Chapter 5: The Letter Beneath the Rain
The words burned into my mind.
*Do not trust the man who raised you.*
I read them again.
And again.
The paper trembled between my fingers.
Not because of the rain.
Not because of the gunfire.
Because I knew exactly who Daniel meant.
My father.
The man whose voice had filled our house.
The man who taught me how to ride a motorcycle.
The man who told me my brother had abandoned us.
For thirty years, I had carried anger toward Daniel.
I had imagined him leaving without looking back.
I had imagined him choosing strangers over his own family.
But now I was standing in the middle of a storm, holding a letter from the brother I thought I lost.
And he was telling me the person I trusted most had betrayed him.
Another shot cracked through the night.
The sound snapped me back.
I folded the letter quickly and pushed it inside my vest.
Ruth grabbed my shoulder.
“Bear, we have to move.””
I looked at her.
“Who are these people?””
She looked toward the road.
“People who don’t want Daniel’s story told.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“It’s the only one that matters right now.””
I wanted to argue.
I wanted explanations.
I wanted thirty years of silence to be undone in one conversation.
But the bullets flying around us reminded me of something important.
Answers didn’t matter if we didn’t survive long enough to hear them.
I pulled Ruth behind the motorcycle.
“Can you walk?””
She nodded.
“I’m old, not helpless.””
Despite everything happening, I almost smiled.
“You remind me of someone.””
Her expression softened.
“Daniel?””
I looked away.
“Yeah.””
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Victor appeared beside us.
His expensive coat was torn.
His face was no longer calm.
The confidence he had carried earlier was gone.
“Listen to me,” he said.
I stared at him.
“Why should I?””
“Because if you want to know what happened to Daniel, you need to stay alive.””
I laughed once.
A bitter sound.
“Now you care?””
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“You think I don’t regret things?””
“I think you’re the reason I needed to know the truth.””
He looked at the letter hidden in my vest.
His eyes changed.
“You read it.””
I stepped closer.
“You know what it says.””
Victor didn’t answer.
That was enough.
“You knew.””
The rain ran down his face.
“Bear—”
“You knew my brother warned me about you.””
Victor looked away.
And that was the moment I stopped seeing him as an old man from my past.
I saw him for what he was.
Someone who had spent decades protecting a lie.
“You let me hate him,” I said quietly.
Victor’s voice lowered.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From the truth?””
“Yes.””
I stared at him.
“Funny.””
“What?””
“Everyone who hurts you always says they’re protecting you.””
The words hit him.
I saw it.
A small flicker of guilt.
Then Marcus shouted from behind a vehicle.
“Less talking! More moving!””
A bullet struck the side of the SUV.
Victor ducked.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Not worried.
Afraid.
I noticed.
“Who are they?””
Victor didn’t answer.
I grabbed his jacket.
“Who are they?””
He looked at me.
And finally, after thirty years of secrets, he gave me something real.
“The people your brother was trying to expose.””
My grip loosened.
“What were they hiding?””
Victor swallowed.
“Your father’s company wasn’t built the way you think.””
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
“It means your father wasn’t just a businessman.””
Another shot.
The orange stand behind us collapsed.
Ruth gasped.
I pulled her away.
Victor continued.
“He was involved with people who controlled everything from the shadows.””
“That’s impossible.””
“No.””
Victor’s eyes met mine.
“That’s exactly why Daniel died.””
The word hit me.
Died.
Not disappeared.
Not left.
Died.
I had spent thirty years avoiding that word.
Because saying it meant accepting something I wasn’t ready to accept.
My brother was gone.
Forever.
But now I needed to know why.
“Who killed him?””
Victor looked at the ground.
“I don’t know.””
I stared at him.
“After everything, you expect me to believe that?””
“I know who ordered it.””
The storm seemed to quiet.
“Who?””
Victor looked toward Marcus.
Then Ruth.
Then me.
“I can’t say.””
My anger exploded.
“Why?””
“Because if I say the name, they’ll know I told you.””
I stepped closer.
“Good.””
Victor looked confused.
“What?””
I pointed toward the road.
“They already know I’m here.””
I looked at the people shooting at us.
“They already know Ruth found me.””
I leaned forward.
“So tell me the truth.””
Victor stared at me.
For a moment, I thought he would refuse.
Then he whispered:
“Your father.””
Everything stopped.
Even though I had suspected it.
Even though Daniel’s letter had warned me.
Hearing someone say it out loud was different.
My father.
The man who taught me to ride.
The man who held my shoulder at my mother’s funeral.
The man who looked me in the eyes and told me Daniel chose to leave.
My own father.
“No.””
Victor looked at me.
“I’m sorry.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Ruth touched my arm.
“Bear…”
“No.””
I stepped back.
My memories fought against reality.
My father teaching me to fix engines.
My father laughing at family dinners.
My father telling me I was the last person he had left.
All lies?
All of it?
Marcus approached when the shooting slowed.
His face was serious.
“We need to go.””
I looked at him.
“You knew.””
He didn’t deny it.
“You knew too?””
“I knew pieces.””
“Everyone knew pieces except me.””
Marcus looked at me.
“That was Daniel’s choice.””
I turned.
“My choice?””
Marcus nodded.
“He didn’t want you dragged into his war.””
I laughed.
“My whole life was built on his war.””
Nobody answered.
Because it was true.
We moved away from the roadside.
Marcus had a truck hidden behind a line of trees near the highway.
Ruth climbed into the passenger seat.
I sat in the back.
Victor hesitated before entering.
I blocked the door.
“No.””
He looked at me.
“Bear.””
“You ride separately.””
“We don’t have time.””
“I don’t care.””
Victor stared at me.
“I can help you.””
“You had thirty years to help me.””
That hurt him.
Good.
He stepped back.
Marcus watched silently.
Then he said something I didn’t expect.
“Let him come.””
I turned.
“What?””
Marcus looked at Victor.
“Because Daniel would have wanted the truth from everyone.””
I hated that he was right.
I moved aside.
Victor climbed in.
The truck started moving through the storm.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Ruth looked at me.
“You need to read the rest.””
I pulled out Daniel’s letter.
My hands were steadier now.
The first page had only been a warning.
The second page had more.
I unfolded it.
Daniel’s handwriting continued.
*Bear, I know you will be angry. You have every right to be. But before you judge anyone, you need to understand something.*
I kept reading.
*The person who betrayed me wasn’t the only one hiding the truth. Someone helped them. Someone I trusted with my life.*
My heart tightened.
I looked at Ruth.
Then Victor.
The next line was underlined.
*The person who helped destroy me is sitting closer to you than you think.*
I stopped.
A cold feeling moved through me.
Because I knew what that meant.
I slowly lifted my eyes.
Everyone in the truck was watching me.
Ruth.
Marcus.
Victor.
And then Victor spoke quietly.
“Bear…”
I looked at him.
“What?””
His face had lost all color.
Because he wasn’t looking at me.
He was looking at the letter.
At the final sentence on the page.
The sentence I hadn’t read yet.
My fingers moved lower.
And I saw Daniel’s last warning.
*The person who betrayed me was the person I trusted most after our father.*
My breath caught.
May you like
Because there was only one person Daniel had trusted like that.
And she was sitting right beside me.
