Chapter 8: The Second Death
Adrian stared at the man at the bottom of the stairs.
His father.
William Cross.
The man who had been buried twelve years ago.
The man whose funeral Adrian had attended alone after Daniel’s supposed death.
The man whose last words to him had been, “Make something of yourself.””
Now he stood twenty feet away, perfectly alive.
Adrian’s gun remained pointed at him.
“You’re dead.””
William smiled faintly.
“That has been useful.””
Daniel stepped in front of Adrian.
“Don’t listen to him.””
William looked at his older son.
“Still protecting your little brother.””
Daniel’s face hardened.
“You don’t get to call him that.””
William gave a soft laugh.
“You always did have a sentimental weakness.””
Adrian’s eyes never left his father.
“You let me bury you.””
“Yes.””
“You let me believe both of you were dead.””
“Yes.””
“You watched me mourn you.””
“Yes.””
Each answer was calm.
That calmness made Adrian angrier than any confession could have.
“Why?””
William slowly walked toward the table.
“Because you had to remain innocent.””
“Innocent of what?””
“Of us.””
Daniel tightened his grip on his weapon.
“You're wasting time.””
William glanced at him.
“No. I spent twenty-five years creating this moment.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“You've been manipulating my entire life.””
William stopped.
“I've been controlling threats against your life.””
“You call that protection?””
“I call it survival.””
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You kidnapped my mother.””
William’s expression changed.
“I never kidnapped Margaret.””
“Daniel said—”
“Daniel says many things.””
Daniel snapped, “Because you taught me how to lie.””
William's eyes narrowed.
“And you became very good at it.””
Evelyn moved closer to the table.
“Enough.””
William looked at her.
The room became silent.
“I wondered how long it would take you to come back.””
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“I came back for him.””
“You came back because you failed her.””
Evelyn's face tightened.
“I kept my promise.””
“No.””
William pointed toward Adrian.
“You hid the truth from him.””
“To keep him alive.””
“To keep yourself alive.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“Margaret asked me to protect him.””
William's smile disappeared.
“Margaret asked you to protect both boys.””
Adrian looked from one to the other.
“What happened to Mom?””
No one answered.
Adrian slammed his hand onto the table.
“What happened to my mother?””
William finally looked at him.
“She made a choice.””
“That's what you said before.””
“She chose to disappear.””
“Why?””
“Because she knew what Daniel had become.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Don't.””
William ignored him.
“Your brother joined the people your mother was investigating.””
Adrian looked at Daniel.
“That isn't true.””
William smiled.
“Isn't it?””
Daniel's voice was low.
“I went undercover.””
“You tell yourself that.””
Adrian looked between them.
“Which one of you is lying?””
William replied immediately.
“Both of us.””
The answer stunned Adrian.
William reached into his jacket and removed a small USB drive.
He placed it on the table.
“This contains the original security footage from December 14.””
Adrian stared at it.
“The day Daniel died.””
William nodded.
“You wanted the truth.””
“Yes.””
“Watch it.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Adrian, don't.””
Adrian turned.
“Why?””
“Because he edited it.””
William laughed.
“Of course he would say that.””
Daniel pointed his gun at their father.
“You don't know what you're doing.””
“I know exactly what I'm doing.””
Adrian picked up the drive.
His father watched.
“Twenty-five years ago, Daniel discovered the accounts.””
Adrian listened.
“Your mother helped him investigate. Together they found the people moving the money. Judges.
Police officers. Businessmen. Your father.””
William nodded toward himself.
“Yes. Me.””
Adrian stared.
“You admit it?””
“I admit that I moved money.””
“Stole it?””
“No.””
“Then what?””
“I redirected it.””
“To yourself.””
“To protect the family.””
Daniel scoffed.
“You stole millions.””
“I moved millions away from men who would have killed you.””
“That's not protection.””
William turned toward Daniel.
“You were nineteen when you first found the ledger. You didn't understand what you were looking at.””
“I understood enough.””
“You understood numbers. Not people.””
William pointed at Adrian.
“Do you know what happens when powerful men discover you've taken their money?””
Adrian said nothing.
“They don't sue you.””
William's voice hardened.
“They erase you.””
Evelyn whispered, “Like Daniel.””
William looked at her.
“Yes.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“I survived.””
“Only because I let you.””
Adrian looked at him.
“What?””
Daniel said nothing.
William smiled.
“Tell him.””
Daniel's eyes closed.
“Tell him what happened on December 14.””
