Chapter 9: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
“That's your father.””
Sarah's words hit me harder than the gunshots.
I stared toward the dark staircase.
“No.””
Another step echoed above us.
Slow.
Measured.
Deliberate.
Sarah grabbed Ava's hand.
“Mark, listen to me.””
“My father is dead.””
“I know what you were told.””
“You were there.””
“No.””
“You said he died.””
“I said he was supposed to be dead.””
A cold realization settled over me.
I looked at Victoria.
She was trembling so violently she had to hold the edge of the desk.
“You knew.””
She shook her head.
“I knew he was alive.””
I stared at her.
“For how long?””
“Six months.””
My mouth went dry.
“You knew my father was alive for six months.””
“I never knew where he was.””
“But you knew.””
“Yes.””
“And you still tried to marry me.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to get close enough to stop him.””
“By lying to me?””
“Yes.””
“You locked my daughter in a room.””
“I didn't.””
“You worked with Daniel.””
“To stop your father.””
“You knew about the trust.””
“Yes.””
“You knew Sarah was alive.””
“Yes.””
“You knew Ava existed.””
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
The man above us laughed.
A deep, familiar laugh.
I hadn't heard it in seven years.
But my body recognized it before my mind did.
“Mark.””
My knees nearly buckled.
My father's voice.
Victor Bennett.
The voice that had thundered across our dining room when I was a teenager.
The voice that had called me weak when I chose Sarah.
The voice that had said, One day you'll understand that blood is the only thing that matters.
I looked at Sarah.
“How?””
She pointed toward the wall behind the desk.
“Tunnel.””
“We're not leaving you.””
“You don't have a choice.””
“I've had enough of people telling me what I can and can't do.””
Sarah stepped closer.
“You want to know why I disappeared?””
“Yes.””
“You want to know why I let you believe I was dead?””
“Yes.””
“You want to know why Lily was raised without me?””
“Yes.””
She looked at Ava.
“Because your father knew exactly how to make people disappear.””
A heavy knock came from the staircase.
Then another.
The steel door trembled.
A voice called from the darkness.
“Sarah.””
She closed her eyes.
“Open the door.””
Sarah whispered to me.
“Take the girls.””
“What about you?””
“I'll follow.””
“You're lying.””
“I am.””
At least she admitted it.
The door shook again.
I grabbed Lily's hand when Officer Moore brought her down the stairs.
She looked at Sarah.
For a moment, mother and daughter stared at each other.
Then Lily whispered:
“Mommy?””
Sarah's face shattered.
She dropped to her knees.
“Lily.””
My daughter ran into her arms.
Sarah held her like she had been waiting four years to breathe.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Lily cried against her shoulder.
“You left me.””
“I know.””
“You didn't say goodbye.””
“I know.””
“I thought you didn't love me.””
Sarah squeezed her tighter.
“I loved you every second.””
I looked away.
I couldn't bear the intimacy of it.
Then Ava moved toward them.
Sarah reached for her too.
“My girls.””
For one brief moment, all four of us were together.
A family.
The family I thought I'd lost.
Then the steel door groaned.
“Mark!””
Harris's voice.
He was standing at the top of the stairs with his weapon drawn.
“Get behind me!””
I grabbed Lily and Ava.
Sarah pulled Victoria toward the tunnel.
A man stepped into the dim light above us.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Straight-backed.
Wearing a dark coat.
I knew that face.
My father.
His eyes found mine.
He smiled.
“Hello, son.””
I couldn't move.
Harris raised his weapon.
“Hands where I can see them!””
My father chuckled.
“You're late, Detective.””
“How do you know my name?””
“I know everyone's name.””
His eyes shifted toward Ava.
Then Lily.
“My granddaughters.””
The way he said it made my skin crawl.
“Stay away from them.””
He smiled.
“You still think this is about money.””
“What do you want?””
“What's mine.””
“The trust?””
“No.””
He descended one step.
“Blood.””
Sarah shouted, “Run!””
Everything happened at once.
Harris fired a warning shot.
My father ducked behind the railing.
Two men appeared behind him.
Armed.
I pulled both girls toward the tunnel.
Victoria shoved open the hidden door.
“Go!””
Sarah followed.
Harris covered us.
A bullet struck the metal wall.
The sound thundered through the corridor.
Lily screamed.
“Daddy!””
“I've got you!””
We ran.
The tunnel was narrow and dark.
Ava held my hand on one side.
Lily held the other.
Behind us, gunshots echoed.
Victoria was ahead.
Sarah followed.
Then the tunnel shook from another impact.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Sarah shouted, “Keep moving!””
We reached a rusted iron gate.
Victoria unlocked it.
Beyond was a forest.
Cold rain hit my face.
We stumbled outside.
The police vehicles were still parked near the clinic.
But there was something wrong.
Every patrol car was empty.
Harris stopped behind us.
“Where's my team?””
Victoria looked around.
“They're gone.””
Ava suddenly pointed.
“There's someone over there.””
A figure stood between the trees.
A woman.
Holding an umbrella.
She stepped into the light.
My breath caught.
I knew her.
It was Mrs. Ellison.
Our former housekeeper.
The woman who had worked for my family for twenty-two years.
She had attended my wedding.
She had watched Lily grow up.
