Chapter 9: The Officer's Secret
Daniel pulled me away from the door.
“Whatever Cole tells you, don't believe him.””
“You're the one holding a gun.””
“And he's the one who knows where we've been hiding.””
“Maybe he followed us.””
“Then why did he come alone?””
I had no answer.
Outside, Cole knocked again.
“Clara, I know you can hear me. We need to talk.””
Daniel moved toward the back of the office.
“There’s another exit through the storage room. We'll leave before he brings backup.””
I looked at the door.
“If we run, we'll never know whether he's trying to help us.””
Daniel stared at me.
“You're trusting him because he wears a badge?””
“No. I'm trying to decide who is lying to me.””
A sharp metallic sound came from the hallway.
Cole had drawn his weapon.
“Daniel,” he called, “put the gun down. I don't want anyone hurt.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You should have thought about that three years ago.””
Cole went silent.
I turned toward Daniel.
“What happened three years ago?””
He looked at me, and for the first time since we met, he seemed less angry than ashamed.
“Cole arrested me after I reported Richard's photograph. He said I had fabricated evidence and threatened to charge me with fraud.””
“Why didn't you tell me that earlier?””
“Because I didn't know whether he'd been paid off or whether he genuinely believed I was lying.””
“Did he hurt you?””
“No. But he let Graham's men follow me after I was released.””
My stomach twisted.
Outside, Cole spoke again.
“Daniel, I was wrong about the report. I know that now.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Then explain why my death certificate carries your signature.””
Silence.
I stared at the door.
“Your signature?””
Cole answered through the wood.
“I signed a report confirming that a body found near the river matched the description of a missing man. The identification came from a witness. I was told the family had confirmed it.””
“Which family?””
“Your adoptive parents.””
“They never saw the body.””
Another silence.
Then Cole said, “I know.””
Daniel looked at me.
“You see?””
But I couldn't ignore the difference in Cole's voice. He sounded ashamed, not defensive.
I moved toward the door.
Daniel caught my wrist.
“Clara, don't.””
I gently pulled free.
“If he wanted us arrested, he could have brought officers with him. I need to hear what he has to say.””
I unlocked the door but kept the chain in place.
Cole looked exhausted.
“Thank you,” he said.
“May I come in?””
“Not until you explain the photograph.””
He held it up.
“I found this in an envelope left at my apartment twenty minutes ago. There was no return address.””
“Who sent it?””
“I don't know.””
“Why did you come here?””
“Because the message said Daniel was in danger.””
Daniel stepped into view, gun still in hand.
“Convenient.””
Cole lowered his eyes toward the weapon.
“I understand why you don't trust me.””
“You signed my death report.””
“Yes.””
“And you let Graham's men follow me.””
“I didn't know they were his men until later.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“No. I expect you to understand that I made a mistake, and that someone has spent years using it to keep the truth hidden.””
Cole slowly removed his badge and placed it on the floor outside the door.
Then he stepped back.
“I won't enter unless you let me.””
The gesture surprised me.
Daniel didn't lower the gun, but his shoulders loosened slightly.
I removed the chain.
Cole entered with his hands visible.
He looked at the photographs on the wall, then at the recorder on the desk.
“Is that the original recording?””
Daniel nodded.
“Some of it.””
Cole pulled out a chair.
“Then we need to discuss what happened at St. Agnes, because I found something in the police archives that changes the case.””
He placed a sealed evidence bag on the desk.
Inside was a small cassette tape.
A label had been written across it in faded handwriting.
*ROOM 12 — DECEMBER 1999.*
I stared at it.
“Where did you find that?””
“In a box of evidence from a closed investigation. The box had been marked for destruction three years ago, but someone removed it from the disposal list.””
“Who?””
Cole looked at Daniel.
“Graham Whitmore.””
Daniel's face darkened.
“What is on it?””
“I haven't played it yet. The recording requires an older tape system, and I wanted you both present.””
He took a portable recorder from his bag and inserted the cassette.
A burst of static filled the room.
Then came the sound of a door opening.
A woman's voice spoke first.
“Mr. Hale, the transfer has been completed.””
Victoria.
I gripped the edge of the desk.
A man's voice answered.
“Where is the child?””
“Safe.””
“That's not what I asked.””
“The boy is with the family you selected.””
“Does Daniel know?””
“No.””
A pause followed.
Then Victoria said, “He believes the child is dead.””
