more thing.”
I said nothing.
“Vivian didn’t cause Thomas’s crash.”
I waited.
“But she knew it was going to happen.”
My blood froze.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Daniel swallowed.
“The crash wasn’t an accident.”