She had brought soup when Sarah was sick.
She looked at me calmly.
“Mrs. Ellison?””
She lowered the umbrella.
“Mr. Bennett.””
Sarah went rigid.
“You.””
Mrs. Ellison looked at her.
“You were always the difficult one.””
I stared.
“What are you doing here?””
She smiled.
“Finishing what Victor started.””
Harris raised his weapon.
“Get on the ground.””
She laughed.
“You still think you have authority.””
Then she pulled a small remote from her pocket.
Sarah's face changed.
“Mark!””
The abandoned clinic behind us exploded with a roar.
Windows blew outward.
The ground shook.
I fell over the girls.
Smoke rolled across the parking area.
Ava screamed.
Someone grabbed Lily's shoulder.
I spun.
Mrs. Ellison was gone.
So was Sarah.
I looked around wildly.
“Sarah!””
No answer.
“Sarah!””
Ava was crying.
Lily was screaming for her mother.
Then Victoria grabbed my arm.
“Mark!””
She pointed toward the forest.
“There!””
I saw a dark figure dragging someone between the trees.
Sarah.
A man had one hand around her arm.
Another figure was carrying something.
Ava stared.
“That's Grandpa.””
My blood turned cold.
“No.””
She nodded.
“That's him.””
I pulled out my phone.
One message appeared.
*COME ALONE.*
Then another.
A photograph.
Lily.
Taken from somewhere nearby.
Her eyes were closed.
A hand covered her mouth.
The message below it read:
*ONE DAUGHTER FOR ONE DOCUMENT.*
I looked at the girls beside me.
Both were alive.
Both were terrified.
Both were my responsibility.
Harris saw the photograph.
“That's a threat.””
“It's more than that.””
I zoomed in.
The background behind whoever was holding Lily was visible.
A red curtain.
A brass lamp.
And a painting.
I knew that room.
The Bennett estate.
My childhood home.
The house I had sold three years ago.
The house that had supposedly been empty for months.
My father had taken Lily there.
“I know where they are.””
Harris grabbed my shoulder.
“You're not going.””
“I have to.””
“No.””
“They have my daughter.””
“We'll surround the house.””
“They'll kill her.””
“We don't know that.””
I looked at him.
“I do.””
Victoria stepped forward.
“I'll go with you.””
“No.””
“They won't expect me.””
I stared at her.
“You've been helping them.””
“I was helping Sarah.””
“Then prove it.””
She nodded.
“How?””
“Take me to the room my father used to lock me in.””
Her face changed.
“You remember?””
“Yes.””
A small room beneath the stairs.
When I was eight, my father locked me there for hours whenever I disobeyed him.
I hadn't thought about it in years.
Now I understood why the memory was suddenly returning.
My father's secrets had always lived inside that house.
Sarah looked at me through the smoke.
“Mark!””
I turned.
She was trapped between two men.
“Don't go after Lily!””
“I have to.””
“No!””
She struggled against them.
“Your father doesn't want Lily.””
I froze.
“What?””
“He wants Ava.””
I looked down.
Ava was beside me.
Sarah shouted:
“The photograph is fake!””
I stared.
“What?””
“He already has Lily!””
I looked at my daughter.
She was standing right beside me.
My stomach dropped.
Then I understood.
The girl in the photograph wasn't Lily.
It was Ava.
The necklace.
The face.
The hospital band.
Everything.
The man wasn't holding Lily.
He was holding Ava.
I looked down.
Ava was gone.
Only Lily's hand remained in mine.
My heart stopped.
“AVA!””
I turned toward the trees.
Nothing.
Victoria screamed.
“Mark!””
Ava's small voice floated through the darkness.
“Daddy!””
I ran.
Branches whipped my face.
Rain poured through the trees.
Then I saw her.
Ava stood near the edge of the road.
A man held her hand.
He turned toward me.
My father.
Victor Bennett smiled.
“You finally understand.””
I stopped.
“Let her go.””
He shook his head.
“You were always slow.””
“Take me instead.””
“I don't want you.””
“Then what do you want?””
He looked at Ava.
“She is the key.””
“To the trust?””
“No.””
He smiled.
“To the thing your grandfather hid beneath it.””
I felt the world tilt.
“What thing?””
My father leaned closer to Ava.
“Tell your son.””
Ava began to cry.
“I don't remember.””
My father smiled.
“You will.””
I stepped forward.
“Stay away from my daughter.””
He looked at me.
Then at Lily, who had followed me into the trees.
And he said:
“Good.””
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out a photograph.
Placed it on the wet ground.
It showed Sarah.
Pregnant.
Standing beside my grandfather.
And my father.
The date was written underneath.
Twenty-one years ago.
My stomach twisted.
Sarah hadn't even met me yet.
And in the photograph, my grandfather was holding a newborn baby.
A tiny girl.
With a silver star necklace around her neck.
I looked at Ava.
Then Lily.
Then the photograph.
My father whispered:
“You've spent your entire life believing you were my son.””
He smiled.
“You were never my son.””
I couldn't breathe.
“Then whose son am I?””
My father looked toward Sarah.
“Ask your mother.””
Sarah screamed from somewhere behind us.
“No, Mark!””
May you like
My father raised his gun.
And the forest went silent.