The man's voice became colder.
“Good. Let him believe it.””
Daniel looked sick.
“That's my mother.””
Cole nodded.
The recording continued.
Victoria said, “And what about the other boy?””
“He stays with us.””
“What if they meet?””
“Then we make sure neither of them remembers this conversation.””
The tape crackled.
A third voice interrupted.
“You can't keep doing this.””
I stopped breathing.
It was Richard.
The recording continued.
Richard sounded furious.
“You promised the boys would be reunited.””
Victoria answered, “I promised nothing.””
“You signed the documents.””
“Because you forced me to.””
“No. I gave you a choice.””
“And I chose my son.””
Richard's voice broke.
“They are both your sons.””
Victoria began crying.
Then she said something that made Daniel stagger backward.
“Not according to the test results.””
The recording fell silent for several seconds.
Richard finally spoke.
“What did you say?””
Victoria whispered, “The second boy isn't yours.””
Nobody moved.
Daniel stared at the recorder.
I felt the room tilt around me.
If the second boy wasn't Richard's biological son, then who was his father?
And why had Victoria spent decades hiding the answer?
Cole stopped the tape.
“There's more.””
He rewound it and pressed play.
Richard's voice returned.
“Who is the father?””
Victoria answered in a whisper.
“Daniel Bennett.””
My heart stopped.
My father.
My father was the biological father of Richard's second son.
Daniel's face went white.
“No,” he whispered.
“That's impossible.””
I stared at him.
“You're saying my father was your father?””
He shook his head violently.
“Richard was my father. I grew up believing that. The DNA tests—”
“May have been falsified,” Cole said.
Daniel grabbed the desk.
“Then what does that make me?””
I couldn't answer.
The tape continued.
Richard spoke again.
“Daniel doesn't know?””
“No,” Victoria replied.
“And he never will.””
“You can't erase his identity.””
“I can protect my family.””
“Your family?”” Richard shouted.
“You mean your reputation!””
A loud crash followed.
Then Victoria said, “If you tell anyone, I'll make sure Clara pays for it.””
I froze.
My name.
She had known about me.
Richard's voice dropped.
“Leave my daughter out of this.””
My breath caught.
“Daughter?”” I whispered.
Daniel turned toward me.
The tape crackled, then Victoria spoke again.
“Your daughter is the only person who can expose us. Daniel Bennett is already asking questions, and if he discovers what happened in Room 12, he'll take both children away.””
Richard answered, “Then we tell the truth.””
“No,” Victoria said.
“We bury it.””
The recording ended with a door slamming.
Nobody spoke for a long moment.
Then Daniel looked at me.
“Clara, if that tape is real, we might be related.””
I couldn't look away from him.
My father might have been his biological father.
Richard might have raised him under a false identity.
And Victoria might have known the truth from the beginning.
But one question remained.
If Daniel wasn't Richard's biological son, why had Richard loved him as his own?
Cole carefully removed the cassette.
“There's one more thing you need to know.””
He reached into his bag and produced a document.
It was a DNA test report dated three years earlier.
The names at the top were Richard Hale and Daniel Mercer.
The result was printed in bold.
*BIOLOGICAL PATERNITY EXCLUDED.*
Daniel stared at it.
“That was the test Graham showed me.””
Cole turned the paper over.
On the back was a handwritten note.
*Sample substituted. Original results held by Graham Whitmore.*
Daniel's knees nearly buckled.
“He knew.””
Cole nodded.
“Graham has been manipulating the evidence since the beginning.””
I looked at the door, suddenly aware that we might not be safe anywhere.
“Then we need to find the original results.””
Cole's phone rang.
He answered, listened, and went completely still.
“What happened?”” I asked.
He lowered the phone.
“Sergeant Mills has taken Ethan to a secure location. Someone just called her claiming to be Richard Hale.””
Daniel grabbed the desk.
“What did he say?””
Cole looked directly at me.
“He demanded that Ethan be handed over immediately.””
My blood turned to ice.
“And if she refuses?””
Cole swallowed.
“The caller said he would come and collect his son himself.””
I stared at the photograph of Richard on the wall.
The man who had supposedly died three years earlier was reaching for Ethan.
And now I understood the most frightening possibility of all.
Whoever had been pretending to be Richard wasn't merely protecting a secret.
May you like
He wanted one of the boys back.
And if the truth about their father was finally coming to light, Ethan might be the only person who could prove it.