Adrian turned to his brother.
Daniel finally lowered his weapon.
“I was supposed to disappear that night.””
Adrian stared.
“You planned it?””
“I had no choice.””
“Why?””
“Because the people after me had found you.””
Adrian’s voice became almost a whisper.
“What did you do?””
“I staged my death.””
Adrian froze.
Daniel continued.
“Dad arranged the vehicle. Someone else was supposed to identify the body.””
“Who?””
“Thomas Reed.””
Adrian's expression changed.
“The man we buried.””
Daniel nodded.
“He died before the crash.””
Adrian swallowed.
“So the body was his.””
“Yes.””
“And everyone knew?””
“Not everyone.””
“Mom?””
Daniel looked away.
“She found out afterward.””
Adrian shook his head.
“She thought you were dead.””
“She believed it for three days.””
“Three days?””
Daniel nodded.
“Then she found me.””
Adrian could barely breathe.
“Where?””
“In a safe house.””
“Why didn't she tell me?””
Daniel's voice broke.
“Because someone was inside our family.””
Adrian looked at his father.
William's face remained unreadable.
“Who?””
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn whispered,
“Your mother suspected your father.””
Adrian stared at William.
“My father?””
William didn't deny it.
“I was compromised.””
Daniel said, “He wasn't working against us.””
William looked at him.
“I was working for the same people you were trying to expose.””
Adrian's heart dropped.
“Then why are you alive?””
William answered softly.
“Because I made a deal.””
“With who?””
“The people who wanted Daniel dead.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“And the deal was me.””
Adrian's eyes widened.
William nodded.
“I gave them Daniel's identity.””
Adrian turned toward his brother.
“They thought Daniel Cross was dead.””
“Yes.””
“And you made sure they kept thinking that.””
“Yes.””
Adrian looked back at William.
“You sacrificed your own son.””
William's face was cold.
“I saved the other one.””
The words cut through Adrian.
“What did you save me from?””
“Being used as leverage.””
William took a breath.
“They knew Daniel loved you. They knew he would come back for you.””
Adrian shook his head.
“You don't get to call that love.””
William looked at him.
“You survived.””
“My mother disappeared.””
“Yes.””
“Daniel disappeared.””
“Yes.””
“You disappeared.””
“Yes.””
“And you call that survival?””
William's expression softened.
“You're standing here.””
Adrian's eyes burned.
“I've spent my whole life believing everyone I loved abandoned me.””
No one spoke.
“That was the point, wasn't it?””
William remained silent.
Adrian nodded slowly.
“You made me hate all of you.””
“I made you independent.””
“You made me alone.””
“I made you impossible to control.””
Adrian laughed through the pain.
“And you think that's a gift?””
William looked at him.
“It kept you alive.””
Evelyn suddenly stepped toward the safe.
“There's more.””
William's head snapped toward her.
“No.””
She reached inside and pulled out the black ledger.
A folded document slipped from between the pages.
Adrian caught it before it touched the floor.
He unfolded it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
It was a birth certificate.
His name was printed at the top.
Adrian Cross.
Below it were the names of his parents.
Margaret Harper.
William Hale.
Adrian's face changed.
“William Hale?””
He looked at his father.
“You said your name was William Cross.””
William said nothing.
Daniel whispered, “Dad wasn't born a Cross.””
Adrian looked down again.
The document contained another name.
A second father.
Or at least, another man listed under a different section.
He read it twice.
Then slowly lifted his eyes.
“Who is Marcus Reed?””
Daniel went completely pale.
Evelyn backed away from the table.
William's expression changed for the first time.
Fear.
Real fear.
Adrian looked at all three of them.
“Who is Marcus Reed?””
Daniel whispered,
“That's the name of the man who was buried as me.””
Adrian stared.
“But Thomas Reed was the man in your coffin.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
He looked toward William.
“Thomas Reed was his father.””
Adrian felt the room spin.
William took one step backward.
Daniel's voice dropped.
“And Marcus Reed wasn't killed in the accident.””
Adrian gripped the birth certificate.
“Then where is he?””
Daniel looked at his brother.
“In the room beneath this room.””
A metallic click echoed behind them.
The floor beneath the archive table shifted.
A hidden panel slowly opened.
Cold air rose from the darkness below.
And from somewhere underneath the floor, a man's voice called out.
“Adrian?””
Adrian stopped breathing.
The voice sounded exactly like his own.
May you like
Then it said,
“Your mother told me you would come.””
